The study of a "core curriculum," or a selection of classic texts and great books, is the primary focus of inquiry within the Institute of Philosophic Studies. Each of the works read in the program is distinguished by its extraordinary power to illumine reflective minds through an exploration of the human soul at the deepest moral and metaphysical plane.
The concentration disciplines come into dialogue with each other through a common core of course work. Occupying twenty one hours in the doctoral curriculum, it comprises courses that engage fundamental texts, principles, and issues that are formative of the literary, political and philosophical strains in the Western intellectual tradition. The following six courses are taken by all students in all three concentrations. They are scheduled in a three-year cycle, one course each semester.
Study the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer and Vergil's Aeneid.
Read the seminal texts by two thinkers who laid the foundations of Western philosophy; ordinarily these texts are the Republic and the Nicomachean Ethics.
Study two of the great Christian thinkers; readings include Confessions, City of God, and the Summa Theologiae.
Read Dante's The Divine Comedy and Milton's Paradise Lost.
Study the Leviathan and various works of Rousseau, such as Emile, the Social Contract and the two discourses.
Study the three thinkers in transition between modernity and postmodernity. Texts are typically the Preface to the Phenomenology of the Spirit, the Genealogy of Morals, and the Brothers Karamazov.
The seventh core course is one in the Bible. This requirement may be satisfied by a number of courses, whose principal text is some portion of the Bible. Such courses are offered most frequently by the Theology Department but also intermittently by the other departments in the Institute.
Oct. 14, 2022 (Irving, TX) – The University of Dallas (UD) announced the appointment of reference librarian and adjunct French instructor Ron Scrogham as interim dean of libraries and research...
+ Read MoreThe University of Dallas will host the 7th annual Catholic Bar Association (CBA) Conference, “Catholic Lawyers: Upholding the Rule of Law,” Oct. 13-15, 2022. "Our members are looking forward to being on the campus of one of our nation’s premier Catholic institutions of higher learning,” said Peter H. Wickersham, CBA president.
+ Read MoreThe University of Dallas recently earned high marks of excellence from leading publications – including moving up to the #2 spot for “Best Value” among U.S. News & World Report’s "Best Colleges" in the West, as well as The Princeton Review’s Best 388 Colleges and “America’s Top Colleges” by Forbes.
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