Literature: King Arthur: Online High School Course

Update: This live course has concluded and is now available as a recorded course through our Subscription Service. This is a great way to learn at your own pace when your schedule allows.To subscribe or learn more: Online Catholic Courses

The other fall 2009 class still open is Literature: King Arthur and Christ -- Heroism and Holiness with Henry Russell, Ph.D.

We've found Dr. Russell's literature courses to be especially helpful to Kolbe and Mother of Divine Grace families. We receive a good number of emails from students from these these great home study schools who are really happy to have a fun and interesting online course to supplement their studies. For example:

I've taken the Sir Gawain series and will be taking the Canterbury Tales and King Arthur ones as well. First of all, I want to let you know how much I enjoyed and got our of Sir Gawain. The lectures were a much better way to study the book than the approach I was going to use originally. I use Kolbe, and we have to read Sir Gawain for lit this year. [I planned to read] these stanzas, answer the questions on the literal level- what the Green Knight looked like, what Gawain had on the back of his shield, etc. No insights into the times, style, and parallels like Dr. Russell offered. It was way more interesting to read the book knowing all the additional information Dr. Russell gave us, and I'm sure I'll be able to pass the quarter exam without even studying because I remember more from the lectures simply because they're more interesting. :)

If you'd like to learn more about Dr. Russell's upcoming King Arthur course, here is all the information:

Course Description:
King Arthur attempts to build the City of God on earth, as we all must. His noble and sinful knights rise far above themselves under his Catholic kingdom’s rule of chivalry. Their fall is also our fall. In Lancelot we will see the crucial role that holiness must play in any heroism, and find that holiness--both personal and of the nation--is the purpose for which heroism is made. Most editions of this tale have been drastically whitewashed by their modernizers to make it a tale of merely cardinal virtues or generic Christian sentiment. Some have gone so far as to warp it into the service of paganism and witchcraft. Yet the greatest knight in the world sees Jesus and ends as a monk.

Third in the series: Medieval Lessons for Modern Catholics. Each course in the series can be taken alone or consecutively.

Professor's Biography:
Dr. Henry Russell is Headmaster of the St. Augustine's Homeschool Enrichment Program founded with his wife Crystal. The program began in Fall 2005 with 20 students in two living rooms and now tutors more than 70 students. He is also the President of the SS Peter and Paul Educational Foundation, dedicated to founding an orthodox Catholic Liberal Arts college in southeast Michigan.

A graduate of Princeton and South Caroline (M.S.), Dr. Russell completed his graduate work at Louisiana State University.

Formerly the Chairman of Ave Maria College's Department of Literature, he has also been a professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville and Wake Forest University. He is a founding faculty member of the St. Robert Southwell Creative Writing Workshop held in Mahwah, New Jersey.

Dr. Russell's works include The Catholic Shakespeare Audio Series. He was the Associate Editor of The Formalist from 1990-2004 and his writings have been published in various journals. He was honored to edit Dr. Alice von Hildebrand's groundbreaking volume, The Privilege of Being a Woman.

Price: $60

Dates and Time:
This is a nine-week course. Classes will begin Tuesday, November 3, 2009 and meet every Tuesday through November 24, 2009. The time will begin 10:00 AM Eastern Time and end at 11:15 AM.

Enrollment Period:
Enrollment is currently open.

Course Materials:
Dr. Russell will provide selections via e-mailed PDF files from Thomas Mallory’s English language, Morte D’Arthur. If you'd like to own it, you can check Amazon. Make sure not to use a volume by another author.

Homework:
No homework will be given. However, Dr. Russell will provide a quiz, answer key, and suggested essay topic with each of the four classes so that parents can expand on his lectures and supply full academic credit for their student's work. (Homeschool Connections does not keep transcripts.)

Equipment requirements:
Students are required to have high-speed internet and a headset with microphone is recommended. If you do not own a headset, you can find them for a reasonable price at Amazon. A web cam is NOT required.