Self-Paced Courses are accessed through our learning management system. The students are guided by clear weekly schedules, instructional videos, and automated assessments. Courses are written to be completed in one academic year, but students set their own pace. No grading is provided, but answer keys are available for most courses. Access is for one calendar year.

Course Description: Our great books courses are 3-in-1 classes that integrate Literature, Philosophy, and Theology into a single reading sequence. Courses are organized by historical period, with purposeful repetition across the curriculum.

The class format is that of a great books seminar--students read primary works from the great authors and authoresses of Western Civilization and then discuss them in a round-table format, thus joining what has been referred to as the "Great Conversation." The students learn to read, listen, speak, relish, and dispute the true, good, and beautiful things that "our tradition" has to offer.

Though primary works are read, care is taken to see that students are not overburdened, through abridgment and editing of the works read and study aids. Literary concepts and formal analysis questions form part of the weekly exercises.

History & Composition: This course is part of an integrated course cluster that includes History 1: Ancient & Classical Times and Composition 1.
Self-paced and Live course options are available.

Reading List: This course covers the three great, ancient contributors to the West: the Hebrews, the Greeks, and the Romans.

Great Books Excerpts and Themes (approximate)
Genesis—Creation
Genesis—Covenant
Exodus—The Chosen People
Exodus & Leviticus—Law, Sin, and Offering
Deuteronomy—Blessing & Curse
Job—The Problem of Evil
Sirach—Filial Fear & Wisdom
Jonah—The Breadth of Compassion
Hesiod, Theogony—The Muses
Homer, Iliad—Excellence, the Hero & the Wife
Homer, Odyssey—Quest: Rights of Passage
Homer, Odyssey—Quest: The Return
Aesop's Fables—Folk Wisdom, Lying
Lives of the Eminent Philosophers—Enquiry, Thales of Miletus
Herodotus & Thucydides—From Story to Enquiry
Sophocles, Antigone—The Power of the State
Plato, Courage—Socrates on Courage
Aristophanes, The Clouds—What is the Goal of Education?
Plato, Phaedo—What is the Best Way to Live and Die?
Aristotle, Ethics—Virtue
Aristotle, Politics—True Government
Euripides, Alcestis—Love
Virgil, Aeneid—Roman Piety & Patriarchy
Cato, De Agri Cultura—Men of the Land
Cicero, De Officiis—Natural Law
Cicero, Against Cataline—Oratory & Civic Law
Virgil, Aeneid—Republic & Empire
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations—Roman Stoicism
St. Augustine, City of God—The Failure of Rome

Recommended Age Range: 8th Grade
Prerequisites: None
Required & Recommended Books: See The Self-paced Course Book List
Required Tech: computer and internet connection capable of video playback

Components: Reading, Agenda, Video Lecture (background on the author and concepts of which to be aware), Automated Quiz, Audio Recording of Reading, Activity Sheet (reading questions and literary concepts), Parent Guide. There are three exams per year.