Worldview 3

The Modern Era

Purpose

This is the third and culminating year of Worldview spanning the period from the American Civil War to

the Modern Era (c. 1850-Present). Students read primary works and analyze their impact on the

formation of the modern mind and American culture. In this Socratic setting, students prepare for

college level work through extensive reading, journaling, and current event discussion and analysis.

This is a 4-credit course: English, Modern Literature, American History, and Philosophy.

Process

Course work includes a reading journal, in-class essays, debate exercises, several short papers, and a

major research paper. Class discussions will aim at moving beyond the details of the texts to their

implications.

The books studied in World View III include, but are not limited to:

• Total Truth, Pearcey

• Origin of Species, Darwin

• How Should We Then Live, Schaeffer

• Up From Slavery, Washington

• Rites of Spring, Eksteins

• Modern Times, Johnson

• Pride and Prejudice, Austen

• Anna Karenina, Tolstoy

• Citizen Soldiers, Ambrose

• The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway

• The Plague, Camus

•  Screwtape Letters, Lewis