Theology – The Rise of Christendom

10th grade theology begins in the first century and follows the ascent to the High Middle Ages. We examine the church fathers and councils that built upon the foundation laid in the gospels, and proceed through the church after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. We examine both East and West and the heresies they each had to fight, including Islam. We progress through the early middle ages, ending with scholasticism in the 13th century.

Primary Texts: St. Irenaeus of Lyon Against Heresies, St. Athanasius On the Incarnation, Pseudo-Dionysius On the Divine Names, St. Augustine On the Happy Life, St. Anselm Proslogion, St. John of Damascus On the Divine Images, St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologiae

 

History – Medieval History

While there are many potential places to begin the Middle Ages, this class begins with Constantine and the Council of Nicaea. Examining the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire, we then study the 3 civilizations that resulted from the empire’s destruction: the Byzantine East, the West, and Islam. Progressing through the Middle Ages involves not only a study of kingdoms and empire, but people and the Church. The height of their unity was in the notion of Christendom, exemplified by many great kings and kingdoms in the Middle Ages. The course ends at the 100 years war and the decline of feudalism.

Primary Texts: Eusebius Ecclesiastical History, the Rule of St. Benedict, the Qur’an, Einhard Life of Charlemagne, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Asser Life of Alfred the Great, Gesta Francorum, Alexis Komnenos the Alexiad, Dante Aligheri De Monarchia

 

Humane Letters – Humane Letters of the Ancient World

This course invites students to explore the rich tapestry of medieval literature, examining works that illuminate the values, beliefs, and artistry of the Middle Ages. From epic tales of heroism and Christian virtue to allegorical journeys and spiritual poetry, students will study Augustine, Boethius, Chaucer, and Dante, as well as Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Through these texts, students will engage with themes of divine providence, moral courage, chivalric honor, and the soul’s journey toward God, reflecting on these works through the lens of Catholic classical education.

Primary Texts: St. Augustine Confessions, Boethius the Consolation of Philosophy, Sir Gawain and the Green Night, Beowulf, the Golden Legend, Everyman Plays, Geoffrey Chaucer Canterbury Tales, Dante Alighieri the Divine Comedy

Theology – Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment

11th grade theology is a study of the difficulties and challenges faced by the church beginning at the turn of the 14th century. Beginning with a study of the consequences of nominalism, voluntarism, and radical humanism, we then turn to a prolonged study of the Protestant revolution. We study the Church’s response at the Council of Trent, as well as the many saints of the 16th and 17th centuries. Finally we end with the phenomenon of scientism, materialism, and radical skepticism that defined the Enlightenment and its consequences.

Primary Texts: William of Ockham Opera Philosophica et Theologica, Petrarch Ascent of Mount Ventoux, Pico della Mirandola Oration on the Dignity of Man, Martin Luther 95 Theses, On the Freedom of a Christian, John Calvin Institutes of Christian Religion, Catechism of the Council of Trent, Spinoza Ethics, Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy, Hume Treatise on Human Nature

 

History – Modern History

This course delves into the decline and fall of Christendom. Beginning with the late middle ages and the rise of powerful monarchies, we then turn to the fruit of the destruction of religious unity: the chaos of the ‘Wars of Religion.’ Art, architecture, and society as a whole secularizes while Europe turns her attention to the New World. The primacy of English parliament, enclosure, enlightenment, rule of law, and scientism bloom into the fruits of modernity, and a series of European wars and revolutions cement them as the foundations for a new order.

Primary Texts: Vasari Lives of the Artists, Boniface VIII Unam Sanctam, Machiavelli the Prince, Luther Letter to the German Nobility, Copernicus De Revolutionibus Orbium Caelestium, Robespierre On Political Morality, Edmund Burke Reflections on the Revolution in France

 

Humane Letters – Humane Letters of the Modern World

This course immerses students in the study of modern literature through works by some of the most renowned authors from the Renaissance to the 19th century. Featuring texts by Shakespeare, Shelley, Austen, Hawthorne, and Dickens, the course provides a comprehensive exploration of literary masterpieces that have shaped the Western canon. Students will engage with themes of ambition, romanticism, societal duty, individual conscience, and the complexities of virtue, reflecting on these works from a Catholic classical perspective.

Primary Texts: Shakespeare Hamlet, Macbeth, Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice, Hawthorne the Scarlett Letter, Mary Shelly Frankenstein, Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities

Theology – Post-Modernity & the New Apostolic Age

12th grade theology begins with Darwin, Nietzsche and the consequences of abandoning God in modern philosophy. The class studies the First and Second Vatican Councils, as well as the response to scientific materialism in Chesterton, Belloc, and C.S. Lewis. The course ends with some of the most recent developments in the church, finishing with Ratzinger.

Primary Texts: Darwin On the Origin of Species, Nietzche Beyond Good and Evil, Pius IX Syllabus of Errors, Vatican I: Pastor Aeternus, Leo XIII Rerum Novarum, Hillaire Belloc Road to Rome, G.K. Chesterton Orthodoxy, Vatican II: Dei Verbum, Sacrosanctum Concilium, Gaudium et Spes, Lumen Gentium, Castii Canubi, Benedict XVI Jesus of Nazareth

 

History – U.S. & Post-Modern History

The final history course at Holy Family is both US history, and world history more broadly after the eighteenth century. We begin with an overview of exploration and settlement in the Americas. We then turn to the foundations of the American political order in England and the American war for independence. Over the course of the 19th century the nation of yeoman farmers fought a civil war an emerged far more industrial. Turning then to Europe and the consequences of nationalism, we examine the World Wars and the transformation of the world in the twentieth century with special emphasis on the United States.

Primary Texts: Christopher Columbus Journals, Bartolomeu de las Casas Apologetic History of the Indies, Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America, the Federalist Papers, Edmund Burke Reflections on the Revolution in France, Declaration of Independence and Constitution, Henry Adams the Education of Henry Adams, Marx the Communist Manifesto

 

Humane Letters – Comparative Literature and Humane Letters of the Post-Modern World

This course introduces students to key literary works of the 19th and 20th centuries and invites them to draw connections with texts studied in Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Literature. Through works by authors such as Dostoevsky, Kafka, Camus, and Conrad, students will explore themes of existentialism, moral conflict, and the search for meaning in a changing world. By placing these texts in dialogue with earlier literature, students will reflect on the continuity and evolution of ideas surrounding human nature, virtue, and faith, all within a Catholic classical framework.

Primary Texts: Fyodor Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov, Franz Kafka Short Stories, Oscar Wilde, Albert Camus the Stranger, Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness, Evelyn Waugh Brideside Revisited, along with several classical, medieval, and modern texts.

Rhetoric and Composition

The Trivium: Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric, is core to a liberal arts education. While elementary school prioritizes grammar, and middle school prioritizes logic, high school builds on both so that students have a firm grasp on the art of rhetoric. Through a study of great works, especially great speeches, the course develops a student’s ability to read, write, and speak well.

 

Economics

This course provides a broad introduction to the history of economic ideas, with a particular interest in the contributions of Catholicism to economic developments. The course will begin with an overview of Greco-Hebrew thought on money, progress to a consideration of the Early Church Fathers’ attitudes towards work and wealth, and culminate in the contributions of Scholasticism to economic philosophy. The second portion of the course is dedicated to the evaluation of modern economic thought (capitalism/ socialism/Marxism), including its critique by 19th/20th century Catholic Social Teaching. As the word “economics” means “house rule” in Greek, the final section of the course is dedicated to personal financial literacy, with a special emphasis on applying the principles of Catholic Social Teaching in one’s personal finances.

Primary Texts: Xenophon Economist, Aristotle Politics, St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologiae, Leo XIII Rerum Novarum, G.K Chesterton Outline of Sanity, Hillaire Belloc Servile State, Pope St. John Paul II Centissimus Annus, Josef Pieper Leisure: the Basis of Culture

 

Oklahoma History

A one semester 12th grade course on the history of Oklahoma, beginning with native tribes, and ending in the late 20th century.

 

Government

This one semester 12th grade course on government and political philosophy from Hammurabi to post-liberalism. This course has a special emphasis on Greek, Roman, and Christian political philosophy.

Primary Texts: Aristotle Politics, Xenophon Constitution of the Spartans, Plato Republic and Minos, Plutarch Roman Lives, Cicero On Duties, St. Augustine City of God, St. Thomas Aquinas Treatise on Law, Machiavelli the Prince, John Locke Second Treatise on Government, Baron de Montesquieu Spirit of Laws, Thomas Jefferson Notes on the State of Virginia, Federalist Papers

 

Senior Thesis

The High School capstone project is the Senior thesis. Seniors submit and defend an extensive thesis on a topic of their choice in the liberal arts.