All Courses

Thesis writing in the Great Books degree. Develop and defend a persuasive argument on a significant question.

Thesis writing in the Great Books degree. Develop and defend a persuasive argument on a significant question.

Supervised research.

Capstone of the Great Books degree. Develop and defend a persuasive argument on a significant question.

Advanced topics examining a single major topic or theme in Renaissance or Modern great books or works of a significant author.

Advanced topics examining a single major topic or theme in ancient or medieval great books or works of a significant author.

Advanced topics examining a single major topic or theme in Great Books or works of a significant author.

Advanced study of one or more Renaissance or modern great works in the Great Books tradition.

Advanced study of one or more ancient or medieval great works in the Great Books tradition.

Explore religious, literary, scientific, and philosophic reflections on the phenomena of technology, such as: the conquest of nature, industrial and digital revolutions, Artificial Intelligence, transhumanism, cryotherapy, and others. Consider authors and texts from the ancient world through modern times.

Explore religious, poetic, scientific, and philosophic reflections on questions related to the phenomena of fertility, birth, injury, disability, aging, and dying. Consider authors and texts from the ancient world through modern times.

Advanced study of one or more great works in the Great Books tradition.

Explore religious, literary, philosophic, and civic questions in the great texts of the later modern period. Focus on questions concerning the relationship between freedom and community, history and reason, the self and society, and rational inquiry and revelation. Study sources of wisdom in authors such as Rousseau, Flaubert, Marx, Dostoevsky, Darwin, Nietzsche, and Heisenberg. [★ REQUIRED]

Explore religious, literary, philosophic, and civic questions in the literature, art, and philosophy of the modern period. Focus on issues such as the nature of freedom, the character of the self, the relation between the individual and politico-religious authority, and the ascendancy of science. Study sources of wisdom in authors and artists such as Bach, Newton, Hume, Austen, Goethe, and Tolstoy. [★ REQUIRED]

Examine core philosophical and scientific texts in the history of modern science and mathematics. Consider questions such as: What is a 'law of nature'? What is the relationship between empirical investigation and mathematical analysis? How does modern science understand humanity's place in nature? Study sources of wisdom in such authors as Galileo, Descartes, Newton, Darwin, and Einstein.

Introduction to history of mathematics and science through study of core texts from Greek and Roman antiquity. Approach science and mathematics as liberal arts; examine fundamental questions raised by scientific inquiry. Consider questions such as: What is science? How are mathematical truths related to physical reality? What does it mean for something to be a 'cause'?

Explore religious, poetic, and philosophic reflections on questions of law and justice. Investigate questions concerning obligations to the community and the divine, the ordinances of the best regime, the status of nature, the character of the lawgiver, the development of common law, and the variation in law. Study such texts and authors as Exodus, Sophocles, Thomas Aquinas, Montesquieu, and Blackstone.

Explore religious, poetic, and philosophic reflections on questions of leadership as they emerge in the great books of the ancient and modern worlds. Focus on such themes as great ambition, servanthood, aspirations and obedience to divinity, grandeur, and the obligations of justice. Study sources of wisdom in such texts and authors as Xenophon, the books of Samuel, Cicero, Washington, and Churchill.

Explore religious, literary, philosophic, and civic questions in the great texts and art of the early modern period. Investigate issues such as the nature of the political community, the relation between the human and the divine, and the problem of human knowledge. Study sources of wisdom in such authors and texts as Petrarch, Calvin, Galileo, Shakespeare, and Francis Bacon. [★ REQUIRED]

Explore religious, literary, philosophic, and civic questions as they emerge in the great texts of the classical and medieval periods. Investigate issues such as the relation between philosophy and the political community, the sources of human excellence and civic consensus, and the relation between the human and the divine. Study sources of wisdom in such authors as Virgil, Augustine, Chaucer, Thomas Aquinas, and Dante. [★ REQUIRED]

Explore religious, literary, philosophic, scientific, and civic questions as they emerge in the arts and letters of America from 1872 to 2000. Study sources of wisdom in such figures as Mark Twain, Henry James, the Gershwins, and William Faulkner.

Explore religious, literary, philosophic, scientific, and civic questions as they emerge in the arts and letters of America in the period up to and including Reconstruction. Focus on issues such as the nature of virtue and freedom, the character of the self and its relation to God and nature, and the relation between the individual and authority. Study sources of wisdom in such figures as the Puritans, James Fennimore Cooper, Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, and Frederick Douglass.

Study of one or more Renaissance or modern great works in the Great Books tradition.

Study of one or more ancient or medieval great works in the Great Books tradition.

Study of one or more great works in the Great Books tradition.

Explore religious, literary, philosophic, and civic questions in the great dramatic, historical, and philosophic texts of the Ancient Mediterranean world. Investigate issues such as the unity and multiplicity of the virtues, the problem of knowledge, and the character of nature. Study sources of wisdom in such authors as Aristophanes, Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle. [★ REQUIRED]

Explore religious, literary, philosophic, and civic questions in the great texts, communal practices, and cosmological teachings from the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean. Investigate problems of the sacred and the profane, nobility and shame, holiness and justice. Study sources of wisdom in texts and authors such as Gilgamesh, Bible, Homer, Anaximander, and the tragedians. [★ REQUIRED]

Provides a format for reflection during a professional internship, resulting in improved ability to both articulate preferences and skills, and to match them with appropriate career-related choices.

Provides a format for reflection during a professional internship, resulting in improved ability to both articulate preferences and skills, and to match them with appropriate career-related choices.

Seminar discussion of readings and material in G B 345D.

Seminar discussion of readings and material in G B 345C.

Seminar discussion of readings and material in G B 334D.

Seminar discussion of readings and material in G B 334C.

Seminar discussion of readings and material covered in G B 313D.

Seminar discussion of readings and material covered in G B 313C.

Capstone of the civics honors degree. Develop and defend a coherent and persuasive argument on a significant question.

Capstone of the civics honors degree. Develop and defend a coherent and persuasive argument on a significant question.

Perform fieldwork in research and analysis related to civic leadership.

Supervised research.

Supervised research.

Supervised research.

Advanced topics that examine a single major work in civics, significant theme in civics, or select works of a significant author in civics.

Advanced study of topics in strategy and statecraft.

Advanced study of topics in civic thought and culture.

Advanced study of topics in rights, freedoms, and the rule of law.

Advanced study of ethical considerations in leadership and ethical resources for leadership.

Discuss one or more great works influencing the development of the Western intellectual tradition by such authors as Sophocles, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Tacitus, Augustine, Aquinas, and Dante.

Advanced study and analysis of the history of the writing, approval, development, and interpretation of the United States Constitution.

Introduction to statistics, econometrics, and data science as tools necessary for policy and social science research. Applies these tools to real-world data to answer crucial policy questions.

Survey the ideas that have structured the American economic system and the implications of these ideas for civic life and citizenship. Examine philosophical and theoretical questions of political economy, as well as the policy challenges of the modern welfare state and globalization. [NEW, CORE]

Discuss a practical application of the studies of strategic behavior to leadership. Examine games leaders must play and strategies they can use to orient a team toward a common goal.

Analyze the ethical challenges civic leaders face. Explore different ethical frameworks for approaching the responsibility of civic leadership. Discuss case studies of leaders and difficult leadership decisions through biographies, historical studies, and films.

Examine the relationship between theology (both revealed and natural) and political theory in the Western world. Discuss the political significance of theological ideas such as human equality, divine providence, and the metaphysical foundations of natural law and free will. [NEW, CORE]

Examine how human communities are structured, and how this structure can foster or distort moral character and promote or obstruct happiness. Explore socialization; social capital; the role of rituals, symbols, hierarchy, historical memory, arts and literature, and religion.

Investigate economic growth as a function of constitutions that protect the rule of law and well-defined property rights. Examine social and economic outcomes under different rules. Explore constitutional disputes over economic issues such as taxation, eminent domain, labor law, and regulation.

Examine the ancient and medieval origins of modern constitutionalism. Explores the works of authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Hamilton, Madison, Tocqueville, Marx, Mill, Arendt, and Rawls.

Discuss classic and contemporary texts on civic leadership from a range of cultures and periods, including different ways of understanding, organizing, and leading in civic life.

Close readings from primary texts that have shaped or that reflect deeply upon American democracy, including the Declaration of Independence, The Federalist Papers, and Tocqueville's Democracy in America. [CORE]

Study selected plays of Shakespeare, focusing on themes of virtue, justice, and leadership qualities. [NEW, CORE]

Study of selected plays of Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, and others with a focus on themes of virtue, justice, and leadership qualities. Core: 050 — Visual & Performing Arts [NEW, CORE]

Investigate the nature, grounds, and consequences of moral excellence in political communities. Discuss close reading of classical texts (such as Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, Cicero, Aquinas), contemporary philosophical analysis, results of scientific research, and reflections on history, biography, and literature.

Introduction to statistical methods used in civics with emphasis on concepts and applications. Utilize a variety of real data to discuss key concepts, such as sampling distributions and basic data analyses. [CORE]

Examine classical liberal thought as it relates to political and economic liberty. Investigate how classical liberal ideas influence the modern development of democracy and capitalism. Explore potential tensions between democracy and capitalism. [CORE]

Examine the roots of American institutions and practices from ancient times, medieval institutions, English constitutional history, and the Enlightenment. Discuss the American colonial experiment in self-government. Explore the Revolution, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitutional convention. Core: 010 — Communication [CORE]

Examine debates about constitutionalism and citizenship in American and Texas political experience. Investigate the philosophical and historic foundations of American institutions from the founding period through the contemporary era. Discuss the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. [NEW, CORE]

Explores the origins of social scientific thought in the history of political philosophy and traces the development of one or more of the social sciences in modern times. Focuses on fundamental ideas about human nature, civil society, and politics, explored through reading such authors as Aristotle, Aquinas, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Freud. [CORE]

Examines what humans can know, how they reason, what thinking is, and how humans communicate to persuade others. Readings in logic, epistemology, and rhetoric include classical writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian as well as modern and contemporary thinkers and leaders, with emphasis on case studies of effective persuasion.

Survey social science research on the key determinants of human happiness and consider the implications of this research for civic life.

Examine classic texts that explore what it means to be human and consider their implications for politics, economics, society, morality, and religion.

Examine civic conflicts and controversies, with a view to understanding their root causes. Explore readings from classic and contemporary texts on political theory, ethics, and practice.

Provides a format for reflection during a professional internship in civic leadership, resulting in improved ability to both articulate preferences and skills, and to match them with appropriate career-related choices. [NEW]

Provides a format for reflection during a professional internship in civic leadership, resulting in improved ability to both articulate preferences and skills, and to match them with appropriate career-related choices. [NEW]

Address issues related to career planning to establish an internship search. Develop resume, cover letters, job search profiles, networking, and interviewing techniques. Conduct informational interviews. Apply for internships.

Topics in Civics vary.

Topics in Strategy and Statecraft vary. Supervised research.

Topics in Civic Thought and Culture vary. Supervised research.

Topics in Rights, Freedoms and the Rule of Law vary. Supervised research.

Topics in Ethics and Leadership vary. Supervised research.

Topics in Western Civilization vary. Supervised research.

Topics in Constitutional History and Principles vary. Supervised research.

Topics in Civics vary.

Discuss foundations for success in life, college, and career. Develop skills for civic leadership, well-being, and academic scholarship. [NEW]