Aldersgate Honors College

Ancient Beginnings is a study of the historical origins of Western civilization. Our survey will follow the foundational texts of ancient Greece and Rome as well as the early Christian church. The sources this semester span a wide range of genres, including epic, history, philosophy, theology, and ecclesiastical polemics.

The Middle Ages is a study of Europe and the broader Mediterranean world following the fall of Rome, culminating in a survey of the development of humanism during the Renaissance. The course will follow foundational texts, ideas, art works, people, and cultural movements of the period.

This course will cover the transformations wrought by theological, cultural, and social movements that swept over Europe during the Reformation and the Enlightenment. The broader aim is to see the intellectual origins of the modern era.

Late Modernity is a study of thought and culture from the late nineteenth century to the present. Attention will be paid to existentialism, high modernism, the World Wars and the Holocaust, the Civil Rights movement, and postmodernity.

This is a study of how literature intersects with moral and religious issues. Attention will be paid to literature as a creative form and how it reflects what it means to be human in a fallen world. The course will culminate in an extended literary argument.

Stories of Science explores the nature of scientific investigation of the world from philosophical, historical, and methodological perspectives. Students will learn the fundamentals of the scientific method, natural philosophy, and how Christians have dealt with the interplay of faith and science.

This course explores the relationship between religion, government, and society. The historical, theoretical, and contemporary manifestations of this relationship will be examined, with a particular emphasis on the role of faith in shaping public policy, social movements, and cultural values. The course will also explore how people live out their faith in diverse democracies and how religion has influenced government structure and laws over time.

Quest for a Christian Mind will explore fundamental and persisting philosophical questions about human nature, the good, and human flourishing. Students will learn how Christians have attempted to answer these questions in the past, and why these questions and debates are increasingly relevant in our current cultural moment.