Vision Statement

Core Curriculum

CORE CURRICULUM: Freshman Year

First Semester

English 101 Literature of Western Civilization I History 101 Ancient & Biblical World Mathematics 101 Euclidean Geometry Philosophy 101 Introduction to Philosophy Theology 101 Catholic Doctrine I Language 101 Latin, Greek, French, or Spanish

Second Semester

English 102 Literature of Western Civilization II History 102 Formation of Christendom Philosophy 102 Philosophy of Human Nature Science 102 Introduction to Scientific Thought Theology 102 Catholic Doctrine II Language 102 Latin, Greek, French, or Spanish

Sophomore Year First Semester

English 201 Literature of Western Civilization III History 201 The Division of Christendom Philosophy 201 Ethics Political Science 201 Political Theory Theology 201 Old Testament Language 201 Latin, Greek, French, or Spanish

Second Semester

English 202 Literature of Western Civilization IV History 202 Church & World in the Modern Age Philosophy 202 Metaphysics Political Science 202 Church Social Teachings Theology 202 New Testament Language 202 Latin, Greek, French, or Spanish

Junior Year First Semester

Philosophy 301 Ancient & Medieval Philosophy Theology 301 Moral Theology

Second Semester

Philosophy 302 Modern Philosophy Theology 302 Catholic Apologetics

Rome Semester Abroad (Optional)

History 301 Art and Architecture of Rome English/History/Theology 300 Roman Perspectives Italian 101 Elementary Italian

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Vision Statement

An 84-hour core curriculum of carefully selected subjects required for all students is Christendom College’s fundamental response to the crisis in higher education explained above. It is a response deeply rooted in perennial truth and long centuries of Catholic learning.

This extensive core curriculum is constituted from seven discipline areas: three years of study in Theology, three years in Philosophy, two years of study in English Language and Literature, two years of study in Classical or Modern Language, two years in History, one year in Political Science and Economics, and one year in Mathematics and Natural Science. It is a curriculum worthy of any young mind.

It is an arduous good requiring sacrifice and courage from any student wishing to attain it and from any faculty member wishing to impart it. As such, it is the kind of good that no consumer survey is likely to affirm or endorse amidst the futile but seemingly pressing hyperactivity of our culture. Yet this kind of education is urgently needed by the future citizens and leaders of our nation, by the fathers and mothers of our children, and by the priests and religious of our Church, if we are not to slip blindly into the dark and chaotic night of a dying West.

First and foremost, the required 36 semester hours in Theology and Philosophy reflect the College’s strong commitment to Thomistic wisdom as the fundamental ordering principle of the curriculum. The student of St. Thomas at once recognizes that much of modern culture has limited the domain of knowledge to the practical order—the effort to remake man and nature—while banishing the speculative order: the discovery of the truth of a given (not constructed) order of reality. In the modern secular and pseudoCatholic university, the natural, social, and technical sciences are thought to advance man’s technical and political liberation, while theology, metaphysics, and ethics languish because they are seen as the products of emotional or religious feelings impervious to rational justification. The twelve courses in Theology and Philosophy dominate Christendom’s core curriculum precisely to help the student overcome this distorted judgment through exposure to the rich Catholic intellectual heritage enlightened by the Faith and right reason. The student is led to see that Christian philosophy, under the guidance of supernaturally revealed Truth, becomes the defender of speculative reason against its perversions.

Second, the required courses in History, Literature, and Classical and Modern Languages reflect Christendom College’s commitment to the Western cultural heritage.

History provides an awareness and appreciation of the triumphs and failures of man in building, maintaining, and defending the Faith and Christian culture.

Since the Incarnation, history becomes an essential study in the now ennobled temporal journey of man through time until the end of time, giving transcendent significance to all that men do either to advance or to hinder the cause of Christ. Literature develops the student’s moral