CLASS DESCRIPTION In this class, we will read the whole of Dante's Comedy, with a particularly focus on how Dante used the "great books" of his own day to construct a deeply spiritual and psychological journey, from despair and loss and divisiveness to a happiness so bright and full the human mind cannot take it all in. We will see…
Individual Price: $99 (Non-Refundable) ***NEW Family Rate for 3 or more students*** Price: $250 (Non-Refundable) The Harry Potter series rivals both The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings as the most popular fantasy series of all time. Behind all the hype, film franchises, amusement parks, cos-play, and controversy are stories deeply steeped in the same Literary Tradition…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
A Summer Class by Dr. Jason Baxter Dostoevsky once proclaimed: "Mankind can live without science, and even without bread. But it cannot live without beauty." But what is beauty for Dostoeveky? And why is so hard for mankind in modernity to find it? This four-part summer series will read Dostoevsky's greatest novel, Brothers Karamazov, within the context of European modernity,…
In the 5th century A.D., the world of the Roman Empire was slowly dying. Its rulers were increasingly weak, literature and philosophy largely exhausted, the cities and provinces impoverished, the ancient religion and civic patriotism atrophied and enfeebled. Goths, Vandals and Huns spilled over the borders. Men all around fearfully anticipated the end of things. And in a middling town…
G.K. Chesterton was among the most popular English writers of the early Twentieth Century. As a novelist, poet, biographer, essayist, and Christian apologist he produced a large and grandly diverse body of writing that has in the past century inspired the admiration of George Orwell, Dorothy Sayers, C.S. Lewis, George Bernard Shaw, Franz Kafka, Theodore Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi, Agatha Christie, Kingsley…
How to Read Beowulf An in-depth week-long class with Angelina Stanford (NOTE: If you have already purchased the old Beowulf class, you can upgrade to the new class for only $20! See your purchase note for the coupon code.) When confronted with a very old work of literature, the modern reader struggles for several reasons. The biggest obstacle is that…
(Note: This is a recording of a previously live class. The login information for this class will be in your Completed Invoice under Notes. Email [email protected] with any login questions.") The Taming of the Shrew may be Shakespeare’s most misunderstood play! Angelina Stanford will lead you through Elizabethan Cosmology, the form of the play, the tradition of the taming…
The writings of the great 19th century Russian masters are among the richest in the literature of the world. The personal and political dramas, the skepticisms and struggles, beliefs and fanaticisms that gave life to the Russian world of that era are all richly presented in the works of Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Gogol and their peers. This course will begin with…
NOTE: This purchase provides access to the recordings a previously live class. Almost 20 hours of instruction. Fairy tales are universal. We find them in every time and in every culture. For as long as there have been words, people have been telling these stories. Why? Why do we tell these stories? Why do we share these stories with…
Everything you need for Advent Read-Alouds This Advent Bundle Includes Recordings of these previous classes: An in-depth mini-class on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol taught by Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks. With the approach of Advent, it’s the perfect time to explore Charles Dickens’ classic tale of selfishness and redemption and the Christmas spirit. Drawing on her expertise…
Shakespeare’s three great Roman tragedies remain definitive representations of political power, tyranny, anarchy, unrestrained passion, and the corruptibility of men. Join classicist Thomas Banks this October for his three-session short class on Shakespeare’s Romans; enjoy the supreme excellence of Shakespeare’s dramatic verse; discover the historical basis of the three plays in the writings of Plutarch; and enter into the world…
Join Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks for a 3-day IN-DEPTH look at Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol--- just in time for Christmas! With the approach of Advent, it’s the perfect time to explore Charles Dickens’ classic tale of selfishness and redemption and the Christmas spirit. Drawing on her expertise in Victorian literature, folklore, and mythology, Angelina Stanford will reveal the…
Note: This is the recording of a LIVE 5-day class taught by Angelina Stanford (over 8 hours of instruction!) Also note that this course was recorded many years ago when I was associated with another company. I no longer have any association with them and do not endorse them. Learn how to read this medieval romance like the original audience!…
Note: This class is completed, but you may work through the course at your own pace. After you purchase the class, you will receive a link to the virtual classroom. Instructor: Thomas Banks The plays of the ancient Greeks are the first great examples of dramatic literature known to us, and the reading of them is a lasting pleasure and…
This is a self-paced course with recordings of a previous Live Class. You will receive the link to the virtual classroom after purchase. Instructor: Angelina Stanford, MA Intimidated by Flannery O’Connor? She’s weird, violent, and grotesque. Many readers are left wondering, what did I just read? Her stories present a world of Dark Grace headed for a collision with…
"It’s all in Plato, all in Plato: bless me, what do they teach them at these schools!"--C.S. Lewis When Lewis had his Professor Kirk speak those memorable lines, he was only partly joking. Especially in the search for beauty, Plato has been the single most important philosopher for the pre-modern, Christian and classical worldview. This interdisciplinary course--designed for to be…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Language study is the science of relations and patterns. This class teaches the fundamentals of the English language through an overview of the structure of a sentence, including the parts of speech, inflection, and syntax. Students who have been learning grammar informally through reading, copywork, and dictation may use this course as a first formal grammar course. The class is…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
While Ancient Classical Greek can be intimidating, it can also be very rewarding. The purpose of studying Classical Greek is first and foremost to read and appreciate authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Sophocles, Euripides, and many others. Studying Classical Greek can also illuminate many important and foundational aspects of the literary tradition. It is also important to note that students…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
A year-long in-depth study of Medieval and Renaissance English literature. Each work will be fully placed in its historical, philosophical, literary, and imaginative context. CS Lewis said that it's the duty of the reader to read the Great Books like the original audience; otherwise we cannot understand what we are reading. This takes work because we come to these texts…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
The collapse of the western Roman Empire marked the end of one world and the beginning of another. In this course students will be introduced to the formation of Christian Europe and its development over the course of nearly ten centuries. Students will be immersed in the kings, queens, soldiers, thinkers, monks, pilgrims and popes of the Medieval world, and…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
The literary, intellectual and religious revolutions that took place in the 19th and 20th centuries were events whose echoes remain with us still. The purpose of this course is to guide the student through some of the best literary fiction written in that time period, placing each book within its historical and imaginative context with background information on the authors’…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
After the French Revolution, Europe had been changed permanently in its political, cultural, and spiritual life. The Napoleonic Wars, Industrial Revolution, Victorian Age, followed in the 20th century by the two world wars and growth of totalitarianism, represent one of the most dramatic and most violent periods of recorded history. Students who enroll in this course are encouraged but not…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
The aim of this course is to offer an accessible introduction to the very first rudiments of the Latin language, and, by necessity, the principles which will aid the student in the future study of other languages. It is a beginning course that will expect no previous experience from its students and which is structured with the goal of preparing…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
This course is a continuation of Latin II. In this class, students will take the knowledge of Latin grammar and vocabulary they have acquired in their previous studies and apply it to the reading of original Latin texts from the time of the Roman Republic down to the beginning of the Christian era. Assigned readings will include a considerable amount…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
This course is the continuation of Latin 1. In this class, students will complete Wheelock’s Latin and practice reading longer and more complex passages from ancient, medieval, and Renaissance authors. The latter half of the course will orient students towards the foundational genres of Roman literature such as epic, history, lyric poetry, epistles, and satire. The aim of Latin 2…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
The language of the ancient Roman people is well worth studying for its own sake, but especially for the sheer joy of reading the Romans in their own words. Many important Western texts, such as Virgil’s Aeneid, are best enjoyed in the original language. There are other benefits to studying Latin, of course, but we should always approach another language…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
This class is designed both for Adults and High School Students who are looking for a foundational year in how to read before taking my other classes. Some students prefer to take this class as a capstone year as well because we do cover some literary theory. This class will provide training in the skill and art of reading. With…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Please Note: This class has a rotating book list so that students may take the class more than once. Good Books is a gentle but thorough introduction to the Literary Tradition for Middle School students. With an emphasis on reading slowly, we will cover basic story patterns and archetypes, motifs and themes that dominate the Great Works of Literature. Through…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
A year-long in-depth study of Early Modern English literature. Each work will be fully placed in its historical, philosophical, literary, and imaginative context. CS Lewis said that it's the duty of the reader to read the Great Books like the original audience ; otherwise we cannot understand what we are reading. This takes work because we come to these texts…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Over the course of the 16th century, it became more and more obvious that the Medieval era had drawn to a close and given way to new developments in religion and culture. New continents were discovered, the forms and aims of the arts branched out in new directions. The Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation worked enormous changes in the structure…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
The understanding of the grand narrative of the Hebrew Bible is the cornerstone of the understanding of story. In this course, students will study the history of the Hebrew people through reading the principal historical narratives of the Old Testament from the Exodus to the end of the Old Testament, illustrated by the laws of Moses, the stories of the…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Welcome to a year of Beowulf in the Anglo-Saxon literary tradition! In this 32-week class, we will dive into the story, language, and world of Beowulf, translating it line by line as we go. The first term will include basic grammar review, a study of alliterative meter, and early essays in translating alliterative verse. As we find our translating feet,…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
In this year-long class, we will learn the foundations of Old English grammar while being introduced to various literary forms in the language. The first term consists of grammar knowledge, poetry reading, and initial translations. The second term includes more advanced grammar and continued poetry and narrative translations. Students will be expected to do in-class readings. Throughout the year, students…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
A year-long in-depth study of the literature of the Greeks and the Romans. Each work will be placed in its own historical and philosophical setting. A main purpose of this course is to give the student a richer understanding of the pre-Christian classical world and its religious, literary and intellectual ideals. This class and the ancient history course are…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
The political, social, religious and intellectual experiences of the Greeks and Romans are set in the very roots of the historical development of Europe and the Americas. It is the aim of this course to introduce students to the life of Greece and Rome, their thinkers, statesmen and soldiers, alongside their philosophies, religions and wars. The period this class takes…
Select options
This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
