The Catholic University for Independent Thinkers
The Sequence of Core Courses in the Humanities Program:
The core of the program consists of a sequence of six special courses called the "World
Courses." These courses are devoted to the study of major works in the formation of
the West and each is given by faculty from the several participating departments in
the humanities. Students are required to take any three of these courses (nine units):
the Ancient World, the Medieval World, the Renaissance World, the Baroque World, the
Modern World, and the Recent World.
In support of the core, the remainder of a student's program will be oriented around either one or two concentrations (15-18 units), or one or two periods (15-18 units), and related courses (6-9 units).
Concentrations are:
American Studies, Classics, History, Literature, Philosophy, Politics, Theology, and
Psychology
Periods are:
Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Modern, and Recent
Related courses may be drawn from such fields as Art History, Drama, Economics, Education,
Greek, Latin, and Modern Languages (French, German, Italian, and Spanish).
World Courses
The Ancient World. The thought and art of Greece and Rome from 800 B.C. to 400 A.D. Texts vary but are
chosen from works ranging from those of Homer and the Greek tragedians to Vergil and
the Roman historians.
The Medieval World. The thought and art of the Middle Ages from 400 to 1400. Readings of works of the major writers from Augustine, Boethius and Bede to Aquinas, Dante, and Chaucer.
The Renaissance World. The thought and art of Europe from 1400 to 1600. Readings selected from the works of Petrarch, Pico della Mirandola, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Luther, Montaigne, Spenser, Cervantes, and others.
The Baroque World. The thought and art of the period from 1600 to 1750. Authors read typically include Shakespeare, Bacon, Donne, Descartes, Moliere, Milton, Hobbes, and Racine.
The Modern World. The thought and art of Europe from 1750 to 1850. Readings of works from Locke, Newton, Pope, Swift, Hume, Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant, Goethe, Wordsworth, Hegel, and others.
The Recent World. The thought and art of the century from 1850 to 1950. Authors read regularly include Kierkegaard, Dostoevski, Tolstoi, Darwin, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Yeats, Joyce, and Mann.
