For most of American history, the people, understood as citizens, have ruled through elected representatives under the terms of the Constitution. Today, the constitutional rule of citizens is threatened by a new form of government, unaccountable to the people, in which power is held by a ruling class that seeks to transform our society. This course, based on Victor Davis Hanson’s book The Dying Citizen, examines the origins and history of citizenship in the West and the grave challenges to American citizenship today.

World War II, the greatest armed conflict in human history, encompassed global fighting in unprecedented ways. This course analyzes Allied and Axis investments and strategies that led one side to win and the other to lose. It also considers how the war’s diverse theaters, belligerents, and ways of fighting came eventually to define a single war.

A study of the ancient Greek cities of Athens and Sparta is essential for understanding the beginning of the story of Western Civilization. Moreover, such a study reveals timeless truths about the human condition that are applicable in any age. This course will consider life and government in Athens and Sparta, examine their respective roles in the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, and offer some conclusions regarding their continuing relevance.

Genesis is a book of fundamental importance for the Jewish and Christian faiths and has exerted a profound influence on Western Civilization. In addition to being a great religious text, it is also a literary masterpiece. This course explores some of the work’s major narrative themes, including the complex relationship between God and man, the consequences of a rupture in that relationship, and the path towards reconciliation.

Christianity emerged into a world shaped by the Roman Empire, the Jewish faith, and Greek philosophy. This course explains how the revolutionary message of the Gospel spread throughout this ancient world and how early Christians practiced their faith, endured persecution, and addressed theological questions and controversies.

C.S. Lewis is the best modern writer at explaining the truth and goodness of the Christian faith. Through his imaginative and invigorating style, Lewis answers the eternal questions of theology in a manner that attracts those outside Christianity and strengthens those within the faith. This course examines Lewis’s writings about morality, conversion, prayer, the Bible, suffering, and the afterlife.

The Constitution established a limited government, but a government with sufficient powers to protect Americans’ God-given rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” This course examines the design and purpose of the Constitution, the challenges it faced during the Civil War, how it has been undermined for over a century by progressivism and post-1960s liberalism, and how limited government under the Constitution might be revived.