The Four Year Curriculum
Options to Choose From
Option Number One
120 Credits Great Books CurriculumOption Number One
Students who choose Option One would take part in a 120-credit curriculum comprised exclusively of studies in the liberal arts and sciences, great books, and contemporary crises in the West.Option Number Two
90 Credits Great Books MajorOption Number Two
Students who choose Option Two would take part in a 90-credit Great Books Major featuring designated courses in Option One and would be at liberty to select 30 elective credits.Option Number Three
75 Credits Great Books Plus Traditional MajorOption Number Three
Students choosing Option Three will take 75 designated credits in the Option One curriculum and 45 credits in a major. For majors requiring more credits, students will consult with the Director of the Honors College.120 designated credits in Great Books curriculum (see below).
FRESHMAN YEAR: FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
| CLASSICAL THOUGHT | |||
| FALL SEMESTER | SPRING SEMESTER | ||
| 1) | Homer: The Iliad; The Odyssey Vergil: The Aeneid | 1) | Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War Herodotus: Histories Xenophon: Memorabilia |
| 2) | GREEK TRAGEDY Aeschylus: Oresteia; Prometheus Bound Sophocles: The Three Theban Plays Euripides: TBD | 2) | Aristotle: Physics; On the Soul; Nicomachean Ethics; Politics |
| 3) | Aristophanes: Clouds Plato: Ion; Meno; Apology of Socrates; Crito; The Republic | 3) | Plutarch: Parallel Lives (selections) Lucretius: On the Nature of Things Cicero: On Ends; On Duties Livy: Selections Al Farabi: The Attainment of Happiness |
| LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES | |||
| 4) | TRIVIUM I: LOGIC & RHETORIC Plato: Gorgias Aristotle: Prior Analytics; Posterior Analytics; Categories; On Interpretation; Topics | 4) | Euclid, Elements |
| 5) | Lab Science I (4 hours) | 5) | Lab Science II (4 hours) |
SOPHOMORE YEAR: FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
| CHRISTIAN THOUGHT | MODERN THOUGHT | ||
| FALL SEMESTER | SPRING SEMESTER | ||
| 1) | BIBLICAL TEXTS Book of Genesis Exodus Book of Job; Proverbs; Ecclesiastes (selections) Isaiah Gospel of Luke Acts of the Apostles I Corinthians | 1) | Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince; Mandragola; Discourses (selections) John Locke: Second Treatise of Government; Letter on Toleration David Hume: Treatise on Human Nature |
| 2) | ST. AUGUSTINE & ST. THOMAS AQUINAS I Confessions On the Free Choice of the Will On Nature and Grace Summa Theologica and Summa Contra Gentiles (selections) | 2) | Galileo: Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences or Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems Francis Bacon: The Great Instauration; New Atlantis, Essays; Rene Descartes: Discourse on Method; Meditation on First Philosophy |
| 3) | St. Athanasius: Life of Anthony; On the Incarnation St. Basil: Letter to Young Men St. Jerome (selections) Tertullian; St. Gregory of Nazianzen St. Anselm: On Why God Became Man; Proslogion Venerable Bede: Ecclesiastical History of the English People St. Teresa of Avila: Autobiography | 3) | THE AMERICAN FOUNDING Articles of Confederation; The Declaration of Independence; The American Constitution; The Federalist Papers; Anti-Federalist Writings; Frederick Douglass & Abraham Lincoln: Writings and Speeches |
| ARTS --- LANGUAGES --- POETIC WISDOM --- TEXTUAL ANALYSIS | |||
| 4) | TRIVIUM II: POETICS & RHETORIC Plato: Phaedrus Aristotle: Rhetoric; Poetics Quintilian: Institutes of Oratory | 4) | Poetic Wisdom II: Cervantes, Goethe, Stenhal |
| 5) | One of the following electives: Greek I (3 hours) Latin I (3 hours) Poetic Wisdom I: Milton, Swift, Melville, Faulkner | 5) | One of the following electives: Greek II (3 hours) Latin II (3 hours) Textual Analysis I: Shakespeare -- King Lear, Hamlet |
JUNIOR YEAR: FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
| MODERN THOUGHT | CHRISTIAN THOUGHT | ||
| FALL SEMESTER | SPRING SEMESTER | ||
| 1) | Rousseau: Discourse on the Origin of Inequality; The Social Contract Kant: On Perpetual Peace; Idea for a Universal History Hegel: Introduction to the Philosophy of History Marx: The Communist Manifesto; The 18th Brumaire Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France | 1) | ST. AUGUSTINE & ST. THOMAS AQUINAS II On Christian Doctrine The City of God (Selections) Summa Theologica & Summa Contra Gentiles (Selections) |
| 2) | Montesquieu: The Spirit of the Laws Mill: Utilitarianism August Comte: Introduction to Positive Philosophy Freud: Civilization and Its Discontents Max Weber: Science as Vocation; Politics as Vocation | 2) | Pascal: Pensees Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling Newman: Grammar of Assent; Development of Christian Doctrine Edith Stein: Finite and Eternal Being or The Science of the Cross Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI: Without Roots; “Regensburg Address”; Introduction to Christianity; Spirit of the Liturgy (selections) |
| 3) | Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil Heidegger: Introduction to Metaphysics; The Self-Assertion of the German University; On Plato’s Parable of the Cave Derrida: Plato’s Pharmacy Lyotard: The Post-Modern Condition Rorty: TBD or Foucault: Discipline and Punish Rosen: Hermeneutics as Politics | 3) | BIBLICAL TEXTS II Deuteronomy First and Second Samuel & Kings (selections) Daniel Jonah Jeremiah Gospel of John St. Paul: Epistle to the Romans Book of Revelation |
| THE QUEST FOR ECONOMIC WISDOM --- ART & THE BEAUTIFUL -- TEXTUAL ANALYSIS | |||
| 4) | SEMINAR: THE QUEST FOR ECONOMIC WISDOM Smith: The Wealth of Nations (selections) Tawney: Religion and the Rise of Capitalism Keynes: TBD Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism Hayek: TBD Pope Pius XI: Quadragesimo Anno Marx: Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts Pope Leo XIII: Rerum Novarum | 4) | SEMINAR: ART AND THE BEAUTIFUL Longinus: On The Sublime Kant: The Beautiful and the Sublime Hume: Of the Standard of Taste Schiller: Aesthetical and Philosophical Essays (selections) Benjamin: “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" Maritain: Art and Scholasticism Adorno & Horkheimer: “The Culture Industry” Pieper: Only the Lover Sings |
| 5) | Poetic Wisdom III Shakespeare: Coriolanus; Julius Caesar; Anthony and Cleopatra | 5) | TEXTUAL ANALYSIS II Dante: The Divine Comedy |
SENIOR YEAR: CRISES IN THE WEST
| FALL SEMESTER | SPRING SEMESTER | ||
| 1) | HISTORY & THE IDEA OF PROGRESS J. Bury: The Idea of Progress John Baillie: The Belief in Progress Karl Lowith: The Meaning of History R.G. Collingwood: The Idea of History George Grant: Time as History Nietzsche, The Advantages and Disadvantages of History | 1) | MODERNITY: THE POETS’ VISION Flaubert: Madame Bovary Dostoevsky: Notes from Underground Nietzsche: Thus Spake Zarathustra Joyce: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man T.S. Eliot: The Wasteland; Four Quartets Flannery O’Connor: selected short stories |
| 2) | SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Arthur Eddington: The Expanding Universe Werner Heisenberg: Physics & Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science; Philosophical Problems of Quantum Physics; The Physicist’s Conception of Nature (selections) George Grant: Technology & Justice; Technology & Empire Jacques Ellul: Politics, Technology, and Christianity Romano Guardini: Letters from Lake Como: Explorations on Technology & the Human Race; The End of the Modern World Pope Francis I: Laudato Si | 2) | FREEDOM, RIGHTS, AND VIRTUE Hegel: The Philosophy of Right Alasdair Macintyre: After Virtue Mary Ann Glendon: Rights Talk: Impoverishment of Political Discourse Charles DeKoninck: The Primacy of the Common Good Ernest Fortin: Human Rights, Justice, and the Common Good Mill: On Liberty |
| 3) | THE DRAMA OF MODERN ATHEISM Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity Nietzsche: The Gay Science (selections); Dostoevsky: The Brothers Karamazov Sartre, The Flies De Lubac: The Drama of Atheistic Humanism | 3) | GLOBALISM, NATIONALISM, AND THE LIMITS OF COMMERCE Ulrich Beck: What Is Globalization? Samuel Huntington: The Clash of Civilizations Pierre Manent: A World Beyond Politics?; Democracy Without Nations Aristotle: Politics (II, VII) |
| 4) | Textual Analysis III Tocqueville: Democracy in America | 4) | SEMINAR: LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, AND MARRIAGE Plato, The Symposium Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet; Sonnets Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice Willa Cather: Two Friends St. John Paul II: Love and Responsibility; Theology of the Body |
| 5) | SENIOR THESIS | 5) | EDUCATION AND THE FATE OF NATIONS Plato: The Republic (II, III, VII) Confucius: Analects John Henry Newman: The Idea of a University W.E.B. DuBois: The Souls of Black Folk Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind St. John Paul II: Faith and Reason |
A Major in Great Books
90 designated credits in Great Books Option One curriculum (see below).
30 elective credits.
FRESHMAN YEAR: FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
| CLASSICAL THOUGHT | |||
| FALL SEMESTER | SPRING SEMESTER | ||
| 1) | Homer: The Iliad; The Odyssey Vergil: The Aeneid | 1) | Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War Herodotus: Histories Xenophon: Memorabilia |
| 2) | Aristophanes: Clouds Plato: Ion; Meno; Apology of Socrates; Crito; The Republic | 2) | Aristotle: Physics; On the Soul; Nicomachean Ethics; Politics |
| LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES | |||
| 3) | TRIVIUM: LOGIC & RHETORIC Plato: Gorgias Aristotle: Prior Analytics; Posterior Analytics; Categories; On Interpretation; Topics | 3) | Euclid: Elements |
| 4) | Lab Science (4 hours) | 4) | Lab Science (4 hours) |
| 5) | Elective | 5) | Elective |
SOPHOMORE YEAR: FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
| CHRISTIAN THOUGHT | MODERN THOUGHT | ||
| FALL SEMESTER | SPRING SEMESTER | ||
| 1) | BIBLICAL TEXTS I Book of Genesis Exodus Book of Job; Proverbs; Ecclesiastes (selections) Isaiah Gospel of Luke Acts of the Apostles I Corinthians | 1) | Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince; Mandragola; Discourses (selections) Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan (selection) John Locke: Second Treatise of Government; Letter on Toleration David Hume: Treatise on Human Nature |
| 2) | ST. AUGUSTINE & ST. THOMAS AQUINAS I (selections from each) | 2) | Galileo: Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences or Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Systems Francis Bacon: The Great Instauration; New Atlantis; Essays; Rene Descartes: Discourse on Method; Meditations on First Philosophy |
| 3) | TRIVIUM II: POETICS & RHETORIC Plato: Phaedrus Aristotle: Rhetoric; Poetics Quintilian: Institutes of Oratory (selections) | 3) | THE AMERICAN FOUNDING Articles of Confederation; Declaration of Independence; The American Constitution; The Federalist Papers; Anti-Federalist Writings Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln: Writings and Speeches |
| 4) | Elective | 4) | TEXTUAL ANALYSIS I Shakespeare: King Lear, Hamlet |
| 5) | Elective | 5) | Elective |
JUNIOR YEAR: FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
| MODERN THOUGHT | CHRISTIAN THOUGHT | ||
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | ||
| 1) | Rousseau: Discourse on the Origin of Inequality; The Social Contract Kant: On Perpetual Peace; Idea for a Universal History Hegel: Introduction to the Philosophy of History Marx: The Communist Manifesto; The 18th Brumaire Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France | 1) | Pascal: Pensees Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling Newman: Grammar of Assent & Development of Christian Doctrine Edith Stein: Finite and Eternal Being or The Science of the Cross Benedict XVI: Without Roots; Introduction to (excerpts)“Regensburg Address” |
| 2) | Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil Heidegger: Introduction to Metaphysics; The Self-Assertion of the German University; On Plato’s Parable of the Cave Derrida: Plato’s Pharmacy Lyotard: The Post-Modern Condition Rorty: TBD / or Foucault: Discipline and Punish Rosen: Hermeneutics as Politics | 2) | Elective |
| 3) | SEMINAR: THE QUEST FOR ECONOMIC WISDOM Smith: The Wealth of Nations (selections) Tawney: Religion & the Rise of Capitalism Keynes: TBD Hayek: TBD Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism Pope Pius XI: Quadragesimo Anno Marx: Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts Pope Leo XIII: Rerum Novarum | 3) | SEMINAR: ART & THE BEAUTIFUL Longinus: On the Sublime Kant: The Beautiful and the Sublime Schiller: Aesthetical and Philosophical Essays (selections) Hume: Of the Standard of Taste Benjamin: “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” Maritain: Art and Scholasticism Adorno & Hokheimer: “The Culture Industry” Pieper: Only the Lover Sings |
| 4) | Poetic Wisdom III Shakespeare: Coriolanus; Julius Caesar; Antony and Cleopatra | 4) | TEXTUAL ANALYSIS II Dante: The Divine Comedy |
| 5) | Elective | 5) | Elective |
SENIOR YEAR: CRISES IN THE WEST
| FALL SEMESTER | SPRING SEMESTER | ||
| 1) | HISTORY & THE IDEA OF PROGRESS Nietzsche: The Advantages and Disadvantages of History J. Bury: The Idea of Progress J. Baillie: The Belief in Progress K. Lowith, The Meaning of History R.G. Collingwood: The Idea of History George Grant: Time as History | 1) | MODERNITY: THE POETS’ VISION Flaubert: Madame Bovary Dostoevsky: Notes from Underground Nietzsche: Thus Spake Zarathustra T.S. Eliot: The Wasteland; Four Quartets Joyce: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Flannery O’Connor: selected short stories |
| 2) | SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Arthur Eddington: The Expanding Universe Werner Heisenberg: Philosophical Problems in Physics; The Physicist’s Conception of Nature (selections) George Grant: Technology & Justice; Technology & Empire Jacques Ellul: Politics, Technology, and Christianity Romano Guardini, Letters from Lake Como: Explorations on Technology and the Human Race Pope Francis I: Laudato Si | 2) | FREEDOM, RIGHTS, AND VIRTUE Hegel: The Philosophy of Right Macintyre: After Virtue Mary Ann Glendon: Rights Talk: Impoverishment of Political Discourse Charles de Koninck, The Primacy of the Common Good Ernest Fortin: Rights, Social Justice, and the Common Good Mill: On Liberty |
| 3) | TEXTUAL ANALYSIS III: Tocqueville: Democracy in America | 3) | SEMINAR: LOVE, FRIENDSHIP, AND MARRIAGE Plato, Symposium Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet; Sonnets Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice Willa Cather: Two Friends St. John Paul II: Love and Responsibility; Theology of the Body |
| 4) | Senior Thesis | 4) | EDUCATION AND THE FATE OF NATIONS Plato: The Republic (II, III, VII) Confucius: Analects Xenophon: Education of Cyrus W.E.B. DuBois: The Souls of Black Folk Newman: The Idea of a University Bloom: The Closing of the American Mind Pope John Paul II: Faith and Reason |
| 5) | Elective | 5) | Elective |
75 designated credits in the Option One curriculum as listed below.
45 credits in a Belmont Abbey College major.
45 credits in a Belmont Abbey College major.
FRESHMAN YEAR: FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
| CLASSICAL THOUGHT | |||
| FALL SEMESTER | SPRING SEMESTER | ||
| 1) | Homer: The Iliad; The Odyssey Vergil: The Aeneid | 1) | Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War Herodotus: Histories Xenophon: Memorabilia |
| 2) | Aristophanes: Clouds Plato: Ion, Meno; Apology of Socrates; Crito; The Republic | 2) | Aristotle: Physics; On the Soul; Nicomachean Ethics; Politics |
| LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES | |||
| 3) | TRIVIUM: LOGIC & RHETORIC Plato: Gorgias Aristotle: Prior Analytics; Posterior Analytics; Categories; On Interpretation; Topics | 3) | Euclid, Elements |
| 4) | Lab Science (4 hours) | 4) | Lab Science (4 hours) |
| 5) | Major Course | 5) | Major Course |
SOPHOMORE YEAR: FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
| CHRISTIAN THOUGHT | MODERN THOUGHT | ||
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | ||
| 1) | BIBLICAL TEXTS Book of Genesis Exodus Book of Job; Ecclesiastes, Proverbs (selections) Isaiah Gospel of Luke Acts of the Apostles I Corinthians | 1) | Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince; Mandragola; Discourses (selections); Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan (selections) John Locke: Second Treatise of Government; Letter on Toleration David Hume: Treatise on Human Nature |
| 2) | ST. AUGUSTINE & ST. THOMAS AQUINAS I (selections) | 2) | Galileo: Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences or Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems Francis Bacon: The Great Instauration; New Atlantis; Essays Rene Descartes: Discourse on Method; Meditation on First Philosophy |
| 3) | TRIVIUM II: Poetics & Rhetoric Plato: Phaedrus Aristotle: Rhetoric; Poetics Quintilian: Institutes of Oratory (selections) | 3) | THE AMERICAN FOUNDING Articles of Confederation; The Declaration of Independence; The American Constitution; The Federalist Papers; Anti-Federalist Writings; Frederick Douglass & Abraham Lincoln: Writings and Speeches |
| 4) | Major course | 4) | Major course |
| 5) | Major course | 5) | Major course |
JUNIOR YEAR: FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
| MODERN THOUGHT | CHRISTIAN THOUGHT | ||
| FALL SEMESTER | SPRING SEMESTER | ||
| 1) | Rousseau: Discourse on the Origin of Inequality; The Social Contract Kant: On Perpetual Peace; Idea for a Universal History Hegel: Introduction to the Philosophy of History Marx: The Communist Manifesto; The 18th Brumaire Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France | 1) | Pascal: Pensees Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling Newman: Grammar of Assent & Development of Christian Doctrine Edith Stein: Finite and Eternal Being or The Science of the Cross Benedict XVI: Without Roots; Introduction to Christianity; Spirit of the Liturgy; “Regensburg Address” |
| 2) | SEMINAR: THE QUEST FOR ECONOMIC WISDOM Smith: The Wealth of Nations (selections) Tawney: Religion and the Rise of Capital Keynes: TBD Weber: The Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism Hayek: TBD Marx: Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts Pope Leo XIII: Rerum Novarum Pope Pius XI: Quadragesimo Anno | 2) | SEMINAR: ART AND THE BEAUTIFUL Longinus: On the Sublime Kant: The Beautiful and the Sublime Hume: Of the Standard of Taste Schiller: Aesthetical and Philosophical Essays (selections) Benjamin: “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” Maritain: Art and Scholasticism Adorno & Horkheimer: “The Culture Industry” Pieper: Only the Lover Sings |
| 3) | Poetic Wisdom III Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra | 3) | TEXTUAL ANALYSIS II Dante: The Divine Comedy |
| 4) | Major Course | 4) | Major Course |
| 5) | Major Course | 5) | Major Course |
SENIOR YEAR: CRISES IN THE WEST
| FALL SEMESTER | SPRING SEMESTER | ||
| 1) | HISTORY & THE IDEA OF PROGRESS Nietzsche: The Advantages and Disadvantages of History J. Bury: The Idea of Progress J. Baillie: The Belief in Progress K. Lowith: The Meaning of History R.G. Collingwood: The Idea of History George Grant: Time as History Karl Lowith: The Meaning of History | 1) | MODERNITY: THE POETS’ VISION Flaubert: Madame Bovary Dostoevsky: Notes from Underground Nietzsche: Thus Spake Zarathustra T.S. Eliot: The Wasteland; Four Quartets James Joyce: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man |
| 2) | SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Arthur Eddington: The Expanding Universe Werner Heisenberg: Philosophical Problems In Quantum Physics; The Physicist’s Conception of Nature (selections) George Grant: Technology and Justice; Technology and Empire Jacques Ellul: Politics, Technology, and Christianity Romano Guardini: Letters from Lake Como: Technology and the Human Race; The End of the Modern World Pope Francis I: Laudato Si | 2) | FREEDOM, RIGHTS, AND VIRTUE Mill: On Liberty Hegel: The Philosophy of Right Macintyre: After Virtue Mary Ann Glendon: Rights Talk: Impoverishment of Political Discourse Charles de Koninck: The Primacy of the Common Good Ernest Fortin: Rights, Justice, and the Common Good |
| 3) | TEXTUAL ANALYSIS III Tocqueville: Democracy in America | 3) | Major course |
| 4) | Major course | 4) | Major course |
| 5) | Major course | 5) | Major course |