Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy

This is a reading, writing and class discussion course. Students will read works prior to class and be ready to engage in live discussions via online sources. Students will write two short essays (500-750 words).

Course Objectives:

1. To expose students to varied ancient, classical, or contemporary literary works
2. To allow students to personally investigated universal themes and participate in what Mortimer Adler calls “great conversations”
3. To interrogate texts to develop interpretive questions designed to stimulate conversation
4. To engage in meaningful Socratic conversation
5. To develop parliamentary conversational skills to engage in respectful disagreement
6. To recognize universal truths of literature as they relate to Christian thinking
7. To develop writing skills in shorter academic essays
8. To develop an academic writing style that incorporates literary present tense, mechanical skills that provide smooth flowing material, and text citation to support arguments

Texts:

• Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy

Materials for this course will be made available free of charge by the instructor.