Spring 2024 Course Descriptions

Early Modern Age (GTX 3321)
Dr. Phillip Donnelly – TR 2:00 – 3:15

Reimagining Self, City, and Cosmos: The most profound human disagreements often arise from our assumed visions of the self, the city, and the cosmos. What does it mean to say that the self is (or is not) free? How does our imagination of the world shape what we presume about agency, whether human or divine? If you personally seek to become a viable human adult, what is at stake in how you imagine yourself, your communities, or the cosmos? How are these aspects of reality connected, or disconnected? Many of our contemporary answers to these kinds of questions take their inception from those texts of the Early Modern Era (circa 1500-1700) that we shall be studying—including the likes of Machiavelli, Teresa of Avila, John Milton, and others. The readings include texts on philosophy, theology, imaginative literature, and political theory, providing an opportunity to interrogate the connections between what we know, how we live, and what we enjoy. This seminar is an invitation to remember the conversations which make present knowledge possible and which present knowledge may, at its peril, forget.

Great Texts by Women (GTX 3330)
Dr. Melinda Nielsen – TR 2:00 – 3:15

“Love and Friendship”: What makes a person truly himself or herself? For many of the great writers, one’s identity is not ultimately defined by “what” one is, but rather by the choices that one makes and the communities in which one participates, whether physical, textual or across time. That is, as St. Clare of Assisi wrote, we become what we love. This course will interrogate how charity, eros, and friendship may shape human identity in relationship to God, neighbor, self, and nature. Readings include Plato’s Symposium, women’s canticles in Scripture, Marie de France, Julian of Norwich, Jane Austen, George Eliot, Willa Cather, and Virginia Woolf.

Great Texts in Christian Spirituality (GTX 3331)
Dr. Alan Jacobs – TR 11:00 – 12:15

For the purposes of this course, “Christian Spirituality” will be defined thus: The modes of encountering the triune God, and our neighbors made in that God’s image, through the practices and experiences of the Christian life. Texts may include: the Didache; Augustine, Enchiridion; the PhilokaliaI; writings of Bernard of Clairvaux; Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love; Martin Luther, selected writings; John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress; Charles Wesley, William Cowper, and others, selected hymns; The Gospel music of Mahalia Jackson, Thomas Dorsey, and others; T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets; C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed; Ron Hansen, Mariette in Ecstasy.

Black Intellectual Traditions (GTX 3332)
Dr. Barry Harvey – MW 2:30 – 3:45

In this course we shall read a selection of texts from the rich veins of wisdom that are the Black intellectual traditions. There is much we can learn about ourselves, our neighbors, and our history and society from these authors, who draw on their own experiences and the testimonies of women and men from multiple generations and continents to bring distinctive voices and perspectives into the Great Texts conversation. The authors we shall read and discuss next semester in seminar offer diverse responses to what W.E.B. DuBois calls the “problem of the Twentieth Century…the problem of the color-line.” Texts will be selected from works by Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. DuBois, Countee Cullen, James Baldwin, Nelson Mandela, Ann Petry, Gwendolyn Brooks, James Cone, Toni Morrison, and Chinua Achebe.

Master Works in Drama (GTX 3341)
Dr. Skye Strauss – MWF 11:15 – 12:05

The nature and function of dramatic literature, in both cultural and theatrical history, are hotly debated. Is drama merely a blueprint for theatrical practice, an art form in its own right, or a hybridization of the two? What is the role of philosophy, art, literature, and cultural studies in writing and analyzing drama? How do we, as artists, scholars, and critics, discern artistic and literary value? We will wrestle with these questions (and others) throughout the semester. This class involves a survey and analysis of some of the most important works of dramatic literature in our intellectual tradition; as such, we should have vibrant class discussions about issues such as the role of theatre and art in society, the value of literature, and the understanding and adaptation of drama for the stage. Students should gain a better understanding of how to interpret and understand drama, but with a renewed sense of their own critical faculties and reasons for their aesthetic preferences.

Great Texts in the Twentieth Century (GTX 4321)
Dr. Kristen Drahos – MW 1:00 – 2:15

The twentieth century was the most violent and hate-filled in human history to date. The unabashed optimism that accompanied its beginnings was quickly shattered by two world wars and innumerable regional conflicts, fascist and communist tyranny, genocide on an unimaginable scale, economic depression, segregation, apartheid, social fragmentation, and ecological devastation, just to mention a few lowlights. Despite the bloodshed and destruction, there were some still seeking signs of life amid the animosity and destruction. Through literature, philosophy, and theology, we will explore the contours of suffering and hope that defined this century. Read from among such noted authors as Primo Levi, Martin Buber, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Hannah Arendt, Toni Morrison, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Flannery O’Connor.

Masterworks in Music (GTX 4340)
Dr. David Corey – TR 9:30 – 10:45

Masterworks of Music surveys the major historical periods and many of the finest pieces of Western classical music while pursuing difficult philosophical questions about the role of music in a rich and flourishing life: What is music? How does music have meaning? What is the relationship between music and the culture in which it is produced? Does music have an ethical dimension such that it can be “good” or “bad” in its significance? Is music limited to its ethical value, or can it somehow transcend the moral domain? How are aesthetic judgments possible? Can music somehow get us closer to God? Students will leave the course with a wide knowledge of classical music and a deep appreciation for aesthetic delight.

Great Texts in Modern Science (GTX 4341)
Dr. Eric Martin – MW 4:00 – 5:15

Science is indisputably a central facet of modernity; this class will equip students with analytical tools needed to better understand the sciences, their history, and their role in society. Students will learn the foundational content and context of several lineages of natural sciences through engagement with primary texts from Darwin, Huxley, Freud, Watson and Crick, Gould, Carson, and others. This will provide students familiarity with multiple aspects of modern sciences and will set the stage for the latter part of the class, which involves theoretical reflection on the nature of those sciences more generally. What is the nature of scientific progress? Do natural sciences provide any sort of unified or coherent world picture? What is the role of human beings in that picture, and what are the possibilities for religious belief, free will, or ethical commitment? Is there a particular scientific method, or a multiplicity of ways of knowing about the world?

Great Texts Capstone (GTX 4343)
Dr. Michael Foley – TR 12:30 – 1:45

In recent decades and for a number of reasons, human beings have become increasingly concerned about how they interact with the planet on which they dwell. There are many ways in which people engage nature directly or indirectly: hiking, mountain-climbing, birdwatching, stargazing, boating, hunting, fishing, shepherding, farming, the construction of roads and buildings, and of course, the consumption of material goods. This Capstone course, which addresses most of these forms of engagement, is guided by two questions: 1) What is the proper relationship between man and his so-called environment? And 2) How does a reading of great texts help us foster this relationship?

Christian Renaissance of the 20th Century – (GTX 4V99)
Dr. Alan Jacobs – TR 2:00 – 3:15

By the end of the 19th century, close observers of elite culture were confident that Christianity was soon to be dead among the intellectuals of the Western world. Those observers couldn’t have been more wrong. The twentieth century witnessed a great intellectual and artistic flourishing among Christians, a flourishing that altered the entire cultural landscape. In this class, we will explore this signal development. Figures studied may include: Novelists: G. K. Chesterton, J. R. R. Tolkien, Walker Percy, Marilynne Robinson; Poets: T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden; Composers: Olivier Messiaen, Arvo Pärt; Theologians and philosophers: Karl Barth, Simone Weil, Hans Urs von Balthasar, C. S. Lewis; Visual artists: Georges Rouault, Arcabas; Filmmakers: Robert Bresson, Terrence Malick. The goal here is not to give a comprehensive survey — that would be too vast a challenge for our course — but rather to understand how Christian thinkers and artists changed, and are still changing, our cultural world.