Course Descriptions

The Philosophy & Humanities Seminars

Each of our eight Philosophy & Humanities Seminars may be best understood as a polyphonic composition within which the lines of Philosophy, Literature, History, Music, and Political Philosophy conjoin to form a single Seminar. Even as our attention shifts from one line to the other, we remain aware of the larger whole to which they belong. Through the integration of these disciplines within an eight-semester series of courses, we consider carefully the manifold expressions of a divinely-created, God-seeking human nature living in relation to God, other people, and the natural world.

• Ancient Greece & Philosophical Inquiry I & II

During these semesters we turn our attention—primarily through the reading of literature and philosophy—to the horizon of metaphysical inquiry, where each of us can begin to recognize the great philosophical questions that play a part not only in the lives of the great thinkers but in the lives of all human beings (including ourselves). If we had believed before now that philosophy was to be taken up only by the few, this course suggests that all of us are called to pursue the Truth about God, nature, ourselves, and how best to live our lives together. Such a pursuit is not trivial; it is of the greatest consequence.

While taking up these questions, we also turn to one of the foundations of Western Civilization: Ancient Greece. Through the careful reading of epic poetry, history, tragedy, comedy, biography, and philosophy, we immerse ourselves in some of the chief sources from which we learn how to be fully human.

Reading List

• Greece, Rome and the Birth of Christianity

We begin this year by walking again with Aristotle, the one Dante called “the Philosopher” and “the Master of those who know.” Having studied his Ethics, Politics, and logical works in the first year, we continue by considering his examination of the natural world (in the Physics), the nature of the soul and its relation to the body (in De anima), and his inquiry into the question of Being itself (in the Metaphysics).

Shifting our attention from Greece to Rome, we study the origins of the Eternal City, its political and military achievements, and selected works by its greatest statesmen, historians, poets, and philosophers. These readings also prepare us for the summer session in Rome and Norcia (the birthplace of Sts. Benedict and Scholastica).

With a clearer understanding of the world into which Christianity was born, we turn our attention to the Church and the seeds from which it grew: its earliest martyrs, saints, and Fathers. To complement our reading of Sacred Scripture in the courses on theology, we read texts by the Fathers of the Church, as well as her poets, and her martyrs, attending to their lives and writings and the significance they have for us at the beginning of the Church’s third millennium. To the primary sources we read in this section, we add studies of the period and protagonists by Pope Benedict XVI, Blessed John Henry Newman, Robert Louis Wilken, and Christopher Dawson.

Reading List

• The Medieval Flowering of Christendom

In this spring semester, we watch in awe as the Church—born from the blood of the martyrs—grows and becomes the foundation of the cultural and philosophical synthesis of the High Middle Ages. Complemented by works to be read in Rome and Norcia, we take up Beowulf, St. Thomas’ Summa theologiae, chansons by the Troubadours, a hymn by Peter Abelard, an allegorical morality play by Blessed Hildegard of Bingen, Dante’s Commedia, a polyphonic setting of the Mass by Machaut, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and the illuminated prayer book, Les Très Riches Heures. In our readings, we find support in the works of Christopher Dawson, Josef Pieper, Jean-Pierre Torrell, O.P., and Robert Hollander.

Reading List

• Renaissance, Reformation and Catholic Renewal

Having scaled the summit of the High Middle Ages in the previous semester, we turn our attention this semester to worlds discovered, destroyed, reborn, and renewed. Irreducible to a single set of themes, the plurality of voices from this period are heard in both their harmony and their discord. From the rediscovery of antiquity’s life-giving waters to the deformation of a stable Christendom, the triumph and tragedy of a new era prompts us to consider carefully texts that capture the spirit of re-birth and articulate the causes of Christendom’s division. The voyages of Columbus, as well as the initiatives of Machiavelli and Montaigne, lead us to consider again the certainties upon which the Old World stood. All of this finds its way to the stage, where the Bard and his contemporaries will renew our attentiveness to the questions that animate and undergird the truly human life.

Reading List

• The Dialectics of Enlightenment

Without slackening our pace, we consider—with Kant—the question, “What is Enlightenment?” and ask “What are its fruits?” To answer these questions we listen closely to voices speaking from newly-founded (and re-founded) nations, voices both triumphant and tragic. While reading thinkers writing from the disciplines of philosophy and political philosophy, we also take up the writings of historians, poets, playwrights, and satirists who reveal human nature and existence with clarity, highlighting its heroic, pathetic, profound, fragile, demonic, and ultimately risible features. All the while we are reminded—sometimes unintentionally—that new light can occasionally blind us and that even those with the keenest vision stand in need of redemption.

Reading List

• Late Modernity & Postmodernity I &II

We come now to our own age, recognizing that our previous years of study in philosophy and the humanities have prepared us only imperfectly for the fruits of “late” or “post” modernity. The contradictory appellations of our time elicit wonder: are we still living within the unfolding of the Enlightenment project, or are we truly in a new age?

Beginning at the threshold of our own era, we witness the Enlightenment’s transformation into an Age of Revolution, seeking to discern the paradoxes that exist at the heart of modernity. Taking as our guides a broad range of philosophers, poets, essayists, painters, composers, and film-makers, we consider carefully the tragedy of two world wars, Ha Shoah, the Gulag, Hiroshima, and the threat of nuclear annihilation.

With equal attention we consider the ways in which western philosophers, theologians, and artists have imagined how we might build anew. The Church, with the supernatural assistance she receives and communicates, offers to lead us in this renewal and we listen closely to the words she has offered to Christians and to the world through the Second Vatican Council.

Confronted with the barbarity of the previous century, we desire to prepare ourselves to enter a world where we can create, with greater humility, a place for ourselves and our children—where we can thrive, living in fruitful relation to God, nature, and one another. We conclude our four-year Philosophy and Humanities Sequence by evaluating our own responses to the Venerable John Paul II’s call for the integration of Fides et Ratio and attending carefully to Pope Benedict’s encyclicals Deus caritas est, Spe salvi, and Caritas in veritate.

Reading List

Sacred Scripture, Theology, and Catechesis

Through our courses on Sacred Scripture, theology, and catechesis, we seek to be fully converted by the call of Christ, to learn to walk with him in the world as his disciples, to learn how to think with the mind of the Church (sentire cum ecclesia), and to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us (1 Peter 3:15). All of this is undertaken under the guidance of Sacred Scripture, the Fathers of the Church, and the Magisterium. Those who complete these courses with at least a 2.0 grade point average in each course will receive an Apostolic Catechetical Diploma.

• Sacred Scripture & The Economy of Salvation
  
  This first course aims primarily to help us deepen or reawaken our relationship with the Living Person of Jesus Christ, responding to the Venerable Pope John Paul II’s teaching that Christ is at the “heart of catechesis,” and the “definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ” (Catechesi tradendae, 5). In our examination of the economy of salvation—“God’s activity in creating and governing the world, particularly his plan for the salvation of the world in the person of Jesus Christ, a plan which is being accomplished through His Body the Church, in its life and sacraments” (CCC glossary)—we take Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church as our primary texts.
  
  Following a brief overview of the history of salvation from creation to glorification, we focus on God’s “plan of loving goodness,” which he gradually revealed in the Old Covenant. We first examine the principles of Catholic interpretation of Sacred Scripture as presented in the Catechism, then immerse ourselves in Sacred Scripture itself, embarking on an in-depth reading of the Old Testament. Beginning with the book of Genesis and concluding with 2 Maccabees, we come to understand how the “New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New” (CCC 129). By retracing the historical unfolding of God’s plan, we understand the covenantal structure of salvation history and learn to read according to the four senses of scripture.
  
  Along the way, we complete two projects: a chronology of salvation history, and an exegesis of selected passages from the Old Testament according to their literal, allegorical, moral, and anagogical meanings. We secure the Word of God in our hearts and on our lips by memorizing passages from Sacred Scripture—including passages from the Psalms. The semester concludes in the Advent season with selections from the Gospels announcing the birth and genealogy of the long-awaited Messiah.
  
  Reading List

• Sacred Scripture, the Sacraments, & Prayer
  
  In this second course, we focus upon the significance of the sacramental life as a means to our full encounter with the Risen Christ. The sacrament of Baptism becomes the touchstone of our inquiry, since through this sacrament Christ grasps us and calls us to be a disciple. During this phase of our study, we take parts two and four of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as our primary texts.
  
  Following the directive of the Catechism itself—“by proceeding from the visible to the invisible, from the sign to the thing signified, from the ‘sacraments’ to the ‘mysteries’. . . catechesis aims to initiate people into the Mystery of Christ”—we consider the significance of these mysteries in Sacred Scripture as well as in our own sacramental lives, study the institution of each sacrament by Christ himself, and focus on the essential rite of each sacrament. In this second semester, we study very closely the ritual and theology of the Mass, the other sacraments, and their place within the economy of salvation.
  
  In the final section of this course, we reflect more deeply upon the importance of prayer as a means to cultivating our relationship with Christ. We also contemplate the persons in Sacred Scripture who engaged in intimate dialogue with God—Abraham, Moses, Hannah, David, Elijah, and Ruth—the figures who prefigure the great exemplars of prayer: Christ and his mother, Mary. As a recapitulation of our first year of studies, we consider anew, with hearts and minds now more deeply formed, that summary of the whole gospel: the Pater noster.
  
  Reading List

• The Profession of Faith

  In this fourth course, we take up the symbolum apostolorum, our Profession of Faith.
  
  In preparation for this inquiry, we consider three elements of the dialogue between God and man: (1) Man’s capacity for God, (2) that God comes to meet man, and (3) that man responds to God through the obedience of faith. We also consider anew the profound relationship between faith and reason, the nature of revelation, and the meaning of faith as “first of all personal adherence to God . . . and inseparably free assent to the whole truth God has revealed” (CCC 150). With these truths firmly in our possession, we examine the twelve articles of the Creed giving careful attention to its Trinitarian structure, the centrality of the Incarnation, and the gift of the Holy Spirit in the era of the Church.
  
  Reading List

• Christian Anthropology & The Moral Life

  In this third course, and building upon our studies of Sacred Scripture, the economy of salvation, the sacramental life, and prayer, we now consider carefully what it means to be a created person, made in the image of God, and remade through baptism, in light of the fullness of Divine Revelation. We contemplate the human person as imago Dei, free will, the cardinal and theological virtues, and the final goal of human life.

  Drawing upon both the Catechism and the Venerable Pope John Paul II’s Veritatis splendor, we continue our investigation by considering the nature of sin and grace, mercy and justice, and moral conscience and natural law. We examine the relationship between the Decalogue and the two great commandments—love of God and love of neighbor—in the context of social living.
  
  Reading List

• Divine Revelation & Christology

  In this fifth course, we focus on Christ as the fullness of divine revelation: Christ alone reveals the full truth about God and man.

  We begin by considering anew the nature of divine revelation and the principles of exegesis, particularly as they are found in Dei verbum. Closely reading the Gospels of Matthew and John, we examine Jesus’ words and deeds, distinguishing the account offered by Sacred Scripture from popular depictions, coming to see the Christ of the Gospels as “different, demanding, [and] bold” (Pope Benedict XVI). In support of our inquiry, we receive guidance from studies by Pope Benedict XVI, Romano Guardini, and others.

  We reach the culmination of our Christological study through our reading of two encyclicals by the Venerable Pope John Paul II: in Redemptor hominis, we consider how the Incarnation is wholly relevant and necessary for the modern world and modern man and in Dives in misericordia we contemplate God’s merciful love, “which humanity and the modern world need so much.”
  
  Reading List

• Ecclesiology & Liturgical Theology

  In this sixth course, we encounter the person of Christ through a careful study of his Body, the Church.

  We begin our consideration of the Mystery of the Church within Sacred Scripture, reading the Acts of the Apostles and focusing on the life of the newborn Ecclesia. We read Pope Pius XII’s Mystici corporis—through which we consider the hierarchy and unity of the whole Church of God, composed of members both heavenly and earthly—as well as Lumen gentium—a Dogmatic Constitution of the Second Vatican Council. We then consider carefully Apostolicam actuositatem (The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity), seeking to understand the life of the lay Christian in the modern world.

  Following our broader ecclesiological inquiry, we turn our attention to the life of the Church as celebrated in its Sacred Liturgy. We consider the principles and nature of the Sacred Liturgy as they are presented in Mediator Dei (Pius XII), Sacrosanctum concilium, Musicam sacram, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, and more recent magisterial documents on the liturgy. We also attend closely to the Church’s teaching on sacred music.
  
  Reading List

• Domestica ecclesia: Theology of Marriage and Family

  In this seventh course, we consider with great care the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family, studying the significance of the term domestica ecclesia and the function of the family as the “cell of society.” Taking up again the theme of Catholic anthropology—in this case as it is actualized within the domestica ecclesia—we read Gaudium et spes, Casti connubii, Humanae vitae, Familiaris consortio, Gratissimam sane, and Evangelium vitae.
  
  Reading List

• Catholic Social Teaching and Canon Law
  
  In this eighth course, we take up Christ’s call to all of his people, a call to a life of holiness and service. In our inquiry we examine the foundational principles of Catholic social teachings—in particular the dignity of the human person, the common good, stewardship, and subsidiarity—through our close reading of the Compendium of Catholic Social Teaching, Rerum novarum, Gaudium et spes, Laborem exercens, and Centesimus annus.
  
  Finally, we study the Code of Canon Law, and consider, in our reading of Evangelii nuntiandi, and Catechesi tradendae, our vocation “to make disciples of all nations,” teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded us.
  
  Reading List

Music and Art

• Quadrivium: Music & Singing I & II
  
  Our first year of musical study prepares us for full participation in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as members of the College choir. Over the next four years, we will enjoy singing a repertoire of sacred music that extends from Gregorian chant, through Renaissance polyphony, to more contemporary compositions.
  
  We learn to sing as embodied creatures, recognizing that “the art of singing is the art of breathing.” We learn to sing from both chant notation and modern notation and, in the first semester, we immerse ourselves in the Church’s inestimable musical treasure, Gregorian chant. Recognizing that this treasure—the standard by which all ecclesiastical music must be judged—has been all but lost in our parishes, we seek to understand it and prepare ourselves to find practical ways of restoring it.
  
  While continuing to sing chant, we turn our attention in the spring to the study of hymns, the musical genre most familiar to us and the genre most commonly used in our parishes. We trace the history of hymn singing and consider its gradual adoption within the celebration of the Mass. Using the Worship hymnal, we study the variety of hymn styles, and their long history as poetry and music. In this semester we also study the fundamentals of four-part harmony, learning to analyze hymns harmonically, and we compare simple hymns with the more complex harmonic arrangements of Bach and Handel.
  
  As an essential part of our musical studies in both semesters, we lay the foundations for understanding the Church’s teaching on Sacred Music by considering the three streams that contributed to the formulation of this teaching: Sacred Scripture, classical philosophy, and classical literature. We build upon this foundation by studying carefully the teaching of the Church Fathers on music as well as the magisterial teachings on music from the last two hundred years.
  
  Each semester culminates in a special project. In the fall, since our focus is on chant, each of us studies a chant from the Propers of the Mass: we translate the Latin text, consider the selection of this text for this particular liturgy, and study how the chant fits within its modal framework. We learn to sing our chant and, inspired by examples of medieval illumination, we create our own illumination for it. As the final project in the spring, we each study a hymn, considering its historical origins, musical structure, and its doctrinal content.
  
  Reading List

• Masterpieces of the Musical Canon I

  Building upon our practical experience in music during the preceding year, we now take up a more contemplative position and survey—through guided listening—some of the most significant musical works of western culture. From chant through the sacred polyphony of the Renaissance and Counter-Reformation to the masterworks of the Baroque, we study the compositional principles and stylistic features of western choral and instrumental art-music from the Middle Ages to Bach. In this class we use Kerman & Tomlinson’s Listen and a variety of audio and video recordings.
  

• Masterpieces of the Musical Canon II

  Beginning with the operas of Mozart and the string quartets of Haydn, we continue our musical explorations through Beethoven and Bruckner, continuing to the art-music of the last century and of our own time. During this semester we will also listen to performances by professional and (our own) amateur student--musicians. In this class we continue with Kerman & Tomlinson’s Listen and a variety of audio and video recordings.
  

• Principles of Seeing and Drawing I & II

  In this course, we learn to see the world as an artist sees it, translating the fruits of that vision into a given medium. This is a gradual process, unfolding in stages of discovery and invention.

  From the beginning, we make the studio our creative space for two hours each week and in the fall, before winter sets in, we often take our portable easels outside for some work en plein air.

  As a first step in our artistic journey, we identify the basic shapes and forms that present themselves to the eye. We learn how to give contour and texture to images, transforming a two-dimensional surface into the illusion of three dimensions. Initially we concentrate on drawing, with pencil and charcoal, and then with chalk and oil pastels.

  Gradually, we move from objects to larger compositions. With the help of Arnheim’s Art and Visual Perception, we learn to think in terms of wholes, planning a composition in the same way we would plan an essay, finding the principle focus of attention and then arranging every element in its service. We learn to look past the details in a work of art, to its very bones. We build our sketches and paintings in layers, coming to understand that the first thing to catch the eye is often the last thing to take its place on canvas.

  Occasionally, we sit at the feet of the masters, copying their work. In this way, their works become analogous to the paradigms and great books we study in other tutorials.

  As we embrace contrast in tone, texture, and intensity, we see our works come to life all the more. We discover how colors relate to each other by studying the fundamentals of color theory. We also experience the possibilities and limits of the different artistic mediums: the transparency of watercolor, the immediacy of acrylics, the richness and translucence of oils.

  At the close of each year we exhibit our best works in the College’s annual art show, a significant event for the College, our benefactors, and the larger community.
  
  Reading List

• Masterpieces of the Visual Arts I &II
  
  Our practical experience as artists in the previous year has created within us an eagerness to study the works of the masters. With the assistance of Janson’s magisterial A History of Western Art, we consider the masterpieces of the visual arts throughout the centuries, noting especially how they reflect the vision and values of their times. Chesterton’s reflections on man as artist in The Everlasting Man, and his unique perspective on the meaning of the Renaissance—as articulated in his St. Francis of Assisi—provide us with models of thinking about art and culture. Our consideration of the masterpieces of our own time will also include careful attention to the great works of cinema. To further enrich our studies, we will visit the Museum of Russian Icons in Massachusetts, the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, as well as several museums in and around Boston.
  
  Reading List

Logic, Mathematics, and Science

• Trivium: Logic
  
  In this course we will study the art of reasoning in order to be better equipped to pursue truth and to communicate that truth. Emphasis will be placed on Aristotle’s Organon, especially the first four books: the Categories, the Peri Hermeneias (or De Interpretatione), the Prior Analytics, and the Posterior Analytics. We will also learn to identify some common fallacies of reasoning.
  
  Reading List

• Quadrivium: Euclidean Geometry

  Through a rigorous study of books one and two of Euclid’s Elements (as well as selected propositions from later books), we follow in the steps of this “Master of Geometry,” studying first his definitions, postulates, and common notions, and then immersing ourselves in the beauty of his propositions. Through this course, we come to recognize with a fresh perspective the power of intellectus as it grasps first principles and intuits “the whole” of a proposition. We also come to appreciate the importance of ratio as it leads us from true presuppositions to trustworthy conclusions. In short, we renew—by following Euclid—our own capacity to think mathematically, with rigor and with discipline.
  
  Reading List

• Quadrivium: Ptolemaic Astronomy

  In this course, we make astronomical observations with the unaided eye, identify the major constellations and learn how to determine both latitude and longitude. We examine basic concepts such as the celestial sphere, celestial equator, solar time, sidereal time, and leap year. Through the reading of selections from Ptolemy’s Almagest—placing special emphasis on Ptolemy’s treatment of the sun’s anomaly—we establish the historical and philosophical background against which we will read Copernicus’ On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres in the next semester.
  
  Reading List

• Quadrivium: Astronomy: Copernicus, Kepler & Galileo

  In this course, we explore the birth of modern science—in both its philosophical and empirical aspects—and consider two of its most prominent features: the experimental method and the Copernican revolution.

  In the first phase of our inquiry, we undertake a close reading of selections from Copernicus’ On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres in relation to corresponding sections from Ptolemy’s Almagest, specifically comparing both astronomers’ treatments of the sun and the planets, with their corresponding anomalies. We also consider how the difficulties in the details of the Copernican heliocentric theory are eliminated by Kepler in his Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. Finally, we examine Galileo’s contributions to astronomy by reading his Starry Messenger and study the moon using the College’s telescope.

  Turning to the philosophical origins of modern science, we read Descartes’ Discourse on Method and Bacon’s New Organon—while keeping in mind our understanding of the ancient philosophers acquired in previous courses—and compare and contrast the ancient Greek view of the world with that produced by modern science.
  
  Reading List

• Quadrivium: Newtonian Physics
  
  In this course, we follow Galileo’s presentation of proto-Newtonian theory, as articulated in his Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences. Immediately afterward, we examine Isaac Newton’s more complete formulation of the laws governing the mechanical universe. His view of nature is explored (as articulated in his Principia), which lays a foundation for apprehending the first principles of the modern scientific method, as well as for understanding the philosophical outlook of scientific modernity. Through an integrated investigation of both physical problems and their mathematical solutions, we seek to develop a coherent understanding of the application of mathematics, thereby discovering the unity within “science” and “mathematics” and clarifying the mathematical methods discovered by Newton that are still used in physics today. By concentrating on the first principles of motion and their application to matter, we probe beneath the surface of a scientific problem and discover how principles govern mechanical phenomena.
  
  Reading List

• Quadrivium: Applied Classical Physics; Relativity & Quantum Mechanics
  
  In this second semester, we conclude our examination of classical physics through a careful consideration of fundamental concepts such as mass, motion, force, space, and time by reading selections from Newton’s Principia and through numerous experiments. We observe the laws of motion in concrete phenomena: through the aerodynamics of the boomerang, the motion of billiard balls, fluid dynamics, air flight, and the physics of gymnastics and diving.
  
  In our study of relativity, we take up Einstein’s own account of his theory, the classic Michelson-Morley Experiment, the derivation of the Lorentz transformation, and the latter’s application to sub-atomic particle disintegration. Finally, we investigate the quantum behavior of light by reading Feynman’s classic lectures on the double slit experiment and Heisenberg’s The History of Quantum Theory.
  
  Reading List

• Biology I: The Origins of Life
  
  We examine, in this tutorial, the diversity within nature and its classification, availing ourselves of the replete natural surroundings of autumn in New Hampshire. Next, we investigate the origins and nature of life, followed by a consideration of evolution in general, Darwin’s Origin of the Species, as well as alternative theories of evolution. Following this we undertake a brief analysis of basic Mendelian genetics, coupled with a study of genes, DNA replication and transcription, and their roles in genetic inheritance.
  
  Reading List

• Biology II: Ethology, Perception, & Neurology
  
  During this semester we take up the subjects of ethology (animal behavior), perception, and neurology, studying the contributions of naturalists such as Loren Eiseley, Konrad Lorenz, J. Henri Fabre, Karl von Frisch, and Nikko Tinbergen. We compare the classic neurological writings of Wilder Penfield with the more recent views of Oliver Sacks, Francis Crick and Richard Dawkins.
  
  Reading List

Grammar, Rhetoric, and the Senior Thesis

• Trivium: Grammar and English Composition I & II
  
  At The College of Saint Mary Magdalen, writing is an acquired discipline, the cultivation of which requires not only rules and principles of style, but continual practice.
  
  We begin the freshmen year with a review and assessment of the grammar we have received prior to entering college. We examine with a philosopher’s eye the nature of words and the syntax of our language, often in comparison with other languages, and parse sentences together with the same kind of rigor we use in demonstrating Euclidean propositions.
  
  Having mastered the fundamental shape of the sentence, we move outward toward a more rhetorical use of the language, discovering the poetic possibilities of a change in normal word order, loose and periodic sentences, parallelism, anaphora, and expletive constructions. We learn from paradigms, studying sentence “gems” from the world’s greatest writers.
  
  Our work with sentences is just the beginning. The central task of the first semester is the writing of model paragraphs according to given paradigms of development. At the same time, through readings such as Orwell’s Animal Farm and C. S. Lewis’s The Abolition of Man, we come to appreciate that the right use of language is necessary for the health of our society.
  
  In the second semester we continue to expand our experience of writing by tackling the different forms of discourse: exposition, definition, analysis, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, illustration and example, and description. Taking Plato’s Phaedrus as our guide, we come to see the larger compositional form as a work of design. We also study paradigms of great essay writing, considering the work of Francis Bacon, Michel de Montaigne, and the great essayists of our own time.
  
  As part of our ongoing engagement with form, we consider selections of poetry and narrative. We study the structure of the sonnet, Shakespearean and Italian, and try our hands at sonnet writing. We read a few Aesop’s fables and a fairy tale by George MacDonald to open a discussion of the relationship between the “inner movement” of a story and its design. Here we receive a taste of the “Truth in Fiction” tutorial we will enjoy junior year.
  
  Reading List

• Trivium: Rhetoric & Persuasive Writing

  We begin the semester with C. S. Lewis’ An Experiment in Criticism discovering that the writer is a craftsman (homo faber), a “maker” who employs tools and methods to achieve clearly defined ends.

  In order to write persuasively, we learn to address both the discursive and affective elements of human nature. First, we marshall the logical skills obtained in our freshman year, reviewing the syllogism and its derivative forms, identifying common errors in logic, and giving a name to the various material fallacies. Second, we learn to present our case to a rational being for whom knowledge has emotional implications, taking Aristotle’s Rhetoric as our guide.

  To learn how to structure and conduct our argument, we turn first to the master of discursive thinking: St. Thomas Aquinas. We glean from examples of his disputed questions not only a method, but a spirit. Like St. Thomas, we learn to listen attentively and sympathetically to those with whom we dialogue, listening so well that we can articulate our opponents’ positions better than they can. We also discover in St. Thomas that the position of an opponent is seldom rejected in toto, rather, we learn to discover what is reconcilable in positions that appear to be opposed.

  We also take up some of history’s most stunning argumentative writing and most famous speeches.
  
  Reading List

• Longer Compositional Forms

  This semester, we experience in a particularly powerful way the Socratic dictum “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

  Having acquired many skills as writers, we now put them to work in a large composition that involves us not only as writers, but as philosophers. Our task this semester is to write about what lies closest to us: our own experience.

  Such an effort requires guidance, and we have at hand the best paradigms of great autobiographical writing.
  
  Reading List

• Thesis Proposal and Development
  
  In the fall semester, we select our thesis topics and during this semester we seek to acquire the skills necessary to prepare a rigorously researched and finely crafted academic paper that will mirror the philosophical aims of the program of studies.
  

• Truth in Fiction
  
  The experience of writing personal narrative in the previous semester has prepared us to discuss the universal and perennial elements of human experience in works of fiction.
  
  Three masterful short stories provide us with material for discussion: Hemingway’s Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, O’Connor’s A Good Man is Hard to Find, and Carver’s Where I’m Calling From.
  
  As part of our analysis of these stories, we read Aristotle’s Poetics in its entirety. We study the art of descriptive writing, discovering the power of an appeal made to the senses. We come to appreciate both the inner and outer aspects of fiction. On the one hand, a great story brings into focus an interior movement in the characters, from ignorance to knowledge, for example. On the other hand, great writing pulsates with the sensual. Great fiction is not a flight from the world, but a radical embracing of it—as Flannery O’Connor teaches us in Mystery and Manners. From these readings and analysis, we take up our central project for the semester: the writing of an original short story.
  
  From short stories, we turn to novels. As our paradigms we consider Herman Melville’s Billy Budd and E. M. Forster’s Howard’s End. In our reading of Forster’s Aspects of the Novel , we wonder at his rejection of the Aristotelian schema, pondering the significance of the novel as an art form that was born with advent of modernity.
  
  Each year, the Truth-in-Fiction tutorial also considers films recognized for their story-telling power. Readings address the impact of fiction in the form of film, television, and other electronic media. We recall the Republic’s cautions about stories in the formation of the young and we recognize how “virtual” experiences bypass rational discourse and re-write the human story.
  
  Reading List
   
• Thesis Workshop
  
  For the thesis roundtable, the seniors gather weekly over lunch to present and discuss the research that they have done thus far on their theses. They are frequently joined by members of the faculty.
   
• Thesis: Paper and Presentation
  
  Having completed their theses in the fall semester, the seniors introduce the fruits of their labor to their peers and members of the faculty through a sustained presentation and discussion of their work.
  

Latin

Through our study of Latin we strive to enter more deeply into the liturgical and theological life of the Church, encounter directly the beauty and power of ancient Latin literature, and reflect upon our native tongue and the nature of language itself.

• Latin Fundamentals I & II
  
  In this first year of Latin study, we seek to master the basic grammar and syntax of Latin required to read both classical and ecclesiastical authors. Recognizing that repetition is the mother of learning, we meet five times each week to acquire, maintain, and develop our facility with the essential components of lingua Latina. While committing basic Latin prayers to memory and using them in our common life, we also begin to study the Latin of the Mass, translating both the ordinary texts as well as selected propers, or texts used only during certain liturgical seasons or on certain feasts. Thus, for example, on the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, we would translate the proper collect for that day and perhaps some of St. Thomas’ own prayers. In preparation for Holy Week, we translate the chant texts to be sung by the choir for Maundy Thursday, thereby helping us to prepare in advance for the solemn commemoration of the institution of the Eucharist. By closely linking our study of Latin with the liturgical year, we begin to “breathe” and think in the rhythms of the liturgical cycles that govern our lives as Christians.
   
• Intermediate Latin I & II
  
  In this second year, we continue to observe the liturgical cycles of the Church while studying selected authors from ancient Rome and late-antiquity. In addition to strengthening our mastery of grammar and syntax, we also read selected classical poets, philosophers, and theologians with an attentiveness to the poetic and aesthetic features of their works. In counterpoint to these investigations, we also reflect upon our own experience with other languages and the features common to all language.

Italian

• Italian I & II
  
  In our Italian courses, primarily intended for sophomores and juniors, but open to students in all four years, we study conversational Italian and Italian culture in order to prepare for our summer session in Rome and Norcia.
  

Comparative Cultures

• Comparative Non-Western Cultures I & II
  
  In these courses we seek two distinct but complementary ends, to come to a deeper understanding of selected non-Western cultures themselves and to examine, through comparison, our own habits of thought, action, and emotion in light of them. Throughout our inquiry, two questions will be asked repeatedly: “what is natural?” and “what is cultural?” We listen closely, through our reading, to the texts from the non-western cultures we study—including Native American, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, sub-Saharan, and Indian cultures, among others—attending to their particularities while also seeking to uncover universals shared among these cultures and with our own.
  
  Reading List