Heroic Journeys & Human Hearts

A Yearlong Seminar in Whole Books

High-school students read twelve complete works of literature, philosophy, history, and theology. Each work is studied cover to cover in a small, screen-free weekly seminar.

We begin with the work itself and give sustained attention to its language, structure, questions, and vision of human life. The readings proceed chronologically from Homer to the modern world.

Works receive the time their length and difficulty require. Tartuffe and The Reveries of the Solitary Walker share a month. The complete Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy receives two months.

Course Schedule

Term One · September–December

September · Homer, The Odyssey

c. eighth century BC

Odysseus’s return raises enduring questions about homecoming, loyalty, hospitality, and the uses of cunning.

October · Aeschylus, The Oresteia

458 BC

Aeschylus follows a family ruined by vengeance as private bloodshed becomes a public problem of justice.

November · Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

c. 340 BC

Aristotle asks what happiness is and how human beings develop the character required to pursue it.

December · Virgil, The Aeneid

29–19 BC

A refugee becomes the legendary ancestor of Rome, and his mission reveals the human cost of duty and empire.

Term Two · January–April

January · Augustine, Confessions

c. AD 397–400

Augustine looks back over his life to understand desire, memory, conversion, and time.

February · Jean de Joinville, The Life of Saint Louis

c. 1309

Joinville’s firsthand portrait of Louis IX opens the world of medieval kingship and Crusading culture.

March · Molière, Tartuffe

1669

Molière’s comedy shows a household surrendering itself to a fraud who has learned to speak the language of holiness.

March · Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Reveries of the Solitary Walker

Written 1776–78

Rousseau recounts his retreat from society and asks whether solitary reflection can restore a life embittered by suspicion and resentment.

April · Ivan Turgenev, Fathers and Sons

1862

Bazarov challenges every inherited ideal until family affection and his own mortality test the adequacy of his nihilism.

Term Three · May–August

May–June · Sigrid Undset, Kristin Lavransdatter

1920–22

Undset follows Kristin across an entire life shaped by desire and the lasting consequences of choice.

July · Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

1962

A dark carnival comes to a small Illinois town and offers its inhabitants what they most dangerously want.

August · Modris Eksteins, Rites of Spring

1989

Eksteins traces cultural modernity from the premiere of The Rite of Spring through the First World War and into its aftermath.

Weekly Seminar

Read. Students follow a reading calendar designed around the length and difficulty of each work.

Prepare. A concise guide directs attention toward important passages and supports careful annotation.

Discuss. Students meet for one 90-minute, screen-free seminar each week. Seminars focus on close reading and sustained conversation.

Write. Students complete analytical writing and a final project with instructor feedback.

Tuition

$750 per four-month term

The complete year is $2,250. Tuition is due at the beginning of each term. Payment plans are available by request.

Tuition includes weekly seminars, digital reading guides, writing instruction, instructor feedback, and the final project.

Books are purchased separately.

Registration

High-School Seminar

Grades 9–12 · Typically ages 14–18

The course is designed for curious students prepared to read steadily and participate seriously. The seminar welcomes students who are new to this style of reading.

Seminars meet in person in McAllen, Texas, on Tuesdays or Thursdays at 6:00 p.m. CT.

Each section is limited to ten students. Students select their preferred meeting night when registering.

Questions may be sent to info@apreslecoleacademy.com.