Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Imagine joining in a discussion with him – and some of the world’s other greatest minds – to explore truth, beauty, justice, and more. At Austin College, such conversations happen every day in Western Intellectual Tradition courses.
What you will learn
Meet the Faculty
- Karánn Durland (Philosophy) enjoys thinking about the great ideas of some pretty great dead philosophers, especially David Hume and other luminaries of the 17th and 18th centuries.
- Tom Blake (Director of WIT, English) teaches medieval European literature, including Chaucer and Chretien de Troyes. His research focuses on medieval race, gender studies, and thing theory in late medieval romance.
- Bob Cape (Classics) teaches Latin, Greek, and ancient history, with special interests in Latin prose, rhetoric, women in antiquity, and Roman social and intellectual history.
- Daniel Dominick (Music) never ceases to be amazed that writers in the past were dealing with issues that seem current and applicable to today.
- Kirk Everist (Theatre) explores the past through production, directing plays from Aeschylus to Moliere, and has been known to improvise like the Elizabethans.
- Jeff Fontana (Art History) teaches courses in ancient, medieval, renaissance, and early modern art. He is particularly interested in Federico Barocci and 16th-century drawing and painting, and artistic responses to the Italian Renaissance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
- Alex Garganigo (English) teaches early modern British literature, including Shakespeare and Milton. His research focuses on the intersection of literature and politics after the English Civil War and Restoration.
- Max Grober (History) studies the history of ideas from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. He also teaches history of science courses on such topics as Galileo, European Environmental History, and the History of Medicine.
- Mark Hébert (Philosophy) teaches Ancient and Medieval Philosophy.
- Martin Wells (Classics) teaches Latin, Greek, classical mythology, and ancient civilization. His research interests include archaeology, Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor, and Greek and Roman Art and Architecture.
Program Details
Perks and Possibilities
- WIT Weeks
- Small, interactive classes
- Jan Term travel courses
- Research