Goals of the Saint Joseph's College Core Program
Faculty members at Saint Joseph’s College are dedicated to the following goals, which can be found at
the heart of the College’s Core Program, and are committed to work with the students to develop and
fulfill these concepts through the content of lectures, discussions, and assignments each and every
semester as part of their larger educational experience and in preparation for their lives after
graduation.
1. To develop cognitive and communication skills.
From one semester of Core to the next to the next, we will expect students to master
progressively more challenging exercises in cognitive (analysis, critique, synthesis, reasoning)
skills, involving all forms of discourse and all types of skills (speaking-listening, writingreading, etc.).
2. To build a community of seekers of truth.
In keeping with the Vatican II basis for the Core Curriculum and the value-based stance of the
College, students will be exposed to and encouraged to develop strong convictions, about the
corporate nature of human existence, and the unity of the family of mankind, both in
intellectual (science-, philosophy-, and theology-based) and in affective ways (commitment to
the common good, on both the local and global scale.
3. To expand awareness to the many dimensions of reality.
Over the eight semesters of the Core Program students will be expected to work on expanding
their interdisciplinary skills – the ability to make use of the materials from outside their field(s)
of specialization in a manner which is faithful to the methodologies of those fields and be able
to analyze and to critique disciplinary readings at the level of a broadly educated generalists.
They will be expected to discuss the readings in a way that respects the differences in various
methodological approaches.
4. To cultivate the integrative habit of mind.
Students will be expected to pay constant attention to and learn how to correlate (compare,
contrast, relate) and synthesize materials from many different areas of inquiry.
5. To evoke formulation of, enthusiasm for, and commitment to values.
Students will be consistently challenged over the eight semesters of the Core Program to
develop an enhanced awareness of personal and communal values and commitments (including
conflicts and ambiguities), to understand the complex and demanding relationship between
choice and consequence, to appreciate the content of the Liberal Arts as a means of confronting
current and future values-based issues as they arise and become conscious of them, and to
cultivate practices and attitudes that reflect values consistent with a democratic society.
6. To witness to specific Christian values.
Graduates of the College and therefore active participants of the Core Program will be expected
to formulate a synthesis of their faith by means of the witnessing of many persons and will be
encouraged to bear witness to that faith and those values in their profession endeavors and all
other facets of their life.
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Welcome to Core 3: Purpose of this Core
Core 3 is the beginning of our investigation into where we, as participants in the Western
cultural experience, came from. Our predecessors in this experience were the first to ask and
attempt to answer the big questions thoughtful people still ask today. These include: Why is
mankind here? What is the nature of each individual’s relationship with the physical world
around them? With their community? With others as individuals? With their deity or deities?
What is the meaning or purpose of being on this planet as a living sentient person? How does
one live a well-lived life? These are all big and not easily answered questions and the answers
found will be unique to each individual and may not change over time or be ones that you reconsider and alter over time depending on where you are in life at that moment. The point of
Core 3 is to introduce you to some of the great works produced by major thinkers and authors
who have dealt with these and other significant points of intellectual, philosophical, and
spiritual inquiry. In this Core we hope you will take the skills you developed in your first year
of the Core Program and begin to build a broader and deeper sense of the historical, mental,
and spiritual development of those who, like you, were a product of Western Civilization, as
well as being contributors to it. We will focus on four groups this semester: the
Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, ending the term with the birth of
Christianity. We will be respectful in our exploration of their experiences and contributions,
examine the ways in which they interacted with others and their world, and witness their
contributions to our world.
Remember, the Core curriculum is designed to provide you with exposure to a solid Liberal
Arts education and encourages you to investigate your relationship with and role in the larger
world, and this investigation into how those living in the past dealt with these issues is a vital
step in that process. In order to make this segment of Core worthwhile, you must approach
Core 3 with an open mind and not with preconceived notions of what are the ultimate “right”
answers to the questions listed above or others as they arise based solely on your experience
of the world to date or those supplied to you by the institutions present in your life. A
willingness to constantly question and re-examine issues and answers is a sign of being a
mature human being. If you arrive back at the same answers you began with, but based on
thoughtful observation then they will be more your own, and if you arrive at different answers
than those you began with, then you are growing as a thoughtful human being as you move
through your life. Either result from Core 3 will make you a more active and participating
member of the world you have inherited from previous generations. This process will also
provide you with the opportunity to put into use both the intellectual and communication
skills you have developed thus far in your education. In addition to offering you the
opportunity to examine and develop your own concepts concerning your relationships to and
with others in society, we will be working on important communication skills, both written
and oral, that will help you be successful in your college career, and just as importantly, in the
real world at whatever job(s) you hold in the future and in personal relationships, as well.
Because of this, there is a significant amount of reading and writing this term and Core 3 will
be worth 6 credits.
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Core 3 Required Texts and Readings

Core 3 Master Syllabus. Rensselear, IN: Saint Joseph's College, 2014.

A Guided Tour of Selections from Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics. Christopher
Biffle. Excerpts with copyright permission found in the Core 3 Master syllabus
(2014).

Gilgamesh: A New English Translation. Translation by Stephen Mitchell. Free Press,
2006.

The New American Bible. Saint Joseph’s Edition (Large Type – Illustrated). Catholic
Book Publishing Company, n.d.

The Odyssey. Homer. Translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition.
1996.

Plato, “Allegory of the Cave”, from The Republic
(http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/platoscave.html (access 5.1.2014) (excerpt in the
Core 3 Master syllabus (2014)

Sophocles, “Oedipus Rex” (“Oedipus the King”) and “Antigone” in The Three Theban
Plays. Translated by Robert Fagles. Penguin Classics: 1984.

The Aeneid. Virgil. Translated by Robert Fagles. Excerpts with copyright permission
found in the Core 3 Master syllabus (2014).

Lionel Casson, Everyday Life in Ancient Rome. Revised and Expanded edition. Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1998.
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Core 3 Faculty (Fall 2014)
David Dixon, Political Science
Carey Monroe, Education
Angela Elrod-Sadler, Philosophy
Michael Nichols, Philosophy
Paul Geraci, Music
John Rahe, Theatre Arts
Edward Habrowski, Core
Courtney Stewart, Core
Christopher La Cross, Foreign Languages
Peter Watkins, Political Science
Michael Malone, Philosophy
Guest Lecturers
Mark Fairchild, Religion, Huntington College
Maia Hawthorne, English, Saint Joseph's College
John Nichols, Emeritus Professor, Philosophy, Saint Joseph's College
Tim McFarland, C.PP.S., Religion, Saint Joseph's College
Rob Pfaff, Chemistry, Saint Joseph's College
Mark Seely, Psychology, Saint Joseph's College
Ilicia Sprey, Ivy Tech Community College
Collegial Agreements binding on all Core 3 Sections
Each student will sit with his or her discussion section in its assigned area of Shen Auditorium during
lecture.
Each student will take a Core 3 pre-course assessment test at the beginning of the semester and a postcourse test at the end of the semester. The latter will count towards the student’s Core 3 grade.
Each student is required to participate in the tragedy skit contest that will be explained by your
instructor.
There will be a minimum of 20 pages of written work required of all Core 3 students during the
semester. Your instructor will determine the nature of these writing assignments. He or she may
assign summary papers, compare and contrast papers, creative writing papers, research papers, or other
writing assignments appropriate to the content and intent of Core 3. The instructor is encouraged to
assign at least one paper on ethics or values related to course material.
Each student will complete a final exam that contains at least one comprehensive essay question.
REMINDER TO THE STUDENT: Unlike Cores 1 and 2, there is no separate grade issued for writing.
A single 6-credit grade will be assigned for all your work in Core 3 this semester based on the grading
rubric contained in your discussion section’s syllabus and given to the student at the start of the
semester.
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Saint Joseph's College Policy on Plagiarism
The faculty of Saint Joseph's College always has and will condemned plagiarism for its
blatant abuse of the academic integrity that should permeate the scholarly work of its
students. In order to clarify the meaning and scope of its position on this issue, the
faculty of the College approved the following statement at its April 16, 1986 meeting and
continues to hold to this standard today.
The penalty for plagiarism or cheating will be an “F” for the
test, paper, or assignment involved. (The infraction may well
result in an “F” for the course.) Multiple infractions as reported
to the Office of Academic Affairs will further result in dismissal
from the College.
Plagiarism includes but is not limited to:
 Not acknowledging sources of information contained in papers
 Not using quotation marks and/or attribution with direct quotations
 Using almost word-for-word paraphrasing
 Using the ideas of others without acknowledging the original authors of those
ideas
 Submitting as your own work a paper written by another person, and/or
 Collusion with others (whether SJC students or other persons) in the writing
and/or revision of papers
Saint Joseph's College Policy on Class Attendance
1. Students are expected to attend all officially scheduled lectures, discussions,
laboratory exercises, and examinations as scheduled. Absences may be excused
for reasonable causes, as outlined in the College Catalog.
2. The following are examples of reasonable causes for excused absences: sickness
of student, death or serious illness in the student’s immediate family, a wedding in
the immediate family, intercollegiate sports or other college activities (such as
field trips), circumstances beyond the student’s control such as government
summons, bad weather, etc. The judge of the reasonableness in case of absence is
the instructor, who is always to keep in mind the content of the College Catalog as
it relates to absences.
3. Sanctions for unexcused absences from class are the prerogative of the individual
instructor and must be outlined in the syllabus that each instructor gives to their
students at the start of each semester. Sanctions may include: a failing grade on
work due on the date of the absences, a reduction of the final grade for the course,
or a failure in the course if appropriate due to an unreasonable number of
unexcused absences. Only those sanctions published in an individual instructor’s
syllabus are to be used by that instructor. Complaints of unfair sanctions will be
considered by the Academic Cabinet or a subcommittee appointed by the VicePresident of Academic Affairs
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Core 3 Lecture and Reading Schedule
Date
Lecture and Presenter
Reading/Assignment
I. Introduction to the Mesopotamians and the Hebrews
8/19
Introduction to Core 3
Lewis, 5-11
8/21
Ilicia Sprey
Birth of Civilization: Rise of
Mesopotamia
Gilgamesh, Prologue and Books I – V
8/26
Lewis, 11-20
Ilicia Sprey
Oldest Story Ever Told
Gilgamesh, Books VI-XI
8/28
Michael Nichols
Introduction to the Hebrews: An
Overview
9/2
Michael Nichols
Introduction to the Hebrew
Scriptures
“The Hebrew Civilization”, 23-32
(syllabus, 12-16)
Genesis, chapters 1-11
9/4
John Nichols
Hebrew Scriptures: Abraham
Genesis, chapters 12-24
9/9
Mark Fairchild
Exodus and Covenant
Exodus, chapters 1-24
9/11
Tim McFarland, C.PP.S.
Message of the Prophets: Amos
Book of Amos (entire)
Mike Malone
II. The Greeks
9/16
9/18
Introduction to the Greeks:
Society and Culture
Lewis, 45-63
Peter Watkins
Introduction to Homer’s Odyssey
Peter Watkins
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Odyssey, Books 1, 2, and 5
(For a synopsis of the books we are
not reading, see syllabus , 16-18.
This is an optional but useful
resource.)
9/23
9/25
9/30
10/2
10/7
10/9
Odyssey: “Carry on my wayward
son”
Mark Seely
DVD: The Odyssey in Film
Odyssey, Books 6, and 9-11
Odyssey, Books 12, 13, and 16
Odyssey: Its Meaning and Value
Then and Now
Courtney Stewart
DVD: Engineering an Empire, Vol.
1: Greece
Greek Tragedy I: Concepts of
Fate and Character and Social
Lessons
John Rahe
Greek Tragedy II: Antigone – Law
and Order and Making Choices
John Rahe
10/14 No lecture – This time should be
used to rehearse and put the final
touches on tragedy skits or to
present their skits as the instructor
decides
10/16 Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”
Michael Nichols
10/21 Aristotle: Happiness is found in
the Middle
Michael Nichols
10/23 Aristotle: On Friendship and the
value of Relationships
Angela Elrod-Sadler
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Odyssey, Books 21-24
Lewis, 63-71
Tragedy Skit instructions
(syllabus, 10-11)
Sophocles, “Oedipus Rex” (“Oedipus
the King”) in The Three Theban Plays
Sophocles, “Antigone” in The Three
Theban Plays
No reading assigned
Plato, “Allegory of the Cave”
(syllabus, 18-21)
Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, 1447 (syllabus, post page 23)
For an overview of this work see
syllabus, 22-23. This is not required
reading, but could be helpful.
Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, 4963 (some pages not included)
(syllabus, post-page 23)
III. Romans
10/28 Introduction to the Romans
Lewis, 89-100
Peter Watkins
10/30 The Aeneid: Honor and Duty
The Aeneid, Books 2, 4, and 6
(syllabus, 25 )
Maia Hawthorne
11/4
11/6
Outline of the Aeneid, syllabus 24
Seneca, selections from “On the
Tranquility of the Mind” (“de
Tranquilitate Animi”),
(syllabus, 26)
Lewis, 110-116
Living a Life of Purpose in the
Roman World
John Rahe
Roman Values: Science and
Architecture
Casson, chapters I, IV and XII
Rob Pfaff
11/11 Roman Family and Daily Life
Casson, chapters II, III, VI, X
Carey Monroe
11/13 Roman Military
Casson, chapter VIII
Paul Geraci
11/18 DVD: The Wider Roman World
outside of Rome
Lewis, 116-120
11/20 Political Collapse: Republic
towards Empire
Lewis, 101-109
Dave Dixon
11/25 Thanksgiving Break – no classes
11/27
12/2 Eastern Half of the Roman
Lewis, 123-127
Republic and other Faith
Traditions
Casson, chapter IX
12/4
Michael Nichols
Decline of the Roman Republic
and the Rise of Christianity
Gospel of Luke, chapters 1-2
Mike Malone
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