I also wanted to say a massive thank you for everything you taught me during my years of doing the Great Books Program. I realise more and more each day how invaluable a part of my education it was, and I thank God for the wonderful people, including yourself, who took the time and care to help me develop a greater understanding of, and appreciation for Western tradition. – Francesca McGinnity

Whitney is doing really well! She is completing a Master’s Degree in Theology and hopes to go on to get a PhD, then teach Theology at a college or university. She is also discerning a religious vocation. She still talks about the Great Books classes as being one of the best things she has ever done, how the classes (and you teachers) really taught her how to think, and how they exposed her to the great thinkers and literary works. Her time in your classes was a great blessing. Thank you!! She will always be grateful (and we will always be grateful)! She hopes to be able to teach some future classes using the Socratic Method someday! She loved it! God bless you and God bless the work you are doing. It is invaluable.

I was thrilled to learn of the Great Books Program two years ago, but I am so happy with how truly wonderful it is.  I am just so thankful to you and all the professors for your time and efforts and genuine care for our education, and I cannot begin to express my gratitude for such a great online program as this. – Marissa Standage

Matias is one of your students this year, in the Friday Greek year discussion group.  He has absolutely loved the sessions.  There has been a tremendous value in sharing his views with his peers on the readings and in learning about his classmates’ points of view.  We feel very grateful to Angelicum for this special educational experience. – Beatriz V.

I have truly enjoyed the Program. It’s been a mind-opener for me. My education was very science and medicine oriented so the Great Books is giving me something I had always missed. I’ll miss the tutorials over the Summer, but I think I will be re-reading quite a bit. You are able to stimulate thought and discussion without stifling either! My 80 year old friend, who is my ‘study companion’ is thinking of joining us next year. – Teresa Carey from Ireland

Thank you so much for your guidance this past year! Your patience, humor, and deep knowledge of the Great Books made difficult subject matter enjoyable and easy. I have learned so much in the Great Books class, and am very much looking forward (no joke!) to joining the Roman class this fall. Thank you again and God bless! – Gloria

I would like to reaffirm that I am having the time of my life and thoroughly enjoying each class and all my classmates. This course has been a Godsend in my life! I actually wake up giddy on Friday and count the hours until class. I can’t tell you how much more peace and excitement I have in my life now! This whole experience continues to be such a great gift in my life! And, it’s all y’all’s fault. Thank you! – Marilyn Boyd

I would like to reaffirm that I am having the time of my life and thoroughly enjoying each class and all my classmates. This course has been a Godsend in my life! I actually wake up giddy on Friday and count the hours until class. I can’t tell you how much more peace and excitement I have in my life now! This whole experience continues to be such a great gift in my life! And, it’s all y’all’s fault. Thank you! – Marilyn Boyd

Thank you so much for everything you’ve taught me the past four years. The GB class has been really enjoyable for me and through it I gained knowledge and wisdom. You and your colleagues Dr. Hancock, Dr Redpath, and Dr. Taylor have guided my way of thinking, and I will never forget it. If I ever have children I want them to take the GB classes. – J.G.

I can hardly wait for school to start now! Look what you’ve done to me! Today I was excited to read Shakespeare. I’m suing you people. – J.M.

I have never sat in on the class before today…J. won’t allow it. But A. wanted someone there today and I got to stay for the duration of the class. I truly enjoyed it and I just want to thank you and Dr. Hancock for making the class so enjoyable. You are truly inspiring. Keep up the wonderful work! – C.N.

I always enjoy listening in on your classes. I learn every time. M. is growing up in wisdom under your guidance. – P.S.

Just a quick note to say thanks for the work you do. As I read your note to the students on “justice is not a narrow topic” it nearly brought tears to my eyes.

The class is exceeding my most optimistic expectations – which were quite informed and quite optimistic since A. spent 8th grade with you, too. It appears to me that A.’s personality is being shaped most positively; that she takes pride in herself as a person who is embarking on the Great Books, and she takes joy in what she has learned. – S.L.

I don’t know if you remember Madeleine N. who did some Romans and Moderns with you. We are close friends with Chris S. who recommended the Great Books, and it was a pivotal choice for Madeleine, who was a parent-resistant homeschooler. My sons loved all things ancient and mythological , but Madeleine just wasn’t clicking with me, so we took a chance with Great Books. Just to let you know, Madeleine graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins University as a double major in Classics and History of Art. She is continuing at JHU to get a Master’s in History of Art. I know you and Great Books were part of what got her there, I thought you would like to know she continued with her studies.

I have been truly astonished at what an impact this program has had on me in the relatively short me I have been involved in it. My mom home-schooled me through high school, and we used the Kolbe high school program, which is pretty rigorous. … the Great Books are amazing, but the live classes take them to a whole new level, making them more exciting and relevant and compelling than ever before!

Seeing things from new perspectives, exploring the greatest works of mankind with the eyes of faith, teaming up with one’s classmates in the search for truth which has fascinated mankind from the beginning… It’s truly an intellectual adventure, and I’ve loved every minute of it! I’ve felt like I’m really learning and growing.

I can’t tell you how many times in the past year I’ve stepped back and marveled at what I can feel happening inside myself just as a result of enrolling in this program. And when I remember that it was a “coincidence” that we even found out about it, I feel so profoundly grateful… “There’s a Divinity that shapes our ends, / Rough-hew them how we will.”

This program is life-changing. I am so grateful to be a part of it, and I could never thank you and the other moderators enough for making it possible through your gift of time and labor. It’s so difficult to find real education nowadays, so I look on this program as an answer to prayer in my own life and a gift of God to my generation. I am wholeheartedly recommending this program to everyone who asks, in the hope that many, many people will be able to share this tremendous experience.

With it being the end of the school year and all, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for everything you have done for me this year. I really believe I have learned and grown so much since I started these courses, thanks to you and to the other wonderful instructors in the Great Books

I wanted to thank you in particular for the extra time you spent helping me to understand the relation between the Great Books program and our Catholic faith. I will never forget that day you set aside so much of your time just to speak with me about it! Furthermore, you have always been so kind both in the classroom and in our email communications.

The difference in approach between Angelicum Academy and the other tutorial service was obvious from day one. As Mr. Bertucci is wont to say, the Angelicum program is more concerned with wisdom than information. It took me awhile to adapt to this different spirit, but eventually I was swept into the tide of the Great Conversation, with much thanks to Mr. Robert Hutchins’ excellent on the Great Conversation

Angelicum Academy’s Great Books program opens up the great books while opening minds. Their program teaches students to think, not to memorize. Everything they claim about their program is true. I have taken my first steps into a larger world, a world I might never have known. I recoil at the thought that I might have lived out the rest of my days without the wisdom that beckons to us all in the great books.

I will continue to read the Great Books for the rest of my life. Though I was in Angelicum Academy’s Great Books program for but a year, and a very hectic year at that (through no fault of Angelicum Academy), their program is the defining element of my pre-collegiate education, my first great beacon to our world’s common intellectual tradition.

As a junior student in the program, I have to say I absolutely love Angelicum – The reading list is incredible–you definitely get an idea of how western civilization developed, as you read all the books that influenced it. For instance, last week we were reading Hobbes, and he was defining the dignity of a person as something that depended on their rank and power in life, which got me off to wondering if it wasn’t that sort of attitude that had eventually lead to abortion and euthanasia.

Socratic discussion really does force one to think when you’re confronted with questions such as: “What is freedom?”, “What is the value of education?”, and (my favorite!), “What is the end of the state?” And you can’t ever answer, “Well, because I think it should be this way,”–oh, no. You’ve got to find reasonable arguments, preferably based on the text.

One of the best classes we ever had was on freedom–we eventually concluded that true freedom was following God’s will, after two hours of wrangling over why freedom couldn’t be doing whatever you darn well please. A teacher could have told us this at the beginning of the class, but I never would have remembered it so well, or grasped so much more thoroughly why freedom is that and not getting our own way.

Having completed the Great Books Program, I have been wanting to send you a note of thanks. I found the study of the Great Books very worthwhile and beneficial. I admit that it was at times overwhelming, and in particular my first year. However, I gained by being forced from my comfort zone, and engaging with texts I may otherwise not have read.

I appreciate the manner in which I made contact with the Great Books. The many hours of reading and the weekly assignments drove me head first into the western tradition. The weekly seminars truly helped educate me. That is, they helped draw forth ideas and facilitated discussions. The individual hard work of each participant culminated and bore fruit in the seminars. There were many online discussions where texts and authors came alive and we really took part in the Great Conversation. My love of learning was increased by such experiences.

I am also very grateful for your guidance in many seminars. I am likewise thankful for the contribution of all the other moderators in helping us converse “with the noblest men of ages past.” I feel rather nostalgic, and even a little sad to think I have finished the program. Yet, I am glad to know the great books have taken me far and will continue to assist me in my education. May God bless you, and all of your Angelicum friends and colleagues.