We are planning a Aug-June program that addresses two things: a Christian worldview, and the history of ideas in the West through a great books reading schedule. We’ll start the last two weeks of August, do 7 weeks on the Greeks and Romans, and then take two weeks off to attend the Rochester, MN L’abri branch. Then 7 weeks on the medievals, and a month plus off for Christmas. Then 7 weeks on the Renaissance and Reformation, 7 weeks on the Enlightenment and Romanticism, 2 weeks off to go to England and France, then back home for 6 weeks on the 20th century. In the end, the students will have a sense of the flow of history through ideas that have shaped our civilization, read from original sources. The hope is that this will prove to be a “clothes line” that the students can add to as they each go through college and for the rest of their lives.
We have 3 faculty members, myself dealing with art, music, theater, and general reading, Keith Callis, PhD in Romantics and also in Shakespeare, and Bill Jenkins, PhD, who is a 20th century fiction specialist and who also specializes in writing. We will also have guest lecturers here and in England (I have a couple of friends at Cambridge who we plan to meet with when we travel there).
Weekly schedules will include a lecture or two, lots of reading, tutorial time (one-on-one), group discussion time, and some sort of cultural event (play, film, concert, gallery showing, et c.) with discussion afterward. Some of the lectures and events will be opened to the public too, and perhaps the trip overseas too.
We are setting tuition at $12,500 for the year. It includes the expenses on the trip to Europe – not included are books, food or lodging during the regular year.
Also, we have connections with Belhaven College in Jackson, MS, and they are willing to give college credit for the work we are doing. (I have taught for Belhaven before.)
If you are interested in this program, please let us know, and we will be pleased to speak with you directly either by email or phone.