TAC 2016: The Classes, Etc.

Thomas Aquinas College has a Great Books curriculum, which means the students spend four years reading the "great books" of western civilization and learning about the world and God through them. To give an idea of the kind of things they read, here's what we read on the Summer Program (all of which are read at some point during the four years):
Sophocles - Oedipus Rex and Antigone
Plato - Euthyphro
Fragments from the Pre-Socratic philosophers
Genesis - chapters 1 through 25
Kierkegaard - Fear and Trembling: "Exordium and Eulogy on Abraham"
Pascal - "The Wager"
Fabre - The Bees
St. Thomas Aquinas - Summa Theologica, Q.2, art. 3
Euclid - Definitions, Common Notions, and Propositions 1 - 32
Boethius - The Consolation of Philosophy
Flannery O'Connor - Everything That Rises Must Converge
We would read the assigned reading, then discuss it in class. We were all broken up into sections, led by a tutor, who would ask an opening question. Then he would guide the discussion, but the conversation was fueled by the students. My section got into some deep stuff, including how to prove the existence of the soul, whether or not faith is reasonable, the purpose of creation, the definition of piety, and much more. It was magical to be able to discuss these fundamental questions with my peers in the light of Catholic teaching. It's kind of mind-blowing, really.
We also had Study Hall every evening, which meant everyone was in the library for two hours of silent study. It was nice not to have to make time for getting the reading done!

the whole Summer Program group

photo credit

my section, Section 2, with our tutor Mr. Augros

Besides classes, we did a lot of sports, music, and prayer. There were two Masses every day, one Tridentine and one Novus Ordo, both in Latin. While we were there there were two to four priests present at all times, depending on the day. We had Confession, Rosary every evening, Stations of the Cross, and a Marian procession, in addition to praying before every class.
On Sunday we were allowed to sing in the choir, so I met the choir director. We sang Hassler's "Missa Secunda" for the Mass parts and all sorts of beautiful traditional hymns. The chapel was really cool from the choir loft.
There was constantly someone at the piano in the commons, and we had a bonfire one night and sang songs.
We also performed a Shakespeare play, the Comedy of Errors, which was a lot of fun and very funny. There was also a dance on the last day, for which we had practices throughout the two weeks. We would go down to the ponds sometimes to swim or wade, and we went hiking in the mountains one day.
We also took a couple of field trips, which will the subject of my next two posts.