Old Western Culture Walk-through: How Does the Curriculum Work?
Daniel Foucachon talks about how the curriculum works, its components, schedules, and how to apply it to various settings. All curriculum & books on sale 25 – 35% off through Aug 14th.
The Mighty Power of Good Friday
According to Dante’s vibrant imagination, Hell is a ramshackle kingdom, broken and falling apart. As the pilgrim journeys through the terrible realm, he sees on every side ruin and decay, and not only in the faces of the damned. The very landscape is full of craggy landslides, crumbled towers, broken bridges, and wreckage. As the downward journey continues, it becomes more and more obvious that the city of Dis, named for the archfiend, was once a staggering achievement, something akin to Milton’s Pandemonium. But now it is a Pandemonium gone wrong. Everything is in shabby disrepair. As the travelers descend … Continue Reading “The Mighty Power of Good Friday”
The Education of the American Founders
“Dad had enough gall to be divided into three parts,” opens one of America’s beloved tales, Cheaper by the Dozen, published in 1948. To the audience of the day, this colorful description would evoke a commonplace pun from the ubiquitously read Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars, which opens “All Gaul is divided into three parts” (or Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres as the Latin student would have had to translate). The chances are, neither you nor your children have read Julius Caesar and his famous Gallic Wars. However, your grandparents very likely did, and nearly every educated (certainly college … Continue Reading “The Education of the American Founders”
Men, Carry Your Father
As a boy I lived for a period in Florida, the capital of retirement homes. As a result, for various reasons, we visited a few of these homes. They were nice. Like little vacation villages. Yet they were also tragic. This is where the most essential members of our society spent their most important years. We were living in Florida because my grandfather was dying of cancer, and we lived with him during his last days. He never lived in a retirement home, and died Christmas morning in his own bed, surrounded by family. What a gift to him, but … Continue Reading “Men, Carry Your Father”
Why Old Western Culture has no self-graded quizzes
Several years ago we produced self-grading quizzes for a unit of Old Western Culture as a trial. They worked great, and demonstrated that students were paying attention to the material. But we decided not to publish them. Here is why. While self-grading quizzes can be very useful, especially for subjects like math and language, we wanted to emphasize the “recitation,” or Socratic dialogue use of the workbooks for Old Western Culture. Ideally, the workbooks shouldn’t be used for mere comprehension, even if they accomplish that, but as a jumping point for discussion. Grappling with the questions from the lectures and readings … Continue Reading “Why Old Western Culture has no self-graded quizzes”
Why do we Learn to Read Latin?
Latin is the ancient language originally used in the central region of Italy onced called Latium, where Rome is located. As Rome’s empire grew to include most of Europe and vast portions of Asia and Africa, the Romans’ native tongue, Latin, gradually became the official language of the peoples they had subjugated; and within a few centuries after Christ it had become the equal of Greek as a language of literature, philosophy, and theology. When the Roman empire finally disintegrated as a political entity, Latin lived on: the history, literature, and science of the ancient Romans had unprecedented influence on … Continue Reading “Why do we Learn to Read Latin?”
What do we mean by “Liberal Arts”?
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s Christians recover classical Christian education, they are unearthing old treasures, once the possession of every educated man. Some of these treasures are words and descriptions–terms like “Trivium” and “Quadrivium,” “paideia,” and “liberal arts.” Of all these terms, “liberal arts” lays at the heart of what classical education is all about. So what did our forefathers mean by “liberal arts”? “Liberal” [dropcap]T[/dropcap]he word liberal has nothing to do with our modern use of the word in politics and culture. Liberal means “free,” and historically described the kind of education expected of a freeman–especially one in a position of leadership, like … Continue Reading “What do we mean by “Liberal Arts”?”
Athenian reaction to defeat similar to US reaction to 9/11 terrorist attacks
In this excerpt from The Histories, part of the Old Western Culture series, a Great Books video course, Wes Callihan shows how the reactions that the Athenians had to a defeat is very similar to other reactions of democracies throughout history, and specifically similar to the reaction of the United States to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. Thucydides wants us to make these parallels as he explains at the beginning of “The History of the Peloponnesian War.” YouTube version here.
Interview with Andrew Pudewa on Classical Education
Daniel Foucachon interviews Andrew Pudewa from IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) at the CiRCE Institute summer conference in 2015 on the subject of Classical Education. Subjects covered: What are some of the greatest “Great Books”? How do we deal with feeling inadequate to give a classical education to our children? What are some good books to get started with a classical education? If you could dine with any three educators, who would they be? What advice (and resources) do you have for writers? Poetry, learning styles, memory, history of education in America, and more! YouTube version HERE. Bibliography Books … Continue Reading “Interview with Andrew Pudewa on Classical Education”
A glimpse at what we lost when we abandoned classical education
Mark Twain is attributed with the saying “Those who don’t read have no advantage over those who can’t.” We are now a couple generations away from our forefathers who abandoned classical education. We are now the generation that does not even know what it has lost. Wes Callihan gives a glimpse at the kind of richness we have lost in this excerpt from the Old Western Culture curriculum on the great books of Western civilization. If you don’t study the classics, you have no advantage over those who can’t. Roman Roads Media provides tools to help you accomplish this task! Get started today! … Continue Reading “A glimpse at what we lost when we abandoned classical education”