Students can satisfy more than half of the College’s general education requirements through this minor. The program consists of a set of four two-semester courses; each begins with the founding cities of our time.
The historical repetition of the courses allows students to firmly grasp the sequence and interaction of the major movements and achievements of the West.
The first year of the program, History of Western Civilization and the Foundations of the West: Art and Politics, initiates students into the principles of Western Civilization by studying the political and artistic achievements of Western cities from Athens to Washington, D.C.
The second year of the program, Literary Foundations of the West and The Foundations of the West: Religion and Philosophy, studies the various and conflicting accounts of human excellence. The great works of Western literature, which are read at the same time, enrich these historical accounts.
Fortin and Gonthier Foundations of Western Civilization Courses