Running, Praying & the Discussion Method

A hearty team of about 15 Summer Program students awoke early this morning for a run around the perimeter of the campus, including a trip to the new outdoor Stations of the Cross with prefect Sarah Dufresne (’14). Other early risers found their way to Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel for the 7:00 a.m. Mass in the extraordinary form. All then attended breakfast in St. Joseph Commons, where they discussed the readings for the day’s classes — Sophocles’ Antigone in the morning and selections from the pre-Socratic philosophers in the afternoon, following the midday Mass and lunch.

For many of the students, the summer program is their first experience of the Discussion Method, which the College employs in its classrooms. To help foster courtesy, the College asks students to address each other in class as “Mr.” or “Miss” and their surname — another first for most students. “I really like the formality of addressing each other by your last name in the class,” says student Rebecca Oakes of Vail, Arizona. “It allows everybody to be respectful of the variety of opinions about the deep questions that we are considering in these texts.”