Course Objective: To familiarize students with the great ideas contained in the original works written by the greatest ancient Romans,  beginning with Virgil, which are foundational to classical and Western civilization (see course syllabus for specific titles studied ). Authors of the works studied this semester include: Virgil, Livy, Plutarch, Julius Caesar, Cicero, Tacitus, Lucretius, Epictitus, Marcus Aurelius, Ptolemy, Galen, Plotinus, Moses [the last author from an earlier age, influenced Roman civilization in this period]).

Course Objective: Course Objective: To familiarize students with the great ideas contained in the original works written by the greatest authors in the High Middle Ages to the Renaissance, from Chaucer through Cervantes, which are foundational to Western civilization (see course syllabus for specific titles studied).  Authors of the works studied this semester include: Chaucer, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Thomas More, Erasmus, Copernicus, Calvin, Montaigne, and Cervantes.

Course Objective: To familiarize students with the great ideas contained in the original works  written by the most influential authors in the Enlightenment to the Modern Era, from Locke through De Tocqueville and the American Federalist papers and Constitution, which are foundational to the ongoing dialogue of Western civilization (see course syllabus for specific titles studied). Authors of the works studied this semester include: Shakespeare (4 Great Tragedies and the Tempest), Moliere, Racine, Swift, Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson, De Tocqueville, Mill, and Austen.