Plato: Republic (Book 2-3 Excerpt)
Aristotle: Ethics (Book 2 Excerpt)
"Music", from The Closing of the American Mind - Alan Bloom
Scruton: Music and Morality
In this course, students will listen to select examples of popular and classical music over a 200 year time period, and read accompanying texts which comment on the prevailing styles of music in different eras. No experience in reading music is required to take this class. All readings will be accessible to those with either a general, or specific knowledge of any kind of music.
Plato: Republic (Book 2-3 Excerpt)
Aristotle: Ethics (Book 2 Excerpt)
"Music", from The Closing of the American Mind - Alan Bloom
Scruton: Music and Morality
Benjamin Crocker is the Director of Special Programs and Associate Director of Admissions at the University of Austin. He is from North Queensland, Australia, and previously taught at The King’s School, and The University of Sydney.
In Australia, Mr. Crocker has conducted the Queensland and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, and recorded for nationwide radio broadcast at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Mr. Crocker holds a B.Mus. from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, a teaching diploma from the University of Southern Queensland, and an M.A. from St. John’s College, Annapolis.
Articles 1-3 of the U.S. Constitution
Federalist 51 and 70
“Of the Legislative, Executive, and Federative Power of the Commonwealth,” “Subordination of Powers,” and “Of Prerogative” (chapters 12-14 of John Locke’s Second Treatise)
Lincoln: First Inaugural
Lincoln: Letter to Albert G. Hodges
T. R. Roosevelt: the “Stewardship Theory of the Presidency” (Autobiography selections)
William Howard Taft: Our Chief Magistrate and His Powers
Franklin Roosevelt: First Inaugural
Lindsay Eberhardt is a Research Fellow at 27 Rouge. Formerly, she was senior editor at Common Sense Society; managing editor for Dissident.com, The American Mind, and the Claremont Review of Books Digital; and an assistant editor at the Claremont Review of Books.
She has taught politics and political philosophy at the U.S. Naval Academy, George Mason University, and California State University - San Bernadino. Dr. Eberhardt’s writings have been published in The Journal of Woman, Politics, and Policy and Political Research Quarterly. She has a Ph.D. in political science and an M.A. in American government from Claremont Graduate University and a B.A. in political science from the University of Alaska.
Professor Patrick Gray is UATX's Dean Director of the Center for Arts and Letters. Previously, Professor Gray served as Director of Liberal Arts at Durham University, where he was responsible for designing and introducing a new interdisciplinary core curriculum in the humanities.
Before taking up his appointment at Durham, Professor Gray taught comparative literature at Deep Springs College and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Professor Gray is the author of Shakespeare and the Fall of the Roman Republic, editor of Shakespeare and the Ethics of War, and co-editor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Ethics and Shakespeare and Montaigne.
Students will be asked to engage with the following questions: What is a Platonic dialogue, and why did Plato choose to write in this literary form?; What can the Laches teach us about the way Socrates understood philosophy?; Does Socrates exemplify courage?; Does philosophizing require a kind of courage?
Plato: Laches, in Laches and Charmides. Translated by R. Sprague
Professor Jacob Howland is the Dean of the University of Austin’s Intellectual Foundations program, which comprises the first two years of the University’s undergraduate curriculum.
Previously, Professor Howland served as McFarlin Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tulsa and Senior Fellow at the Tikvah Fund. He is the author of five books and one edited book, including two on Plato’s Republic as well as studies of Kierkegaard and the Talmud. Professor Howland’s articles have appeared in The New Criterion, City Journal, and The Nation, among others.
Borges: The Garden of Forking Paths
Borges: The Lottery in Babylon
Borges: Pierre Manard, Author of the Quixote
Panayiotis (Pano) Kanelos is the Founding President of the University of Austin (UATX). He previously served as President of St. John’s College, Annapolis.
During his tenure, St. John’s successfully launched a historic initiative that included the most significant tuition reduction at any American college, accompanied by a $300 million campaign.
Other appointments include Dean of the Honors College at Valparaiso University, Associate Professor of Theater at Loyola University Chicago, Associate Professor of English at the University of San Diego, and as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University. He has authored and edited numerous books, articles, and essays on Shakespeare, including the “Shakespeare and the Stage” series.
Applications will be stressed through examples. Students will work from computers for the duration of this class. Freely available software for use in sessions will be advised before the commencement of the course.
No reading required in advance of this class.
Professor David Ruth is the Dean of the University of Austin’s Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Previously, Professor Ruth held several leadership positions as a Permanent Military Professor of Mathematics at the United States Naval Academy, where he was an award-winning teacher from 2009 until 2022.
Professor Ruth has authored several articles in a variety of statistics journals, as well as a book chapter on mathematics in cybersecurity. Prior to his academic work, Professor Ruth led and served as a naval officer with operational experience in submarine and surface warfare, nuclear power, oceanography, and meteorology.
Commencing with Lincoln’s Address before the Young Men’s Lyceum, and concluding with Churchill’s ‘Finest Hour’ speech, this class will examine national leadership through oratory. Students will compare and contrast the manner in which America’s 16th President, and Great Britain’s 62nd Prime Minister composed their finest works.
Lincoln: Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield (1838)
Lincoln: Gettysburg Address (1863)
Lincoln: 2nd Inaugural Address (1865)
Churchill: Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat (1940)
Churchill: Arm Yourselves, and Be Ye Men of Valour (1940)
Churchill: This Was Their Finest Hour (1940)
Adam Schulman has taught the liberal arts at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, for over twenty-five years. Dr. Schulman was educated at the University of Chicago, attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and earned his Ph.D.d in the history of science from Harvard.
His dissertation is entitled “Quantum and Aristotelian Physics.” Between 2003 and 2009 he served on the staff of the President’s Council on Bioethics, under its founding Chairman Leon R. Kass as well as his successor, Edmund D. Pellegrino.
He is the co-editor of Human Dignity and Bioethics and also Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver: Honoring the Work of Leon R. Kass. He has lectured on Homer, Sophocles, Xenophon, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Jane Austen, quantum physics, and the discovery and significance of entropy. He has also served as visiting professor at MIT.
Benjamin Crocker is the Director of Special Programs and Associate Director of Admissions at the University of Austin.
He is from North Queensland, Australia, and previously taught at The King’s School, and The University of Sydney. In Australia, Mr. Crocker has conducted the Queensland and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, and recorded for nationwide radio broadcast at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Mr. Crocker holds a B.Mus. from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, a teaching diploma from the University of Southern Queensland, and an M.A. from St. John’s College, Annapolis.
Ms. Jessica Andrews is the communications director for Senator John Kennedy and served as a senior advisor with his 2022 campaign. She was previously the Communications Director for the House Judiciary Committee (Republicans) during the Mueller investigation and 2019 impeachment proceedings. Prior to her career on Capitol Hill, Ms. Andrews served at the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research in the United Arab Emirates. She holds an M.Div. from Southern Seminary as well as a B.B.A. and B.A. from Mercer University.
Jake Greenspan is co-founder and C.E.O. of Skolay, an N.Y.C.-based tech company which connects writers and readers for one-on-one conversations. He received a Fulbright scholarship in Greece, worked at the Tikvah Fund, and wrote about the aims and limits of liberal learning. He holds an A.B. in fundamentals from the University of Chicago.
The end is not to prove that we are right. Rather, our program brings diverse minds together so that we can clarify what we do and do not know. This passionate pursuit of truth, however elusive it may be, is at the heart of all of our programs.
The program is designed for high school juniors, seniors, and recent graduates.
Washington, D.C: December 1-2, 2023
This two-day program runs from 6:30pm - 9:00pm in the evening on Friday, December 1, and from 9:00am - 6:00pm on Saturday, December 2. Each student will take one course for its entirety, plus additional workshops. Students will be notified of their course well in advance of the event, to give ample reading time.
As this is not an overnight program, those from outside the Washington, D.C. region will be required to make their own arrangements for lodging. UATX cannot provide housing nor help with housing requests. UATX is not responsible for supervising, chaperoning, or otherwise caring for students outside the hours of the program. Programming will conclude promptly each day.
Thanks to the generous support of our donors, tuition and lunch are free. However, participants are responsible for their travel and lodging expenses as well as the purchase of materials and books. Any additional expenses will be participants’ responsibility. Particpants are expected to bring a laptop or tablet.
No. Applicants are not required to be U.S. citizens, but they must be proficient in the English language. At this time, UATX cannot provide assistance with visa applications nor with lodging or housing needs.
Applicants must submit each of the following: (1) Unofficial standardized test score record (PSAT/SAT/ACT/CLT), or explanation why none is available; (2) High school transcript with at least 3 semesters of grades; (3) In addition, a permission form from a parent or guardian and a liability waiver are required to matriculate into the program.
No. Our program is not a credit-bearing or degree program. Students may not earn continuing education credits, credit hours, or a diploma for participation in this program.
Applications are now closed.
Please email programs@uaustin.org