Curriculum

The purpose of this course is to give students a strong foundation in the Humanities, History, Literature, Art, Music, and Languages, on which they can continue to build throughout their lives. The course has two parts. The course begins with a general overview of the Humanities as part of the human search for truth and wisdom, from basic skills like writing and speaking to the study of History and Languages, from Philosophy and the quest for truth to Theology and the knowledge of God. Second, students begin the study of all the major disciplines of the Humanities in an integrated way. The goal of the second part is to show students how to see the big picture of human life and History and the connections between the art of a culture and its Literature, between the political history of a culture and their religion, and so on. Besides lectures and discussions, cultural visits, films, and concerts will complement the course. Taught by Dr. Timothy Kearns and Fr. Miguel de la Torre LC.

This course is designed as an introduction to the basic concepts of art history, and to its development from Antiquity up through the High Middle Ages. While the history of art will be presented in chronological progression, common underlying 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 has exerted on man. In particular, for painting, sculpture, and architecture, the following periods are studied: Pre-History, Ancient Near East, Egypt, Crete, Mycenae, Greece, Rome, early Christianity, Byzantium, Pre-Romanesque, 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 from each period are presented along with references to primary texts about art and aesthetics. The course format will include both lecture and more in-depth discussion of a select few of the most representative artworks 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 apostolate. Guided visits to the following art museums will provide firsthand experience of the material covered in class: The Yale Art Gallery; The Museum of Russian Icons; The Worcester Art Museum; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and MET Cloisters. Taught by Mrs. Louise Joyner

This course continues the socio-historical presentation of painting, sculpture, and architecture during the Renaissance, Mannerist, Baroque, Rococo, and Neo-Classical periods. The most representative works of art from each period are presented along with references to primary texts about art and aesthetics. The course format will include both lecture and more in-depth discussion of a select few of the most representative artists and their artworks. “Mock Virtual Tours” will offer an opportunity to simulate the experience of presenting a guided tour in the context of an art museum, a church or an artistic landmark. Guided visits to: The Boston Museum of Fine Arts & The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Frick Collection, New York; The Hispanic Museum and Library, NY; and the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven; will provide firsthand experience of the material covered in class. Taught by Mrs. Louise Joyner.

This course concludes the socio-historical survey of art history with a variety of modern and post-modern movements from the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries up to present-day contemporary art. Some of the key art historical movements that will be studied include: Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Futurism, Cubism, Surrealism, Pop Art, and Post-Modernism. The course format will include both lecture and more in-depth discussion of a select few of the most representative artists and their artworks. The leitmotif for the survey of modern art will be an emphasis on aesthetics, art theory and criticism, that is, an introductory overview of art historical methodologies and aesthetics, that is, the philosophy of beauty. As in the prerequisite art courses (Art History 1 and 2) this course will continue to emphasize, through reflection and discussion, the artworks in relation to contemporary cultural issues as well as their potential for application as tools of apostolate. “Mock exhibitions” 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 nineteenth century to the present. An architectural walking tour of New Haven and visits to the following art museums will provide firsthand experience of the theoretical principles and the historical overview provided through lecture and discussion covered in class: The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; Museum of Modern Art, NY; and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Boston Public Library. Taught by Mrs. Louise Joyner.

In this course, students read, analyze and discuss selected works from classical authors. The authors or themes treated are as follows: introduction to Greek Literature, Homer, Hesiod, Lyric Poets, Greek Tragedy, Lucretius, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Catullus, Early Medieval Epics (from Beowulf to the Nibelungenlied) Dante, Petrarch, Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Cervantes, the Spanish Golden Century, French Theater, Jonathan Swift. 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 Dr. Baltazar López, with seminar groups directed by Fr. Miguel de la Torre LC and Mr. Robert Murphy.

This course entails reading, analysis, and discussion of selected works from the 19th Century. The authors or themes treated are as follows: Goethe, Romanticism in England, Spain, and Italy, Realism and later literary movements. For the seminar, students choose among the following works: Dante’s Divine Comedy, a selection of Anglo-Saxon literature. They prepare different presentations throughout the semester with the help of various commentaries and under the modality suggested by each seminar director. Taught by Mr. Baltazar López, with seminar groups directed by Fr. Miguel de la Torre LC and Dr. Baltazar López.

This course entails the reading, analysis, and discussion of selected works from the 20th Century, such as Wilde, Kafka, Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, Hesse, Hemingway, Tolkien, Lewis, García Márquez, Borges, Paz and others. The course also includes a seminar on 20th century Mexican Literature and another one on some works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Taught by Mr. Baltazar López, with seminar groups directed by Fr. Miguel de la Torre LC and Mr. Robert Murphy.

This course is the first part of a three-semester survey of the history of European art music from Greco-Roman antiquity to the 20th century. The course opens with a general, basic introduction to music theory, including consideration of music’s aesthetic and ethical dimensions. The course then begins the survey, covering topics and composers such as Mesomedes of Crete, Gregorian chant, the beginnings of polyphony in the Middle Ages, and liturgical and secular music of the Renaissance. Concerts and other special events will be part of the program. Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.

This course is a continuation of Music History, covering 17th and 18th-century European art music, the Baroque and Classical periods. Included will be topics and composers such as Sweelinck, Pachelbel, Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven, the development of opera, Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, and sonata form. Concerts and other special events will be part of the program. Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.

This course is a continuation of Music History, covering 19th and 20th century European art music, the Romantic and modern periods. Included will be topics and composers such as Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner, Debussy, Schoenberg, Messiaen, and Glass, nationalism, atonality, and minimalism. Concerts and other special events will be part of the program. Taught by Dr. Charles Mercier.

Is the Beauty that leads to Truth one of the Church’s most underutilized treasures? How can Sacred Art and Architecture be best used for evangelization? Pope St. John Paul II in his encyclical “Letter to Artists” emphatically declared, “Beauty will save the World “The Church needs Art” – Pope St Gregory the Great’s dictum was likeminded, “Art is the Bible of the Illiterate.” Building upon the art history survey course, this elective will take a deeper look at a wide array of ecclesiastical monuments from a theological perspective, on both large (chapels and altarpieces) and small (liturgical or devotional objects) scales. The course will consist of the following four parts: Sacred Art and Architecture through the Lens of Church History; The Spirituality of Sacred Art and Architecture; Church Architecture: The Discernment of Beauty; and Art as an Apostolate of the New Evangelization. First, we will revisit the history of sacred art; in particular, students will learn how it has been used as an aid for both catechesis and prayer. We will read and discuss relevant conciliar documents, papal encyclicals, writings of the saints, and those by artists themselves, that document where the expressed purpose of Sacred Art has been evangelization. This course will take a seminar-discussion format and there will also be several guest speakers, including legionary priests, whose apostolates are living examples of “Art as a Legionary Apostolate.” Taught by Mrs. Louise Joyner.