N.B.: These course numberings and descriptions apply to the academic year of 2020-2021.
For previous versions, please consult the catalog of the corresponding year.
For a course listing according to years/semesters, please go here.

Table of Contents

Humanities

Classics

Empirical Sciences and Mathematics

Social Sciences

Modern Languages

Course Numbering System

Humanities 

Return to top

Core Curriculum

H 101 Exploring the Humanities (3 credits). No prerequisites. The purpose of this course is to introduce the students into the core of humanities and enable them to see how this core is pondered, developed, and applied in the various humanistic disciplines. As a way of penetrating this core, the course will hinge around the human heart, understood as the center of the human person where human physiology, emotivity, intellect and will converge. The human heart will be explored from various perspectives: art, music, literature, history, biology, math, Latin and Greek, writing and public expression. Faculty representatives will narrow the theme for each discipline in specific lectures by highlighting concrete examples and illustrating manifestations of the human heart. All presentations will take the principles of each field as their starting point and then show how these principles apply in particular cases. Seminar discussions, guided by the instructors, will allow for deepening and discussing the material presented, based on required readings and research projects according to the specifications provided by the professors. These sessions will include the explanation and exercise of methods and skills needed for college studies. The course is further enriched through the visit to concerts, museums and other cultural places related to some of the topics presented.  Taught by Fr Andreas Kramarz LC, Dr. Timothy Kearns, and Mr. Baltazar López.

H 212 Art and Music History and Theory I (4 credits). No Prerequisites. This course is designed as an introduction to the basic concepts of art and music, and to their development from Antiquity up through the High Middle Ages. While the history of art and music will be presented in their respective progression, common underlying technical, aesthetic, and ideological principles are identified and reflected upon in order to evaluate and appreciate better the patrimony and the impact which the visual arts and music exert on man. In particular, for painting, sculpture, and architecture the following periods are dealt with:  Pre-History, Ancient Near East, Egypt, Crete, Mycenae, Greece, Rome, early Christianity, Byzantium, Pre-Romanesque, and Romanesque and Gothic. Each period and artistic style is placed within the socio-cultural context of the epoch, emphasizing underlying ideas and beliefs. The most representative works of art in each period are presented along with references to primary texts about art and aesthetics. This course will also emphasize, through reflection and discussion, historical artworks in relation to contemporary cultural issues as well as their potential for application as tools of the apostolate. Guided visits to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the MET Cloisters, New York; and the Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton MA will provide firsthand experience of the material covered in class. For music, a general introduction into music theory is provided, including the question of the value of music in its aesthetical and ethical dimension. The historical account is initiated with musical documents from Antiquity and carried forward until the dawn of polyphony. Attending at least one classical concert is part of the program. Taught by Mrs. Louise Joyner and Fr. Andreas Kramarz LC.

H 313 Art and Music History and Theory II (4 credits). Prerequisites H 212. This course continues the socio-historical presentation of painting, sculpture, and architecture during the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Neo-Classical periods. The most representative works of art in each period are presented along with references to primary texts about art and aesthetics.   This course will also emphasize, through reflection and discussion, historical artworks in relation to contemporary cultural issues as well as their potential for application as tools of the apostolate. The seminar provides the venue for in-depth discussions of the most representative artists and their works in the context of a mock museum, church or landmark, virtual tour. For music, the historical survey continues with the Renaissance, the Baroque, the Classical and Romantic periods. After the appropriate explanation, students are given the opportunity to hear pieces by the major composers and analyze the characteristics of their principal works.  Optional additional opportunities to listen to entire pieces and the attendance at concerts offered by Yale in New Haven are included. Guided visits to: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Frick Collection, New York; Hispanic Society Museum & Library, New York; and the Yale University Art Gallery & Yale Center for British Art will provide firsthand experience of the material covered in class. Taught by Mrs. Louise Joyner and Fr. Andreas Kramarz, LC.

H 414 Art and Music History and Theory III (4 credits). Prerequisite: H 313. This course concludes the socio-historical survey of art and music, specializing in twentieth-century and contemporary art and music. It includes—in art—Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Futurism, Cubism, Abstraction, Pop Art, and Post-Modernism; and—in music—the development of atonal, serial, and experimental music, ending with a section on sacred music throughout the past century. This course will also emphasize, through reflection and discussion, historical artworks in relation to contemporary cultural issues as well as their potential for application as tools of the apostolate. The leitmotif for the survey of modern art will be an emphasis on art theory and criticism, that is, an introductory overview of art historical methodologies. Seminar discussions will offer the opportunity to travel back in time through role-playing the parts of artists and critics at various exhibitions and events from the late 19th century to the present. Guided visits to: the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford; the Museum of Fine Arts, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Boston Public Library, Boston; The Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum, New York; will provide firsthand experience of the material covered in class. Classical concert and music presentations as well a guest speaker on the subject of church restoration will vivify the theoretical principles and the historical overview provided in the lectures. Taught by Mrs. Louise Joyner and Fr. Andreas Kramarz LC.

H 222 Western Literature I (3 credits). No prerequisites. In this course, students read, analyze and discuss selected works from ancient authors. The authors or themes treated are as follows: introduction to Greek literature, Homer, Hesiod, Lyric Poets, Greek Tragedy, Plato and Aristotle’s literary criticism, Lucretius, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Catullus, Early Medieval Epics (from Beowulf to the Nibelungenlied) and Petrarch. A weekly seminar period is dedicated to Virgil’s Aeneid, with students reading the entire work and preparing a presentation on a specific topic. A discussion of major themes and topics—such as literary devices, ideas and intuitions regarding human nature—follows each presentation. Taught by Baltazar López, with seminar groups being directed by Mr. Jesús Guerrero, Mr. Robert Murphy, and Dr. Charles Mercier.

H 323 Western Literature II (3 credits). Prerequisites 222. This course entails reading, analysis, and discussion of selected works from medieval and renaissance authors. The authors or themes treated are as follows: Dante, Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Cervantes, the Spanish Golden Century, French Theater, Jonathan Swift, and Goethe, finishing with Romanticism in England, Spain, and Italy. For the seminar, students choose among the following works: Dante’s Divine Comedy, a selection of Shakespeare’s plays, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and a selection of poetry taken from the Spanish Golden Century. They prepare different presentations throughout the semester with the help of various commentaries and under the modality suggested by each seminar director. Taught by Baltazar López, with seminar groups being directed by Mr. Jesús Guerrero, and Mr. Robert Murphy.

H 424 Western Literature III (3 credits). Prerequisite: H 323. This course entails the reading, analysis, and discussion of selected works from modern authors such as Montaigne, Moliere, Goethe, Swift, Wordsworth, Keats, Tennyson, Dickens, Hugo, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Irving, Hawthorne, Twain, and Frost. The course also includes a seminar to gain an appreciation for the particular power of poetry and to understand a variety of its formal elements. Taught by Baltazar López, with seminar groups being directed by Dr. Timothy Kearns and Mr. Jesús Guerrero.


Electives

H 444 Currents of Contemporary Culture: Analysis and Response (2 credits). Prerequisite: SS 223 Western Civilization II. In order to be able to dialogue in a meaningful and effective way with people of our time, students will study relevant texts and articles in order to analyze, understand, discuss, and evaluate not only the main manifestations of contemporary cultural trends but also their origins. Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to, LGBTQ, feminism, New Age “spirituality”, globalization, social media, the role of music, populism and neo-nationalism, generational issues (Gen X, Millennials), and what Pope Benedict XVI indicates with the term of “dictatorship of relativism.” These phenomena will be studied in preparation for evangelizing in the modern world. Taught by Fr Andreas Kramarz LC.

H 453 Adveniat Regnum Tuum! Art as a Legionary Apostolate (2 credits). Prerequisite: H 212 Art and Music History and Theory I. This elective course builds on those from the previous three semesters of art history survey by taking a deeper look at a wide array of ecclesiastical monuments from a theological perspective. The first portion of this course will offer a historical survey and reflection focusing on Sacred Art and Architecture through the lens of Church History.  The sacramental nature of Sacred Art, its catechetical use, and its place within the context of spirituality, will be studied and reflected upon in light of primary sources.   Church architecture, both modern construction and historic restorations, will be evaluated in terms ecclesiastical norms with the goal of discernment for beauty.  As both the Legionary motto and the title for this course suggest, the many forms which art can, and has, assumed as an efficacious apostolate for the New Evangelization will be explored in the face of contemporary culture.  The methodology for this elective course will be a seminar that includes a combination of lecture and group discussion format. Taught by Louise Joyner.

Classics

Return to top

L 100 Beginning Latin I, II, III (3 credits). No prerequisites. This course is for students who have had little to none elementary Latin. The rudiments of the language with practice toward building up the ability to read ecclesiastical and Classical prose and poetry. Directed by Dr. Charles Mercier.
L 201 Classical Latin Prose I: Cicero’s Pro Archia (3 and 2 credits respectively). In this course Cicero’s Pro Archia, delivered in 62 AD, is a masterpiece of ancient rhetoric that poses a legal issue limited enough for students to get a good grasp of and evaluate, and which also contains an influential passage on the value of the liberal arts. Students will read the oration together, construing the Latin carefully, paying attention to Ciceronian techniques of rhetorical artistry, and considering the speech’s discussion of the value of humanities study. Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.
L 202 Classical Latin Prose II: Prose of the Empire (3 and 2 credits respectively). In this course students will read together some of the Epistulae Morales of Seneca and consider his Stoic thought, particularly as it may be consonant with Christian moral teaching. Students will also read other writers of the empire, including Pliny, Tacitus, Petronius, and St. Augustine, drawing from his sermons and Biblical commentaries, as found in the Office of Readings. The two semesters together will emphasize the techniques and practice of Classical rhetoric and the development of Latin prose style. Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.
L 301 Christian Latin prose (3 and 2 credits respectively).In this course The Fathers of the Church defended and explained the faith in times of persecution and establishment, controversy and peace, over the first seven centuries of Christianity. We will read together selections from Christian authors such as Tertullian, Ambrose, and Jerome, who wrote in Latin in the western empire in a variety of times and circumstances. Choice of readings can reflect particular interests of class members. Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.
L 302 Latin poetry (3 and 2 credits respectively). In this course students will read together works by a number of Roman poets including Catullus, Lucretius, Vergil, Horace, and Ovid. Students will pay attention to rhythm, diction, and other aspects of formal artistry; important themes in Roman poetry; and the Christian appropriation of the Latin poetic tradition. The choice of readings can accommodate any particular interests and needs of class members Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.
 
G 100 Beginning Greek I, II, and III (3 credits). No prerequisites. No prerequisites. This course is for students who have had little to none elementary Greek. The rudiments of the language with practice towards building up the ability to read koine Greek and Classical prose and poetry. Directed by Dr. Charles Mercier.
G 201 Koine Greek: New Testament and Septuagint (3 and 2 credits respectively). In this course students will read together selections from the Greek New Testament and the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament), reviewing and consolidating our knowledge of koine Greek grammar, morphology, and vocabulary as necessary, while trying to gain some mastery and ease with this kind of Greek. As time allows there will also be other readings of various kinds of Hellenistic Greek. Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.
G 202 Classical Greek prose (3 and 2 credits respectively). In this course will look into the Apology of Socrates, Plato dramatizes the trial of Socrates in Athens in 399 BC some ten years after the event. Student will read the work together, making the transition to reading Attic Greek prose and discussing the issues that the work poses. Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.
G 301 Christian Greek Prose (3 and 2 credits respectively). In this course students will see The Fathers of the Church defended and explained the faith in times of persecution and establishment, controversy and peace, over the first seven centuries of Christianity. Students will read together selections from Christian authors such as Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, Athanasius, and John Chrysostom, who wrote in Greek in the eastern empire in a variety of times and circumstances. Choice of readings can reflect the particular interests of class members. Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.
G 302 Greek Poetry (3 and 2 credits respectively). In this course students will do readings in the Iliad and Odyssey, lyric, tragedy, and later Greek epic. Students will pay attention to Homer’s dactylic hexameter rhythm, formulaic diction, and issues of oral poetics; interplay of music and words in Greek poetry; and responses to epic in lyric, tragedy, and Christian poets. The choice of readings can accommodate any particular interests and needs of class members.. Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.
G 300 or L 300 Greek and Latin Independent Study (1 credits respectively). We will gain practical experience in this course with performing Greek and Latin works aloud, poetry and prose, enjoying them as they were meant to be. We will cover the history of Greek and Latin pronunciation, from ancient to modern, and practice performing the many rhythms and meters of ancient poetry. We will also study extant examples of ancient Greek music and consider the interaction of music and poetry. The course will culminate in a performance event of Greek and Latin drama and poetry and prose works. Direct by Dr. Charles Mercier.
 

Electives

LG 404 Orthoepeia Latin and Greek poetry and prose in performance (2 credits). The course can be arranged as a supplement to a two-credit Greek or Latin language course or on a topic on its own. Possibilities include reading an extra work or author or exploring a theme in Classical studies or an inter-disciplinary interest that includes Classics. Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.

Empirical Sciences and Mathematics

Return to top

Core Curriculum

Electives

SC 234 Physics for Philosophy (2 credits). Prerequisites: proficiency in mathematics – Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry. This course explores the ideas and ramifications of the greatest minds of natural philosophy: Aristotle, Newton, Einstein, and Heisenberg. Their ideas and principles about the workings of nature are explored and discussed with the purpose of understanding about the way nature works. True understanding does not end with ideas but in a discovery of how nature truly behaves. Students consider various applications and solve problems. Special emphasis is given to modern physics. The professor is available twice a week for a tutorial. Taught by Dr. Heric Flores.

Social Sciences

Return to top

SS 111 Writing (2 credits). No prerequisites. This course presents key concepts and skills needed in order to communicate well and employ communication to achieve goals. After an initial introduction to the art of thinking and logic, the student is presented with elements needed for communication (primarily in writing) that is succinct and powerful as well as clear and in a style suited to the subject matter. The primary emphasis is on clarity, unity, and order of thought first and of expression second. To achieve this, students practice their skills with descriptions and journals, logic exercises, arguments, and persuasive essays. Taught by Dr. Timothy Kearns and Mr. Jesús Guerrero. Coaching sessions by Dr. Timothy Kearns and Jesús Guerrero.

SS 212 Communications I (2 credits). No prerequisites. This course applies the principles of discourse to rhetoric and public speaking. Students study examples of rhetoric from various societies in order better to understand its use in general. Primarily, students practice writing speeches to be delivered, composing various kinds of presentations extempore on topics, and carrying outspoken debate. All participants are divided up in coaching groups for individual practice and review. Taught by Fr. Christopher O’Connor LC, and Dr. Timothy Kearns and Mr. Jesús Guerrero. Coaching sessions by Fr. Christopher O’Connor LC, Fr. Miguel de la Torre LC, and Jesús Guerrero.

SS 314 Communications II (1 credit). Prerequisite: SS 212. This course is a workshop where students can put into practice much of the theory learned in the previous year. It includes analysis of models, individual and team exercises, and peer-evaluation. Students also learn how to reframe hot-button issues to foster constructive dialogue. Taught by Fr. Christopher O’Connor LC, and Fr. Miguel de la Torre LC. Coaching sessions by Fr. Christopher O’Connor LC, Fr. Miguel de la Torre LC, and Mr. Jesús Guerrero.

 SS 222 Western Civilization I (3 credits). No Prerequisites. This course intends to highlight important aspects that arise within cultures and peoples from ancient cultures down through the end of the early Middle Ages. In the lecture classes, special attention is paid to cultural development with regards to currents of thought in the philosophical, political, and economic fields and their effect on daily life and culture as a whole. Connections are drawn between socio-economic conditions and the progress of the arts and sciences, as well as their place in and effect on the social order. Furthermore, the course intends to provide patterns of judgment and understanding of the present political and cultural situation of the world in view of its roots and causes in previous periods. This course covers readings from early Mesopotamian Civilization to about 1050 A.D. Students are required to read primary sources on a variety of topics, formulate a thesis on each topic, and express that thesis in-class discussion. Taught by Dr. Timothy Kearns.

SS 323 Western Civilization II (3 credits). Prerequisite: SS 122. This course will discuss themes and socio-cultural developments, predominantly of Western Europe, from the High Middle Ages (1100s) down to the mid-nineteenth century. The classes build on the historical account previously studied and analyze underlying questions with the help of source texts in order to gain a more profound understanding of events as listed in the class calendar. Special attention will be given to the factors that led to the Protestant Reform, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution with its repercussions throughout the nineteenth century, and the rise colonialism, nationalism, socialism, and Marxism along with the questions associated with the social changes of the Industrial Revolution. All these will be considered in their various historical manifestations and in their relevance for the world of today. Taught Fr. Andreas Kramarz LC.

SS 424 Western Civilization III (3 credits). Prerequisite: SS 223. This course continues the account from the previous semester and will study sociopolitical themes such as imperialism, warfare, the formation of the current global landscape in the aftermath of World War II, the cultural changes since the 1960s and the situation of the religion and the Catholic Church in particular during the twentieth century. Contemporary developments such as globalization, international organisms, and socio-cultural trends will be studied together with their impact on the present. Taught by Fr. Andreas Kramarz LC with the help of Fr. John Bender LC.
 

Electives

SS 421 History of Humanities: East and West (2 credits). No prerequisite. This course follows the history of the study of the human past across all major societies. This course provides students a broader perspective beyond that of western civilization and ancient Greece and Rome, while at the same time giving depth to their understanding of the Renaissance and a comparative civilization in the East, classical China. Taught by Dr. Timothy Kearns.
 
SS 434 The Family and Civilization: History and Theory of the Family in Western Civilization (2 credits). Prerequisites: Western Civilization I and II. This course focuses on looking both at the history of the family and at the role of men and women in the family over time, especially in the Western World (with key relevance to the problems of our time). Although the course mainly proceeds historically, students will learn to follow themes across historical periods and geography.  A special segment of the course focuses on the state and problems of the family in the contemporary world. Taught by Dr. Timothy Kearns.

Modern Languages

Return to top

Remedial

Remedial
ML 001 and ML 002 Elementary Remedial English I and II / 021 and ML 022 Introduction to English (Remedial) I and II (no credits). These courses, differing according to the level of pre-existing knowledge, are designed to bring non-native English speakers who arrive for the first year of the program to a college-level of English. They take place before the beginning of the first semester. Taught by the LVA School of Danbury, CT.
ML 011 and ML 012 Intermediate Remedial English I and II (no credits). This course is designed for non-native English speakers who arrive for the first year of the program and need to continue strengthening their English proficiency. Taught by Mr. Robert Murphy.

Elective

ML 028 Spanish I (2 credits). No particular prerequisites. This course is an elective offered to help students acquire an intermediate level of Spanish. Taught by Mr. Jesús Guerrero.