Program Learning Outcomes

The Bachelor of Arts in Classical Liberal Arts is the first undergraduate program of its kind in the United States. It is designed specifically to train students in both the content and pedagogy of the classical liberal arts in order to prepare them for teaching positions in the rapidly growing Classical Christian Education movement, and/or to pursue graduate work in the Humanities. Students are trained in the content of the Western Classical heritage (history, literature, art, philosophy, and theology) beginning with Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment, and continuing to the present day. This is augmented with intensive and continual training in Socratic pedagogy: the art of leading rich and invigorating discussions as opposed to lecturing on an academic topic. Students study the classical languages and master the classical arts of Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric while pursuing the studia humanitatis (“study of the human things”) through a fully articulated theological framework in a manner similar to Medieval and Renaissance universities, the Geneva Academy started by John Calvin in 1559, and the church schools envisioned by Martin Luther.

1. Demonstrate a strong working knowledge of the development of political and cultural history of the western world.
2. Demonstrate a strong working knowledge of the broad historical outline of the western tradition in literature and the arts.
3. Demonstrate a strong working knowledge of the development of philosophy and theology in western tradition.
4. Demonstrate a working knowledge of at least one classical language.
5. Demonstrate the ability to implement the primary teaching methodologies associated with historical classical liberal education (i.e. Socratic dialog).
6. Demonstrate a biblical worldview foundation and perspective in the approach to teaching classical liberal arts.

Courses (57 units)

• CLA201 Introduction to the Classical Liberal Arts
• General Electives
• CLA301 Socratic Pedagogy I
• CLA402 Socratic Pedagogy II
• CLA308 Classical Christian Education Internship
• CLA309 Colloquium in Classical Christian Education*
• ART338 Art History of the Western World**◊
• One of the following
  • BCH347 Intertestamental Period
  • BCH367 History of the Church
  • BCH404/E404/H404 Studies in John Calvin
  • BCH408 History & Theology of Puritanism
  • BCH409/E409 Studies in Martin Luther
  • BCH467 The Reformation Era, 1500-1648
• BCW363 Apologetics
• BCW/POL455 Christian Political Thought
• E405 Shakespeare
• E499m The Epic Tradition
• E___ Literature Elective
• H315 Medieval Europe
• H316 Renaissance Europe
• H383 Ancient Roman History
• H385 Ancient Greek History
• Two of the following
  • LAT399 Latin I**
  • LAT499 Latin II
  • BL301 Elementary Greek I
• BL302 Elementary Greek II

*Must be taken every semester, starting in the sophomore year.
**Offered during The Master’s University Italy summer program.
◊Fulfills G.E. requirement for MU190.

The Master’s University in Italy Program

Led by Dr. Grant Horner, Dr. Bob Dickson and Prof. Esther Chua, TMU Italy is a study-abroad program based in incomparably beautiful Italy. Students, upon acceptance to the program, will spend six weeks in the summer to earn 9 undergraduate credits in a variety of courses while deeply immersed in Italian culture. The entire program will be based on exploring the question “quid est homo?” (“what is Man?”) asked by the Italian Renaissance Christian Humanist scholars, and the related biblical question “what is man that Thou art mindful of him?” (Psalm 8). This program is open to all majors.

TMU Italy

Department of Arts and Letters

The Department of Arts and Letters at The Master’s University gives a broader designation, encompassing the three degrees within the department: Classical Liberal Arts, English, and Interdisciplinary Studies, as well as its summer intensive study abroad program situated in Florence, Italy. The degrees and programs under this department have a shared mission, in which students are taught to:

• “Pursue the studia humanitatis (“study of the human things”) through a fully articulated theological framework,” as applied in the practice of socratic pedagogy in Classical Liberal Arts, through the intertwining of various course of studies in Interdisciplinary Studies, and through the engagement with various ideologies in literature and the arts.
• “Extend the range of students’ intellectual, moral, and spiritual vision” as they explore works and courses of study from various points of view and “to be to be equipped to recognize truth expressed in multiple sources, discerning it from partial truth and error, testing all by the biblical standard.”
• “Engage in personal, spiritual, and professional growth with the understanding that there exists no dichotomy between the secular and the sacred, as “all things” can be done “for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).