Core Courses
Core Courses are based on the Great Ideas Program developed by Mortimer Adler and Robert Hutchins. They are focused on the authors and texts commonly acknowledged to be a part of the traditional Western canon, such as Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Shakespeare, Kant, Melville, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Austen.
All core courses are available to enrolled master’s students and offer 3 credit hours each. They meet for 2 hours per week for 16 weeks via Microsoft Teams.
While students are given complete freedom to choose their Seminars, there are some parameters for which Core Courses are required. All students MUST take the following:
- CLE/PHIL/ENGL 601 – The Education of a Free Man: Introduction to the Liberal Arts
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- To be taken before the completion of 15 credit hours.
- Ancient Literature Elective, 3 credit hours from the following:
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- ENGL 606a – The Ancient Epic
- ENGL 606b – The Christian Epic
- ENGL 606c – Greek Drama
- Modern Literature Elective, 3 credit hours from the following:
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- ENGL 607a – The English Novel
- ENGL 607b – Goethe and the Literature of Russia
- ENGL 607c – The Plays of Shakespeare
- Philosophy, Religion, and Theology Elective, 3 credit hours from the following:
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- PHIL/THEO 604 – History of Religion and Theology
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- PHIL/THEO 608 – The Study of Ethics and Moral Values
- PHIL 610 – Introduction to Philosophy
- Political Elective, 3 credit hours from the following:
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- PHIL/POLI 602 – The Development of Political Theory
- PHIL/POLI 605 – Philosophy of Law and Jurisprudence
- Science Elective, 3 credit hours from the following:
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- PHIL/NAT SCI 603 – Natural Philosophy and Modern Science
- PHIL/SOC SCI 609 – Philosophies of Human Nature
Seminar Courses
These courses concentrate on more modern classics, such as works by T. S. Eliot, Evelyn Waugh, Joseph Conrad, and J.R.R. Tolkien. These courses supplement the Great Books by focusing on a single work, author, or narrow theme. All seminars are open to enrolled master’s students for 1 credit hour and to non-enrolled students for auditing. They meet for 2 hours once per week for 5 weeks via Microsoft Teams.
- 400-Level Special Topics Seminars
These one-credit hour great books and ideas special topics seminars allow for more depth over special topics than might be covered in a core course. May be repeated for credit whenever topics vary. - 510 – 540 Classical Pedagogy Seminars
These one-credit hour seminars address special topics that are of particular interest to those who are teaching in classical schools and homeschools. They are offered each summer.
- Introduction to Classical Education
- The Practice of Classical Pedagogy
- Introduction to the Great Books
- The Virtue and Method of Learning
- 550+ Study Abroad Seminars
These one-credit hour courses offer foreign travel to sites such as London and Rome that complement assigned readings in great texts. The seminar includes components of reading, lectures, site tours, discussion groups, and a written essay.