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The Augustine and Culture Seminar

At the heart of the VCLE is the Augustine and Culture Seminar, a two-semester seminar which introduces all first-year Villanova students to some of the greatest texts of western culture.  The title first invokes St. Augustine as a model for the fearless pursuit of wisdom.  Through the word “culture,” we are reminded that the pursuit of wisdom includes, in the words of Matthew Arnold, “the best that has been thought and known.” 

The aim of ACS is to explore enduring questions with our students about life, humanity, God, and truth, through books which over the centuries continue to challenge us. We teach students to be better and more reflective readers, able to engage texts through thoughtful discourse and reasoned writing. The ACS classroom is discussion-oriented, with critical attention paid to reading primary texts and interacting with them through the spoken and written word.

In the first half of ACS (Traditions in Conversation), texts include readings from the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, the Greeks, Saint Augustine, the Middle Ages, and a Shakespearean play. In the second half (Modernity and Its Discontents), readings include representative texts in the Humanities from the 16th through the 21st centuries.

All Augustine and Culture Seminar students can expect their classes to be:

  • Writing Intensive: ACS serves as the required introductory writing course at Villanova
  • Discussion intensive:  Our students participate actively in the life of the mind even at this introductory level
  • Reading intensive:  ACS invites students to engage deeply with books that change lives
  • Supportive of the Augustinian Catholic heritage: Each student is given the opportunity to encounter the Bible and the thought of Augustine.

Course Descriptions

ACS 1000 - Traditions in Conversation
Description: A Humanities seminar based principally on texts and readings drawn from primary sources up to 1650. Extensive written work and seminar discussions. Required readings: Hebrew and Christian scriptures, selections from the works of Augustine, Greek and Renaissance works. Readings from different genres and disciplines. Themes developed by the instructor in accordance with the selected readings.
Prerequisites:
Corequisites:
Credit Hours: 3.0

ACS 1001 - Modernity and Its Discontents
Description: A Humanities seminar based principally on texts and readings drawn from primary sources 1650 to the present. Extensive written work and seminar discussions. Readings from each of the following five historical eras: Early Modern, Enlightenment, Romantic, Modernist, Contemporary. Readings will also reflect different genres and disciplines. Themes developed by the instructor in accordance with the selected readings, including a specific Augustinian theme.
Prerequisites:
Corequisites:
Credit Hours: 3.0