Tutorials
Complementing the Great Books Seminars is a required sequence of Tutorials in literature, philosophy, theology, political theory, music and aesthetics, intellectual and cultural history, and the natural and social sciences. In introducing you to the methods and concerns of individual disciplines, the Tutorials will enable you to read the Seminar texts in new ways and to consider critical perspectives.
While all of the Tutorials are required, students can receive exemptions or make substitutions. These may be allowed if the student is completing a full second major in one of the disciplines treated by a Tutorial sequence or if a student takes an equivalent course abroad. The decision to permit exemptions or substitutions is made on a case-by-case basis by the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Professor Arman Schwartz, who makes every effort to balance the particular needs of each student against the corporate enterprise of maintaining the comprehensive, integrated, and interdisciplinary curricular experience that is unique to PLS.
If you have questions about your personalized course plan or to begin the process of constructing one, please contact Professor Arman Schwartz at aschwar3@nd.edu.
Natural and Social Science Tutorials
Since antiquity, studies of mathematics and the natural world have been part of the artes liberales, the ways of knowing crucial to being a free citizen with a well-formed intellect. In the first two courses of the Science sequence, we examine core concepts and methods from mathematics and the natural sciences, revealing how those fields are entangled with other disciplines in the liberal arts. In the third course, we explore what happens when the empirical methods of modern science are turned on the human person and human society, tackling questions that have long been the domain for philosophy and theology. The PLS Science sequence satisfies one “Science & Technology” core requirement (Liberal Arts 3) and one “Social Science” core requirement (Liberal Arts 5).
PLS 20412 Fundamental Concepts of Natural Science
This course invites students to look more deeply into concepts that have become fundamental to our experience and understanding of the natural world. Selections from Plato's Timaeus, Aristotle's Physics, Euclid’s Elements, and subsequent authors will raise questions such as the nature of space and time, what differentiates living entities from non-living ones, the relationship between mathematics and physical reality, in what sense one event can cause another, or what we mean by “chance,” among others. Texts for the course will range from antiquity to modern science and philosophy, allowing students to grasp the ongoing interplay between empirical investigation, mathematical exploration, and philosophical reflection.
PLS 30412 Scientific Inquiry: Past and Present
Using major historical texts as primary material, students will investigate crucial philosophical and methodological issues that arise in modern scientific inquiry, especially in the physical and life sciences. What can cause scientists to adopt (or resist) new theories? What relationships has science held to other intellectual disciplines, and how have those relationships changed over time? What fundamental assumptions about the natural world are adopted in much of modern science? What methods have scientists advocated for creating reliable knowledge? Students will grapple with these questions through laboratories and discussion of central texts in the development of modern science, such as the works of Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Harvey, Descartes, Newton, or Einstein. Note: This course satisfies the “Science & Technology” way of knowing (Liberal Arts 3) from the University Core Curriculum.
PLS 40412 Science, Society, and the Human Person
In this course students will explore what empirical science can tell us about human nature and human social interactions . By reading and discussing important historical and contemporary texts, students will engage the conundrums, challenges and insights created through the scientific study of human beings and society. Readings will include works by Charles Darwin and William James, as well a deeper exploration of a salient topic that brings the modern social sciences into dialogue with longstanding philosophical concerns. Past iterations have included issues such as selfhood, cognition, morality, and language. Note: This course satisfies the “Social Science” way of knowing (Liberal Arts 5) from the University Core Curriculum, as well as the “Social Science” requirement in the College of Arts & Letters.
Philosophy Tutorials
PLS 20301 Philosophical Inquiry
This course introduces philosophical inquiry, both as distinct from and as it relates to other disciplines, through the exploration of primary texts representative of its different forms and questions, and within the context of an integrated liberal education. It also investigates the formal and informal principles of logical reasoning. Readings include selections from the Pre-Socratics, Plato's Meno, selections from Aristotle, beginning with his Organon and Physics, and such authors as Boethius, Descartes, and Aquinas. Note: This course satisfies either the First (Introductory) or Second (Elective) required Philosophy courses in the University Core Curriculum.
PLS 30301 Ethics
An examination of modes of moral reasoning and what constitutes the good life, based primarily on the study of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and the moral philosophy of Kant. Readings may also include a selection from the Utilitarian ethical tradition as well as from works in moral development and in moral theology, such as by Augustine, Aquinas, and Newman. Note: This course satisfies the Second (Elective) required Philosophy course in the University Core Curriculum.
PLS 40302 Metaphysics and Epistemology
An engagement with philosophical conceptions of the nature of knowledge, reality, and the relation between them. Selections from the Platonic tradition, Aristotle's Metaphysics, and Kant's Critique of Pure Reason form the basis of the course. Other readings may include works by such thinkers as Aquinas, Heidegger, and other 20th Century authors. Note: This course satisfies the Second (Elective) Philosophy Course required by the University Core Curriculum.
Theology Tutorials
PLS 20302 The Bible and Its Interpretation
A close study of the selected books of the Bible. The course will consider the role of the Bible in the life of the church, the history of its interpretation, and the various approaches of modern scholarship. Note: This course satisfies the First (Foundational) Theology course required by the University Core Curriculum.
PLS 40301 Christian Theological Traditions
A study of the major Christian doctrines in their development, including God as Trinity, creation and humanity, incarnation and redemption, and the sacraments. The course moves toward a historical and systematic understanding of Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic tradition. Readings typically include patristic authors, medieval authors such as Aquinas, the documents of Vatican II, and contemporary theologians. Note: This course satisfies the Second (Developmental) Theology course required by the University Core Curriculum.
Literature Tutorials
PLS 20201 Literature I: The Lyric Poem
An introduction to poetry through intensive study of several lyric poets writing in English. Through close reading of selected poems, students will become familiar with central literary devices, including rhythm and meter, image, metaphor, symbol, paradox, and irony. Poems studied will range from the Renaissance to the 20th century, and may include Shakespeare's sonnets and Keats' odes, along with the works of other major poets such as Donne, Herbert, Marvell, Gray, Wordsworth, Dickinson, Hopkins, Yeats, Eliot, and Stevens. Note: This course satisfies the "Art and Literature" (Liberal Arts 4) requirement of the University Core Curriculum, as well as the "Literature" requirement in the College of Arts & Letters.
PLS 30202 Literature II: The Longer Forms
Building on the techniques of close reading developed in Literature I, this course will focus on the expressive power of literary genres, modes, and conventions and will take up the question of the unity and coherence of long works. The class will take one particular long poem or novel as its main object of study. Note: This course satisfies the "Art and Literature" (Liberal Arts 4) requirement of the University Core Curriculum, as well as the "Literature" requirement in the College of Arts & Letters.
Fine Arts Tutorial
PLS 30501 Music and Meaning
This course examines music as a case study for the non-verbal communication of meaning. We will ask what music means? How does it mean? Does it mean anything? We will engage these questions not simply on a philosophical level—reading core texts in the history of aesthetics—but also on a historical one: studying a diverse selection of musical works from across (and beyond) the Western canon. Rather than simply asking what music means, then, we will ask what it has meant, charting the changing conceptions of the medium’s form, function, and significance. In the course of this music-historical journey, students will interrogate the relationship between artistic theory and practice; and they will draw comparisons with other art forms (painting, sculpture, literature, and so on). Last but not least, students will confront the central challenge of translating their own ephemeral, seemingly ineffable, musical experiences into clear, verifiable, and eloquent written prose. Note: This course satisfies the "Art and Literature" (Liberal Arts 4) Requirement of the University Core Curriculum, as well as the "Fine Arts" requirement in the College of Arts and Letters.
Politics Tutorial
PLS 30302 Political and Social Theory
This course examines a selection of canonical works in the history of political thought. Current readings are: Plato's Republic, Rousseau's Second Discourse and Social Contract, Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Marx's early philosophical writings, and Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition. These texts are read in full. Small selections from other texts (e.g. Aristotle's Politics and Locke's Second Treatise) are also included. Note: This course fulfils the "Social Science" requirement in the College of Arts and Letters.
Intellectual and Cultural History Tutorial
PLS 40601 Intellectual and Cultural History
This course will deal with the issue of historical consciousness and with the limits and possibilities of historical understanding. The first portion of the course will examine the issues of historiography and the use of historical analysis in the contextualized reading of texts. From this foundation, the issue of history will be explored with reference to authors such as Augustine, Bossuet, Montesquieu, Kant, Hegel, Ranke, and Eliade. Note: This course satisfies the "History" requirement in the College of Arts and Letters.
Electives
PLS 30101: Junior Reading Course
As a complement to the traditional PLS Great Books Seminars, in which students read multiple texts and authors rather quickly, this course is designed to give PLS students the opportunity to engage in a focused reading of one work or a collection of closely related works. The text or texts studied changes regularly depending on the instructor and the interests of the students.