| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Jan 15
1 Intro to Course |
16 2
|
17
3
Dostoevsky, chs. 3-4: "The Brothers Make Friends," "Rebellion" pp. 1-17 |
18 4 | 19
5
Dostoevsky, ch. 5, "The Grand Inquisitor," pp. 19-37. |
| 22 6 | 23
1
Dostoevsky, Book VI: "The Russian Monk," pp. 39-80 |
24 2 | 25 3
Augustine, Confessions, Bks I-II (3-34) |
26 4
|
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 29
5
Augustine, Confessions |
30 6 | 31
1
Augustine, Confessions |
February 1 2
|
2
3
Augustine, Confessions |
| 5 4 | 6
5
Augustine, Confessions See essay assignment due Feb.12 |
7 6
|
8
1 Aquinas: Summa Theologica (web), Part I, Questions
48,
49 No journal entry |
9 2
|
| 12 3 | 13 4
|
14
5
continue discussion of Aquinas, Q 49 Group 3 - Public Folder |
15 6 | 16
1 Read: in Voltaire,
Candide,
Leibniz, pp. 84-86;
&
Theodicy Summary Group 4 - Public Folder |
| 19 2
|
20
3 Voltaire, Candide, chs. 1-16, pp. 1-35. Group 1: Public Folder |
21 4
|
22
5 Voltaire, Candide, chs. 17-30, pp. 36-79. Group 2: Public Folder |
23 6
|
|
F E B R U A R Y 2 4 -- M A R C H 4 : S P R I N G B R E A K |
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| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|
March 5
1
start C.S. Lewis |
6 2
|
7
3
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, chs. 1-5 (pp. 1-85) Public Folder Group 3 |
8 4
|
9
5
C.S. Lewis: chs. 6-10 (pp. 86-159) No class: Board Meetings |
| 12 6
|
13 1 | 14
Benedictine Heritage Day: "Dancing on the Edge |
15 2
|
16
3 Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 1-2 Public Folder Group 1 |
| 19 4
|
20
5 Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 3-4 Public Folder Group 2 |
21 6
|
22
1 Milton, Paradise Lost, Books 5-6 Public Folder Group 3 |
23 2
|
| 26
3
Milton,
Paradise Lost, Books 7-9* Public Folder Group 4 |
27 4
|
28
5
Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 10
|
29 6
|
30
1
Milton, Paradise Lost |
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| April 2 2
|
3
3 Elie Wiesel, Night (complete) |
4 4
|
5 E A S T E R Holy Thursday |
6
B R E A K Good Friday |
| 9
|
10
5 Movie: The Quarrel |
11 6
|
12
1 finish The
Quarrel |
13 2
|
| 16
3
Annie Dillard, For the Time Being, chs 1-4 Public Folder: Group 1 |
17 4
|
18
5
paper due |
19 6
|
20
1
Annie Dillard, For the Time Being, finish Public Folder: Group 2 |
| 23 2
|
24
3 Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling, pp. 3-24 Public Folder: Group 3 |
25 4
|
26
5 Kierkegaard: Fear and Trembling, "Problemata: Preamble from the Heart," pp. 27-61. Public Folder: Group 4 |
27 6
|
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 30
1
Kierkegaard, F&T Problema I: pp. 62-79. |
May 1 2
|
2
3
Kierkegaard, F&T Problema II: pp. 80-97. |
3 4
|
4
5
Kierkegaard, F&T Problema III: pp. 98-105; 137-148, & Epilogue, 149-152. |
| 7 6
|
8 Study Day |
9 Exam Day 1 |
10
Exam
Day 2 |
11 Exam Day 3 |
For:
 | Ideas for journal reflection: How would you respond to Ivan? (You can focus on any of the things he says: his stories, his conclusion, his "philosophy." What do you think of Alyosha's response to him? Other thoughts are welcome as well. You can always, in your journals, discuss what is puzzling or a problem to understand. Don't feel as if you have to be "right" all the time in these. | ||||||
| Group 1 Public Folder: By 10 PM Tuesday night, choose something from your journal
reflections and post it on the public folder. Your journal might be more
free-ranging, written for yourself, but this should be intended to
prompt class discussion, both electronically and in class.
|
| This is the most famous section of Dostoevsky's novel, and there should be lots to discuss (We might extend this section another day). I'll leave you to write about whatever interests you for your journals... |
| And Group 2 (Michelle, Peter, Karla, Luke) should pick up on something from your journal--or something else that strikes you, and propose it as a topic for class discussion by making an entry in the Public Folder. As you propose the topic, at least begin to give your own take on it (200-250 words by 10:00 PM). As always, others can and should respond electronically--at least you need to respond electronically about half the time. |
| Our editor thinks (and I agree) that these chapters, although they come a little later in the novel, are in some ways an answer to the problems posed by Ivan in the "Rebellion" and "The Grand Inquisitor" chapters. They're not a directly argumentative answer, that is, not a debate-type answer, but still in some sense an answer or alternative perspective. You might try to think about how the story of Zossima in any way "responds" to Ivan's points of view. Or you could just pick out your favorite part and comment on that! |
| Take it away Beth, Mya, Colman and Jordan. Anything you want to write about is fair game for the public folder. And everyone else, remember your promise to read and at least occasionally respond to others' entries. You don't want to have the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits! |
| While I said not to read the Introduction, the short Foreward (xxvii-xxx) might be helpful. It will at least tell you a little bit about Augustine for context. And the "Translator's Note" (xxxi) explains why there are Thee's and Thou's some places and You's everywhere else. |
| For journals, I will just suggest you pick out something that interests you to comment on. This is a very different style work than the excerpts form the novel, The Brothers Karamazov. It is rather a spiritual autobiography--perhaps one of the first instances of "autobiography" in literature. It focuses on Augustine's spiritual journey--his conversion really, although books 10-13 turn more to a reflection first on his own state post-conversion, and then on the first book of the Bible, Genesis. We'll focus on the first 8-9 books (really on books 7 & 8), as well as a little section of Augustine's "Handbook" / Enchiridion (web-accessed). But see what piques your interest here. |
| The same goes for the Public Folder entries by Kenan, Pat, Hue, and Ellen. I will have some topics I will raise if they aren't raised by you, but I'd rather see what grabs your interest. |
| Read Augustine Confessions, Books 3-4. Book Three starts out, ""I came to Carthage, where a cauldron of illicit loves boiled about me." Read on! (Actually, you won't get any really salacious passages, sorry. But there are some poignant parts of these chapters. Keep in mind that in much of them, Augustine is about your age. (He starts Book Three at age 16, but is 27 by the end of Book Four). He "goes away to school" as part of this time, starts developing real intellectual interests, begins a "relationship," loses a close friend--all parts of life that could have some resonance. (Not that I suspect you all of having a "cauldron of illicit loves" boiling about you!) |
| Keep up with your journals--Here I expect a regular reflection on something in the day's reading. Doesn't have to be real long, but the key is to do something with what you read--makes it stick a little more. |
| No group is assigned for Public Folder. If anyone wants to make a voluntary entry, that is certainly welcome. Most of you are in the habit of checking the folder, so if someone posts, others may reply. If Hue is feeling better, I've suggested that she post something, so you should at least check for that. |
| Keep up with your journals. Optional Public Folder postings. |
| Group 1 should post by 10 PM Thursday night something dealing with Book 7. In this book, Augustine makes a crucial breakthrough in his thought process. His study of Platonic Philosophy is very important for this. You might want to pick up on something having to do with this, although other topics are just as fair game. Others can chime in one the group has posted, as you've been doing so well. |
| Group 2 should post by 10 PM Monday night. Books 8 and 9 are as far as we'll go in Augustine's Confessions. I don't think you should have trouble finding a topic to post about. |
| Reading Milton's Paradise Lost will be a bit of an experience.
You'll get better at it as you go on, but you'll also want to get to the
point that you can fully imagine the scenes of the opening books: the
awakening of Satan and the fallen "rebel angels" in Hell, his speech to them
and the construction of "Pandaemonium" in Book I, and then the "parliament
of devils" and Satan's meeting with his offspring, Sin and Death and his
foray into "limitless ocean" and abyss of Night in Book II.
| ||||||
| Public Folder: Find something that you can talk about where you feel you've got at least a solid beginning understanding. For example, the character or personality of Satan--what do you think of him? Anything surprising in Milton's portrayal of Satan? Any lines of Satan or of Moloch or Beelzebub or Belial or Mammon that strike you especially in the discussion of the devils' plans? Or anything in the description of hell itself? What about the depiction of Sin and Death? Why are they described as they are? At the same time, don't be afraid to point to places where you need some help for understanding. |
