Deeper into Euclid, Deeper into Boethius

This week, the New England High School Summer Program is giving students a glimpse into the experience of studying Thomas Aquinas College’s integrated Great Books curriculum, in which the classes of each course build successively — not only on each other, but on other courses, as well.

All of last night’s fun wasn’t enough to make students forget about Euclid, or the somewhat-intimidating prospect of presenting new propositions at this morning’s class! After breakfast, they walked the now-familiar path from Gould Commons to St. Gianna Molla Hall. Although they got the hang of presenting on Tuesday, some were nervous about Proposition 4, which features a notoriously odd argument for the seemingly simple conclusion that, if two triangles have two sides and the angle between those sides is equal, then the triangles themselves are equal. No matter how nervous, though, today’s presenters rose to the occasion — and added more tools to their section’s mathematical toolbelt!

After midmorning Mass and lunch, the students returned to the classroom to continue their discussion of Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy. As they considered Lady Philosophy’s contention that neither wealth nor social status qualifies as a candidate for the Highest Good, they found themselves revisiting the themes of fate and cyclical suffering found in Oedipus Rex and Antigone. These discussions not only enriched their comprehension of Boethius’s arguments, but also retroactively enriched their understanding of the tragedies.

Come back to the Summer Program Blog tomorrow to learn how students spent the evening of this hot and sunny day!