COURSES
The Augustine and Culture Seminar (ACS) is a two-course sequence that all Villanova students take in their first year.
ACS allows students from every college within Villanova to experience the distinctively Augustinian ethos that grounds all of us in our relentless pursuit of wisdom. Through this two-semester humanities course sequence, students have access to some of the most significant texts and transformative ideas in human culture and to the perennial debates that have shaped the diverse, global contemporary intellectual and material culture we live in today. Through our small, discussion-based seminars, students are empowered to pursue serious conversations about life’s fundamental questions and share their best insights in an open and inclusive environment that allows them to learn from each other, respect each other, and define their own values on their journey toward self-discovery.
ABOUT THE COURSES
ACS 1000 explores the guiding question of “Who Am I” and includes readings from at least each of the following:
- Hebrew Bible
- New Testament
- Classical Greece (For example, Homer, Sophocles, Plato, or Aristotle)
- St. Augustine’s Confessions (required)
- One text from the Middle Ages
- One cross-cultural text
ACS 1001 continues to explore the question of “Who Am I?” and incorporates readings from the 1500’s to the present, including:
- One play by Shakespeare
- One Catholic Intellectual Tradition/Catholic Social Thought text
- Two texts chosen from a (non-canonical) Moderns reading list
Readings for ACS 1001 should also meet the following breadth requirements:
- Texts should include readings from multiple significant eras and movements from the Renaissance to the present.
- Texts should also represent multiple disciplines and a diversity of voices.
Both 1000 and 1001 should include:
- Seminar format: classes are discussion intensive.
- At least 30 pages of writing (20 pages of graded writing; 10 pages of ungraded writing [drafts, journals, in-class writing, etc.]).
- ACSP Culminating portfolio (four artifacts: diagnostic essay; two analytical essays-fall and spring; reflective essay).
- Required attendance at three co-curricular cultural events outside of the classroom.
- Minimum of one teacher/student conference.