High School Dual Enrollment

This course introduces students to the academic study of philosophy through asking fundamental questions about knowledge and reality. Epistemology is the study of knowledge and rational belief. Metaphysics is the study of ultimate reality. In the first two-thirds of this course, we will focus on epistemology, and study a few of the main reasons to be confident that we do indeed know most of the everyday things we think we know—and that we can be reliable and intellectually virtuous judges of truth from falsehood. In the final third of the course, we will turn to metaphysics, and explore the degree to which we can use our reason to discover truths about the foundations of existence and God.

This introductory algebra-based physics course teaches introductory physics, emphasizing connections between theory and application. Topics include the nature of science and physics as one “way of knowing” among many, units and measurement, vectors, motion in one and two dimensions, Newton’s laws of motion and their applications, work and energy, linear momentum and collisions, rotational motion, fluids, heat, vibrations, and principles of conservation. Physics sections for engineering majors emphasize the application of principles and methods while physics sections for non-engineering majors conclude with discussions of the implications of discoveries in physics for conducting business and for understanding the relationship between scientific, humanistic, and religious thought.

Taken in successive terms, the courses Western Civilization I & II help students to understand the arc of human history and Western culture from ancient through medieval to modern eras. Western Civilization I surveys Western culture from ancient Sumer through the Middle Ages, with particular attention to historical context. The course examines some key texts of Western civilization and the cultures that these seminal texts helped to shape. Readings include selections from the Hebrew Scriptures (The Old Testament) and the New Testament, ancient Greek and Roman philosophers, dramatists, and historians, and Christian writers through the Middle Ages. Students explore fundamental questions confronting the human condition, deepen their understanding of the Western tradition, and appreciate the contributions of these writers to the world we live in today.

Western Civilization II examines Western culture from the Renaissance to World War II, with particular attention to historical context. Beginning with the Italian Renaissance, the course traces the impact of major movements including the Protestant Reformation, the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. The course teaches Western culture via major historical events and the contributions of authors such as John Locke, James Madison, Immanuel Kant, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jane Austin, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Henry Newman, Sigmund Freud, Simone Weil, Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Maritain.

Using examples from exceptional writers in the liberal arts tradition, this course fosters an appreciation of great writing and develops the student’s ability in grammar, composition, rhetoric, and critical thinking. The course ends with instruction in advanced composition and rhetorical techniques applied to the classic essay and everyday forms of communication such as e-mails, memos, letters, presentations, and reports.

This course builds upon the knowledge and skills acquired in Writing & Rhetoric I. The course studies classic examples of great writing and rhetoric and applies them to a variety of formats, including novels, poetry, plays, and essays. Students learn to recognize when research and the documentation of sources are necessary. Course work focuses on the discernment of important matters for consideration, logical thought development, and the truthful, credible, civil and persuasive communication of arguments and outcomes.