Great Books 303

Instructor: Mr. D.O. “Oliver” Woods 
E-mail: Admin@KingsWayClassicalAcademy.com
Phone: 503-658-0385

Course Description

This is an omnibus
course blending world history, philosophy, literature, and theology. Coursework
integrates material from the Introductory course by requiring student to read
and interact with excerpts from the Great Books, most available on-line.
Instructor typically selects about half of the authors from the Intro course
for in-depth reading. The student approaches reading with the objective of
writing a paragraph response to a set of discussion questions, which become
part of the permanent portfolio. Seminar discussion with tutor or class meets
daily in the online forum. 

Student selects one
author per course, for which he expands his written response into a 2000 word
essay. Reading assignment ranges from 35 to 50 pages every two weeks for each
classical author. Although they may be taken separately, the Great Books
Colloquium is usually taken concurrently with the corresponding Great
Books Introduction. Supplementary Textbooks: Keys to the
Classics II, Student and Teacher’s Manual and “Worldviews
in Conflict” by Kevin Swanson.

Our
second overview of the modern era begins with G.W.F. Hegel and ends with the
Russian expatriate, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Sadly, it is a tale of
philosophical apostasy issuing in real world tragedy. Hegel set the stage with
his theory that history is a long series of clashing and competing forces.
Apart from God this is inevitable. It led of course to Darwin, but also to
manipulation of reality by leaders in the various disciplines: Kierkegaard in
philosophy, Mill in economics, Nietzsche in political theory, Freud in
psychology, Dewey in education. The course revisits perceptive voices of
protest that were raised along the way — Scott, Tocqueville, Bastiat, Dickens,
Dostoevsky, Lewis, and Solzhenitsyn. They were generally ignored. The
historical clash was realized in the American Civil War, prosecuted by Lincoln
in the quest for centralized taxing authority. Dabney’s analysis is insightful.

• Tuition:     $275 Premier    OR 
   Tuition:      $25 Basic
• Mode:       Asynchronous          Mode:        Self-taught
• Offered:    Fall                            Offered:     Fall
  or Spring
• Textbook:  See
  above                Textbook:   See above