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Lasallian Honors Program
Confessions or Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy. The seminar format and writing assignments
help provide students with a critical understanding of the ancient works that have been central to the
development of our Western intellectual tradition. Additionally, students will be introduced to elements
of Greek and Roman culture, such as the Greek language and the Roman art of memory.
LH205 Justice and the Call to Servant Leadership 4 credits
One of the most enduring questions a liberal arts education must engage is, what does it mean to
lead a just life? This leads to a further question: what is my responsibility to others within the human
community? In this seminar, second-year students encounter texts that have provided a foundation for
thinking about the problems of justice and moral responsibility. Such texts may include Plato's Republic,
as well as the writings of Aristotle, Dante, and Shakespeare. A service-learning experience is integrated
into the course, in which the practical dimensions of justice and servant leadership are explored within
the local community.
LH255 Science, Politics, and the Place of the Individual in Culture and Cosmos 4 credits
In this course, students encounter some of the works of Early Modern and Enlightenment thinkers,
including Galileo, Descartes, Newton, Locke, and Rousseau. These writers represent a major transitional
period in Western civilization: a move away from classical culture and its authorities, a split between
philosophy and what would come to be called science, an embrace of the view of the human person
as an individual, an emphasis on experience and experiment. The course ends with a close reading and
discussion of Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov as one critique of the implications of the emerging
tradition of Western Humanism. Students also continue to engage in service learning as they explore
the tension between abstract ideas and concrete realities evident in much of the work of these authors.
LH305 Literature and the Arts 4 credits
Art: it is as natural to us as it is mysterious. It is as inspiring as it is commonplace. But what is art exactly?
What do we make of it? What do we learn by creating it? By studying a diverse array of works of art
– from poetry to the symphony, from painting to the novel – this course attempts to answer these
and similar questions about the process and products we call art. Students learn to identify, explain,
and appreciate an array of monumental artistic achievements and understand why these works are
considered substantial contributions to our cultural heritage. They also discuss how artistic expression
affects or reflects our understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live. The course includes
student creation of works of art in tutorial sessions.
LH355 Classics of The East and Pacific Rim 4 credits
This third-year seminar involves close reading and discussion of texts honored by Eastern traditions,
which may include the Bhagavad Gita, the Buddhist Scriptures, the Confucian Analects, the Tao Te
Ching, the koans used by the Zen Buddhist tradition, and the Koran. An experiential tutorial in Eastern
practices is designed to enrich students’ appreciation of the role of meditation, yoga, self-cultivation,
and aesthetic expression within the intellectual and spiritual traditions of the East.
LH405 Modernity in Dialogue with Catholicism 4 credits
The word "modern" sometimes is used simply to describe anything new and advanced. In this course,
the "Modern World" is recognized as the creation of revolutions of the mind that have their roots in
17th-century Western philosophy but that took hold in many disparate fields in the 19th and 20th
centuries as a Modern worldview. One alternative worldview that has both embraced and challenged
aspects of Modernity is Catholicism. This course explores the works and impacts of major thinkers of
that world-transforming intellectual movement called Modernity in dialogue with Catholic responses
to those thinkers. Through reading, writing, and seminar discussion, the course challenges students to
uncover what Modernity means, what Catholicism means, and what synergies and antagonisms might
exist between the two. Such discoveries should provide a critical understanding of contemporary
culture and provoke consideration of how one can live more thoughtful and responsible lives as
scholars and servants in our postmodern world.
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