Of classical art, Kenneth Clark writes: “...the Greeks associated their art with their mathematics, as being a demonstration of order, capable of accurate conclusions.” While classical educators rightly cling to both Goodness and Truth, they often loosen their grip on Beauty. Studies of music, theater, and the visual arts tend to wander from any discernable direction, replacing the ancient principles of classical form with the promise of an exhaustive scope and a broad exposure. To re-establish the clarity of traditional tastes, this course will cultivate a proper delight in the sculpture and architecture of the ancient Greeks, understanding it by means of its Egyptian predecessor, its Italian rebirth, and its sudden dwindling in modernity.
- Teacher: Kyle Janke
In Plato’s Timaeus we find a breathtaking vision of the entire cosmos and man’s place in it. We read of a creator God and the many lower spirits that organize the universe. We read of the eternal Forms and their manifestation in the constantly changing, constantly perishing world of human experience. We read of the soul, its relationship to the body, and its desire to be like God. Because large portions of the Timaeus were translated into Latin much earlier than the rest of Plato’s writings, this book became one of the most influential texts throughout the ancient and medieval world, and aspects of its cosmic vision loom large in authors all the way from Cicero and Seneca to Dante and Shakespeare. Please join us for a five-week deep dive into this strange and beautiful, baffling and compelling universe.
- Teacher: Dan Sheffler
Every serious learner knows the daunting moment of opening a difficult book or entering a new field where nothing yet connects. This course takes as its starting point that climb: the struggle from initial perplexity, through flashes of insight, toward genuine mastery and the higher perspective that comes with understanding.
Alongside this journey of comprehension, we will also practice the arts of retention and recall. Students will explore practical methods for strengthening memory and organizing their thoughts, from Augustine’s memory palaces to Adler’s techniques for reading, from Plato’s use of diagrams to Descartes’ rules for clear thinking.
This is not a survey course but a workshop. Readings are short and the work will be putting learning techniques into personal practice. Students are welcome to bring their own subjects, texts, and problems into the seminar, applying the techniques to their own work, and reflecting on the process.
By the end of the course, students will not only know about study methods, they will have practiced and adapted them, building habits of thought and memory that support the life of serious learning.
- Teacher: Thomas Cothran
A five-week seminar course designed to assist students in addressing the question "What is classical education?" In answering this question, we will discuss what education itself consists of, how classical education differs from other, modern definitions of education, how classical education fits into the history of education, and the relationship of classical education to religious belief. We will address questions that are often asked about classical education such as:
Is Dorothy Sayers' definition of education an adequate one?
Should Christians read the pagan classics?
How essential is the study of classical languages like Latin and Greek to a true classical education?
Is classical education relevant in the age of STEM?
Does classical education assume a particular world view, and, if so, what is it?
What are the arguments against classical education and how are they best answered?
- Teacher: Martin Cothran
Using masterworks of Romantic and early modern literature, we will explore together two archetypal themes: the conflict between good and evil and man’s struggle to find meaning. Goethe’s rollicking, earth-shattering play Faust, Part I (1808) will set the frame for us. Then, we will proceed through Gogol’s ironic and prophetic short story The Nose (1836), Dostoevsky’s probing novel The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Tolstoy’s incomparable novel Anna Karenina (1878), and conclude with Chekhov’s searing play The Cherry Orchard (1903).
We will read: Goethe Faust 1–807, Faust 808–2804, Faust 2805–3834, Faust 3835–4614, Gogol The Nose, Tolstoy Anna Karenina I–II, Anna Karenina III–IV, Anna Karenina V–VI, Anna Karenina VII–VIII, Dostoevsky Brothers Karamazov I–III, Brothers Karamazov IV–VI, Brothers Karamazov VII–IX, Brothers Karamazov X–XII and Epilogue, Chekhov The Cherry Orchard I–II, and The Cherry Orchard III–IV.
- Teacher: Carol Reynolds
While many associate the tradition of epic poetry with the pagan Greeks and Romans, both Dante and Milton qualify for the laurel crown right along with the best of them. These Christian epics, however, expand the focus to the whole sweep of history from the fall of Satan to the return of Christ and the whole cosmos of heaven and earth, hell and purgatory. In this course, we will look at The Divine Comedy, including discussion of its background in medieval philosophy and theology, and we will cover Paradise Lost, including reflection on the culture of post-Reformation England.
We will read: Inferno Intro and I–XI, Inferno XII–XXII, Inferno XXIII–XXXIII, Purgatorio I–XI, Purgatorio XII–XXII, Purgatorio XXIII–XXXIII, Paradiso I–XI, Paradiso XII–XXII, Paradiso XXIII–XXXIII, Paradise Lost I–II, Paradise Lost III–IV, Paradise Lost V–VI, Paradise Lost VII–VIII, Paradise Lost IX–X, and Paradise Lost XI–XII.
- Teacher: Lesley-Anne Williams
In the end, all questions are theological. Pagans and Christians, atheists and saints have all shaped every aspect of the Great Conversation by the way they think (or don’t think) about God. In this course, we will try to develop an appreciation for the broad sweep of this history beginning with the Greeks, moving to the Christian Middle Ages, and ending in modernity. This class will not be a course in Christian systematic theology as you might expect to find at a seminary. Instead, we will be reading broadly from literature, drama, philosophy, epic, and Scripture in order to learn how mankind has thought about God, eternity, the soul, ultimate meaning, and worship.
We will read: Plato, Euthyphro, Laws X; Aristotle, De Anima; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound; Genesis, Exodus, and Matthew; Augustine, Confessions XI–XII; Aquinas, Summa Theologica I Q. 1, II-II QQ. 1–3; Dante, Divine Comedy Paradise; Hobbes, Leviathan I.12, II.31, III; Montaigne, Essays (selections); Milton, Paradise Lost I–III; Pascal, Pensées III–IV; Locke, Concerning Toleration, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding IV, XVIII–XIX; Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding X–XI; Dostoevsky, Brothers Karamazov VI; Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents I–II, New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis Lecture 35.
- Teacher: Jan Bentz
The great natural philosopher Blaise Pascal wrote, “Nature has some perfections to show that she is the image of God, and some defects to show that she is only His image.” In many ways, this profound statement summarizes the findings of scientists throughout history. Text selections will help students learn how natural philosophy built the foundations of modern science and the pivotal role the Church played in shaping it.
We will read: Selections from Archimedes’ On Floating Bodies, Ptolemy’s Algamest, Bacon’s Opus Majus, Copernicus’ On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, Kepler’s Epitome of Copernican Astronomy, Galileo’s The Two New Sciences, Pascal’s Account of the Great Experiment Concerning the Equilibrium of Fluids, Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, Newton’s Optics, Huygens’ Treatise on Light, Ray’s The Wisdom of God as Manifested in the Works of Creation, Lavosier’s Elements of Chemistry, and Darwin’s The Origin of Species.
- Teacher: Jay Wile
- Most days begin with seminars immediately after breakfast, on the basis of texts collated for you in a Memoria College reader—texts nowhere else in captivity to be found together!
- After the seminar we head into the city to tour some of the most famous sites and see some of the most important and most beautiful art and architecture of the last three thousand years of Western civilization ...
- Texts and tours are roughly correlated thematically: pagan Rome, early Christian Rome, Renaissance, etc.
- Along with a few planned banquets in some of Rome's hidden gems, most nights are free for exploring Rome's culinary and cultural scene—wandering about Trastevere, lingering on the Ponte Sisto, enjoying gelato and wine...
- There will also be an unprogrammed day at the end for exploring independently or returning to your favorite sites.
- Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill, Capitoline Hill & Museum;
- Catacombs; first-millennium, medieval, and Renaissance churches
- The Duomo of Florence
- Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums
- Villa Borghese & the Roman Baroque
- ...and more!
- Teacher: Jan Bentz
- Teacher: Brian Lapsa