“The Great Books Academy is the Cadillac of homeschool programs.” – John O’Rourke
Here are some of the replies we have received from our students from the Moderator Evaluation Form. The students are replying to this question: “Would you like to take another Great Books course with this Moderator? Why or why not?”
Matias is one of your students this year, in the Friday Greek year discussion group. He has absolutely loved the sessions. There has been a tremendous value in sharing his views with his peers on the readings and in learning about his classmates’ points of view. We feel very grateful to Angelicum for this special educational experience. Beatriz V.
Thank you so very much for being such a great professor! I was thrilled to learn of the Great Books Program two years ago, but I am so happy with how truly wonderful it is. I am just so thankful to you and all the professors for your time and efforts and genuine care for our education, and I cannot begin to express my gratitude for such a great online program as this.
I have truly enjoyed the Program. It’s been a mind-opener for me. My education was very science and medicine oriented so the Great Books is giving me something I had always missed. I’ll miss the tutorials over the Summer, but I think I will be re-reading quite a bit. You are able to stimulate thought and discussion without stifling either! My 80 year old friend, who is my ‘study companion’ is thinking of joining us next year. Teresa Carey, Ireland Yes I would, because she helps me to understand the works in depth, and asks us many thought provoking questions which allows me to get more out of the works than i ever would have imagined. Yes. Mr. B is clear, helpful, and respectful while being brutally honest. Not only would I like to, I plan to!! Yes. He is great and understands that everyone had different answers. Yes, he is a blast, but don’t tell him that! Yes, because he does a good job at referring to text from the books we read and he also always adds a twist of fun and good education in our classes. Yes, because he is loads of fun, and helps me understand what I am learning more. Yes, he is a great leader and facilitator of the discussion. Yes I would, because she helps me to understand the works in depth, and asks us many thought provoking questions which allows me to get more out of the works than i ever would have imagined. Yes. I love these classes and I love how the questions asked during them help with the further understanding of the readings. Yes. All of them. He is the best teacher in everything. Yes. I love these classes and I love how the questions asked during them help with the further understanding of the readings. Yes. He’s obviously one of the experts in his field. It would be great if I could. She’s a very thoughtful sort of moderator. Yes, because I enjoy her teaching style. Certainly. She lets the students read the discussion to review it again in class. Yes, because she does everything very clearly and meaningfully. She talks about the readings and discussion materials in an interesting way. Yes! He’s so kind and even though he has his opinions, he doesn’t make assumptions about the beliefs of the students. Yes, he has very interesting topics! Yes I would, because I love all of her discussion topics! They are very creative! Yes, I am very challenged and I learn a lot YES!! Yes. She makes thing clear and easy to understand. Yes, she is nice and funny. Yes, I am very challenged and I learn a lot. Yes definitely. This is my second year with Mr. Bertucci and I love every class. Yes! Mr. Bertucci is a fun and interesting teacher! I would love to take my future classes with Mr. B. Yes, because I feel that I am learning in a fun and easy to understand system and environment. Yes, I would. Classes moderated by him are very thought provoking and well organized. I always walk away from class with a better understanding of the ideas discussed in the text. Yes. Great leader! Yes, because he’s an excellent teacher who always makes me learn something new. Because she’s very kind and never makes another student feel bad about their views, I know this best because sometimes I’m the only one who agrees with something in the class. I wish this class was every day! “Please feel free to quote any and all parts of this email…I apologize for the poor quality of writing. In my freshman year of high school, I took Great Books 1 with an online Protestant tutorial service. While I derived some benefit from the course, emphasis was placed on “teaching” the works, not “exploring” them. I must confess that I do not now remember in what year Aristotle was born, nor in what year he died. I only have a dubious recollection of how the Academy received its name, and I would not be able to recount the manner of Persian bridge making. Nevertheless, I would have continued with that tutorial service on to Great Books 2 had it not been for the fact that this tutorial reads many of the Church Fathers in the second year of Great Books. As a convert to Catholicism from Protestantism, I neither had nor have a great longing to learn about the Church Fathers from Protestants. I must not be ecumenical enough. Searching online, eventually my principal and I discovered a Catholic Great Books 2 program-one that was offered for college credit! We gathered information about the program, offered by Angelicum Academy, and shortly thereafter I registered for it. The difference in approach between Angelicum Academy and the other tutorial service was obvious from day one. As Mr. Bertucci is wont to say, their program is more concerned with wisdom than information. It took me awhile to adapt to this different spirit, but eventually I was swept into the tide of the Great Conversation, with much thanks to Mr. Robert Hutchins’ excellent essay of the same title. Angelicum Academy’s Great Books program opens up the great books while opening minds. Their program teaches students to think, not to memorize. Everything they claim about their program is true. I have taken my first steps into a larger world, a world I might never have known. I recoil at the thought that I might have lived out the rest of my days without the wisdom that beckons to us all in the great books. I will continue to read the great books for the rest of my life, though unfortunately it will not be with Angelicum Academy. I am leaving; in the fall I shall enter the University of Wisconsin. Though I was in Angelicum Academy’s Great Books program for but a year, and a very hectic year at that (through no fault of Angelicum Academy), their program is the defining element of my pre-collegiate education, my first great beacon to our world’s common intellectual tradition, and one of the few things I will regret abandoning for the halls of vulgar knowledge. Angelicum Academy cannot provide the wisdom gained by suffering, nor that of a St. Alphonsus Liguori; however, it can well provide wisdom of the basic sort. Though for lack of a better term I call it basic, such wisdom seems to be infrequently found these days. Our civilization is rapidly advancing technologically, but the wisdom with which to use this technology no longer lies in our citizenry at large. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but a little wisdom can ensure that said knowledge is used for the good. You may slave over your mathematical science if you wish, but you will most likely forget more than half of it within the course of a few years. Wisdom is not so desultory a guest. (Mathematical science is vanity, anyway; this is where St. Alphonsus’ wisdom proves useful.) A person should be loath to call oneself educated without an understanding of the tradition of the West. Only the educated are free, the philosophers say, and indeed we are all philosophers. The decisions we make from day to day are based on philosophy. Is it not irresponsible to base our decisions on philosophy if we do not have training in the thinking mechanism thus called? This email need not turn into an apology for philosophy or the Great Books, however; and to write on without end would diminish the chance that you will read this message. Suffice to say, Angelicum Academy provides understanding. You must enroll in their program, whether regular track or college track. If you lack funds, request a scholarship. It will be one of the best decisions you will ever make. Edward Chein ============================================ However, if it wasn’t for the discussions, I’m not sure how well I would have understood the readings–if you didn’t understand the reading, you have a terrible time keeping up with the conversation. So I often find myself rereading passages, thinking about what on earth the author was talking about, etc. In the actual class, we frequently refer to the book to support our arguments, and if you can’t find a passage supporting your thought, woe is you. You’re not allowed to twist the book so that it supports your belief; you’re welcome to disagree with the author’s conclusions (and we often do), but it says what it says, and you have to accept that. Whether I think it’s stupid or not, Calvin honestly believed in predestination. In the Calvin class, we were really urged to explore why Calvin thought that, instead of just dismissing it. Did anyone come out of class a Calvinist? No, but we sure had a better understanding of where Calvinists are coming from–and ultimately, why they’re wrong. In having to come up with rational arguments against Calvinism, we developed a better understanding of why Catholicism’s position on free will is the correct one. The teachers usually start out with a question, and at the end of the class, we’ve generally gone over several aspects of the book. Also, one or both of the teachers end class with a concluding statement which clears up any confusion in the class. But they do urge us to think it out for ourselves, and are careful during class to not give away their own conclusions too early. And it really does force one to think when you’re confronted with questions such as: “What is freedom?”, “What is the value of education?”, and (my favorite!), “What is the end of the state?” And you can’t ever answer, “Well, because I think it should be this way,”–oh, no. You’ve got to find reasonable arguments, preferably based on the text. One of the best classes we ever had was on freedom–we eventually concluded that true freedom was following God’s will, after two hours of wrangling over why freedom couldn’t be doing whatever you darn well please. A teacher could have told us this at the beginning of the class, but I never would have remembered it so well, or grasped so much more thoroughly why freedom is that and not getting our own way. There are so many people nowadays who are going around proclaiming notions that sound good (such as the peace and love movement of the sixties) on the surface, but really aren’t. In these classes, we’re really learning why what is true is true, and therefore, how to defend it. If you’ve already had an argument in class about what peace truly is and what its place in the world is, it’s a lot easier to discuss it with someone who think it means no war ever. The class definitely improves from year to year. The students are maturing; and also the more we’ve read, the richer the experience is. When we were reading Galileo, and his ideas about motion and time, several of us recalled Aquinas’ definition of God as the First Mover, as well as some of St. Augustine’s theories about time in the Confessions. So you really start connecting everything. And I would say we’re a lot more used to the questions, and we’re delving a lot deeper than we did in the beginning. Some of the questions we keep returning to, and I’m always getting a better understanding. Sorry about this being so long!–I think I inherited my mom’s chatterboxiness. Kate, daughter of Colleen T., now at Thomas Aquinas College ====================================== ====================================== Thomas is looking forward to your classes. They really are fabulous…………..V.B. I can hardly wait for school to start now! Look what you’ve done to me! Today I was excited to read Shakespeare. I’m suing you people ………J. M., 4th year student I have never sat in on the class before today…J. won’t allow it. But A. wanted someone there today and I got to stay for the duration of the class. I truly enjoyed it and I just want to thank you and Dr. Hancock for making the class so enjoyable. You are truly inspiring. Keep up the wonderful work! Pax Christi, I always enjoy listening in on your classes. I learn every time. M. is growing up in wisdom under your guidance…….Yours In Christ, P.S. Both the girls are really enjoying their GB courses. You do a superb job! Thanks for your dedication…..God Bless You, P.Z. Just a quick note to say thanks for the work you do. As I read your note to the students on “justice is not a narrow topic” it nearly brought tears to my eyes. The class is exceeding my most optimistic expectations – which were quite informed and quite optimistic since A. spent 8th grade with you, too. It appears to me that A.’s personality is being shaped most positively; that she takes pride in herself as a person who is embarking on the Great Books, and she takes joy in what she has learned……..S.L. Thank you for all you do to form these kids in knowledge and truth. The world is a better place because of your commitment and diligence!……A.H.
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Yes, I would because he always encourages each of us to form our own opinions on different subjects by asking us very basic questions. Like Socrates, he helps me to understand many things by asking me questions that seem simple, however they build upon one another and I end up being able to answer hard questions which I never would have imagined being able to answer.
Yes! I like that he can teach the class very clearly and rarely confuses what is being said.
Mr. Bertucci makes the class very enjoyable while also making it very intriguing on difficult matters. It is always a pleasure to be in a class with him.
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Yes. She is to the point and kind.
As a junior student in the program, I have to say I absolutely love Angelicum–something I really have to remind myself every Monday night as I struggle to finish that week’s reading. The reading list is incredible–you definitely get an idea of how western civilization developed, as you read all the books that influenced it. For instance, last week we were reading Hobbes, and he was defining the dignity of a person as something that depended on their rank and power in life, which got me off to wondering if it wasn’t that sort of attitude that had eventually lead to abortion and euthanasia.
I also appreciate the manner in which I made contact with the great books. The many hours of reading and the weekly assignments drove me head first into the western tradition. The weekly seminars truly helped educate me. That is, they helped draw forth ideas and facilitated discussions. The individual hard work of each participant culminated and bore fruit in the seminars. There were many online discussions where texts and authors came alive and we really took part in the great conversation. My love of learning was increased by such experiences.
I am also very grateful for your guidance in many seminars. I am likewise thankful for the contribution of all the other moderators in helping us converse “with the noblest men of ages past.”
I feel rather nostalgic, and even a little sad to think I have finished the program. Yet, I am glad to know the great books have taken me far and will continue to assist me in my education.
A.B.
Thank you so much for everything you’ve taught me the past four years. The GB class has been really enjoyable for me and through it I gained knowledge and wisdom. You and your colleagues Dr. Hancock, Dr Redpath, and Dr. Taylor have guided my way of thinking, and I will never forget it. If I ever have children I want them to take the GB classes. ….J.G.
Thank you for all you do for our children. I have to say the results I have seen are outstanding!………………..B.J.
C.N.
