This course examines the art and ideas of Western culture from ancient
Egypt to the Renaissance. While it focuses on the arts, it also investigates
the philosophy and theology of this 3,000-year period. Special attention
will be paid to the major artists and thinkers, such as Plato, Sophocles,
St. Augustine, St. Thomas, Dante, and the great Renaissance painters,
sculptors, and architects.
Introduction to the Humanities focuses on the important centers of culture
during this era, especially ancient Egypt, Athens and Rome, Byzantine
Ravenna, medieval Paris, and Renaissance Florence. Course materials include
slides, video and audio tapes, and a comprehensive text that treats the
subject from a historical perspective. Introduction to the Humanities
is offered in two 7-week sessions. A 7-week tuition is $350.
See the Feltre Course Schedule.
To register by phone call 312-255-1133, or you may complete a registration
form and mail it or fax it (312-255-1378) to the School.
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Three
Short Dialogues of Plato
This seven-week reading course will introduce us to three works of major
importance to western culture. The early dialogues of Plato are dramatic
tales that depict the great Socrates in conversation with his fellow Athenians
about themes of moral importance. In the Euthyphro, Socrates encounters
a young man who is about to bring charges of murder against his own father;
a conversation ensues when Socrates wonders about how clear a sense of
right and wrong this confident young man must possess. In the Apology,
Plato presents Socrates defending himself in court against the charge
of corrupting the youth of Athens, of tampering with traditional religious
beliefs and encouraging inventive notions to replace them. And finally
in the Crito, we see Socrates in jail before his execution, and hear his
final thoughts on wisdom and the meaning of life as he speaks to a friend
who has come to visit him.
Text: Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, and Crito, translated by F.J. Church.
Library of Liberal Arts.
7-weeks, tuition is $350.
See the Feltre Course Schedule.
This 14-week course on Plato's Republic takes up the question of justice,
that is to say, the right organization of a society and its citizens’
lives. This classic work of philosophy discusses how a good society may
be developed, how that society can best educate its citizens and leaders,
and what it is that will bring both individuals and their society to a
real and lasting happiness. Part I,(7-weeks), $480. Part II (7-weeks)
$480.
See the Feltre Course Schedule.
To register by phone call 312-255-1133, or you may complete a registration
form and mail it or fax it (312-255-1378) to the School.
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The role of the modern artist differs radically from that of older, more
traditional cultures for whom art and artist held a place of great spiritual
importance. No longer do we understand it to be the norm for all people
to participate in a craft and to be responsible for making and using objects
that are well made and therefore beautiful. In this course, we will read
a number of essays by scholars of traditional philosophy, and discuss
how art and artist found their place and value in former societies, and
in ours. 7-weeks $350.00.
Text: Brian Keeble, Every Man an Artist: Readings in the Traditional
Philosophy of Art. World Wisdom, 2005.
See the Feltre Course Schedule.
This course is a comprehensive introduction to traditional Aristotelian
logic. Formal Logic systematically examines language to discover the thought
behind our words and explains the processes that account for clear thinking,
the means by which we acquire new knowledge from things already known.
This course treats the study of reasoning as an intellectual discipline
in its own right, and will help students of composition, humanities, and
law. Work proceeds with weekly lectures and exercises.
Formal Logic is a 21-week course. Tuition is $1220 for the entire
3-part course (you may take breaks between each part if you wish), or
$480 if you wish to enroll 7 weeks at a time.
See the Feltre Course Schedule.
To register by phone call 312-255-1133, or you may complete a registration
form and mail it or fax it (312-255-1378) to the School.
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What is myth and why do ancient mythological stories continually fascinate
us? What was the significance of myth to the ancient Greeks and Romans?
What purpose did it serve for them and what relevance, if any, does it
have in our own lives? These are the central questions that guide our
course in classical mythology.
This course, which is offered in 7-week segments, surveys the mythological
tradition from archaic and classical Greece and examines its influence
on the development of Roman mythology. The first 7-week term begins with
an examination of the nature and purpose of myths within a culture by
considering the mythic paradigms established in the Theogony of Hesiod,
Homer's Iliad, and the Homeric Hymns. Other topics include the origin
and creation of the universe, the establishment of the Olympian gods,
and the Heroic Age. In the second 7-week term the entire discussion is
devoted to Homer's Odyssey. The third 7-week offering considers how later
Greek authors appropriated and altered earlier mythological models for
their own purposes. Students will examine key dramatic works by the great
tragedians of classical Athens: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. The
final 7-week offering examines how Roman authors appropriated Greek mythological
models and adapted them for a variety of purposes. Students will read
selections from Catullus, Horace, Vergil, Ovid, and Apuleius. Tuition
is $350 for any 7-week session. Each term stands alone, so there are no
prerequisites.
See the Feltre Course Schedule.
To register by phone call 312-255-1133, or you may complete a registration
form and mail it or fax it (312-255-1378) to the School.
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Introduction
to Philosophy
The name we probably first think of when someone mentions philosophy
is Plato. And with the mention of that name, we might next think of other
great classical philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle and St. Thomas
Aquinas. All of these names conjure up pictures of very deep and heavy
conversations about ideas which, we think, have very little to do with
our own world and the way we generally spend our days.
It may surprise us, then, to learn that this same philosopher Plato,
who was a student of Socrates and founder of a great academy of learning
in Athens, is also famous for saying that the study of philosophy begins
with wonder––a strange thing to say, indeed, if the subject
of philosophy was to be little more than an academic pastime for a group
of overly-intelligent people. To someone like Plato (and even more so
to someone like his teacher Socrates), philosophy was the way to find
an answer to one of the most important questions each of us can ask: How
can I live a truly fulfilling life? And the beginning of an answer to
that question lies, apparently, in wondering about things.
One of the best ways to begin to answer that question, to become a student
of philosophy, is to learn what others have thought. The question is deceptively
simple––How can I be truly happy?––because it
involves many assumptions about the world, about human nature, about what
life is and what death is. This general introduction to philosophy will
give us the opportunity to consider these fundamental questions, as well
as some of the answers others have had for them, so that we can focus
our own efforts on understanding what those same questions mean for us
today in our own busy world. 7-weeks, tuition is $350.
See the Feltre Course Schedule.
To register by phone call 312-255-1133, or you may complete a registration
form and mail it or fax it (312-255-1378) to the School.
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Finding Your Voice, Telling
Your Stories
(6-weeks plus optional performance - One Voice.) This is a unique offering
from our Library Theatre that blends written and oral storytelling, and
it culminates in an optional live performance for students. (enrollment
is limited to 12 students, on a first come first served basis.)
First, under the expert guidance of writing teacher Carol LaChapelle,
writers, actors, artists, or anyone interested in storytelling will mine
their life experiences for those significant tales of transition, adventure,
loss, and triumph. Then, working with a Library Theater director, students
will learn how to shape their stories into individual performances that
will give audiences the chance to discover the extraordinary in our "ordinary"
lives. Performces are held in our Library Theatre.
Tuition $350
See the Feltre Course Schedule.
The Odyssey
Homer’s Odyssey is the grand tale of a hero’s journey home
from war. Like all great works of literature, The Odyssey can be read
in many ways: as an adventure story, a penetrating classical myth, even
as a philosophical allegory of the pilgrimage we call life. This work
rich in detail, action, and meaning will be
explored in this 14-week course. Part I, 7-weeks, $480. Part II
7-wks, $480.
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