The aim of this course is to give a comprehensive and intercultural understanding of hermeneutics as well as a methodological foundation for research in cross-cultural philosophy. It intends to examine and discuss the philosophical borrowings from one cuture to another through the study of the most important thinkers.

This course explores the field of comparative or intercultural aesthetics. Besides studying the latest issues in the comparing the philosophy of beauty and art of different cultures, we will also investigate the artistic cross-fertilisation between cultures, and look into some of the contemporary issues in comparative aesthetics. Focus will be on Chinese, Japanese and Indian aesthetics, and the rethinking of the East-West dichotomy in aesthetics.

This course is an introduction to church Latin. Assignments for each class will consist of vocabulary, grammar and translation. Students will also be encouraged to address the thought patterns that frequently underlie even the simplest statements of the Middle Ages.

This course is a continuation of beginning ecclesiastical Latin. There will be increased emphasis on readings from the Vulgate Bible, liturgies, hymns, and the writings of Latin Fathers.

Students will explore topics such as: mythical awareness, myth and reason; progressive awareness in the philosophical reflection of pre-Socratic thought; the anthropological and methodological discovery: Socrates and the sophists; Plato: the experience of universal knowledge; Aristotle: philosophy as the understanding of being; Hellenism and Neo-Platonism.

The course introduces the students to formal logic and its use in evaluating the correctness of reasoning. Topics to be discussed include Simple Apprehension, Judgment and Reasoning. Emphasis is placed on deductive and inductive forms of reasoning. Attention will be given to its application in real life argumentation and persuasive discourse.

This course is an introduction to ancient Greek emphasizing the grammar and vocabulary of the New Testament. Substantial portions of the New Testament are read.

Aristotle, more than any other thinker, determined the orientation and the content of Western intellectual history. He was the author of a philosophical and scientific system that through the centuries became the support and vehicle for both medieval Christian and Islamic scholastic thought: until the end of the 17th century, Western culture was Aristotelian. And, even after the intellectual revolutions of centuries to follow, Aristotelian concepts and ideas remained embedded in Western thinking. Aristotle held philosophy to be the discerning, through the use of systematic logic as expressed in syllogisms, of the self-evident, changeless first principles that form the basis of all knowledge. Aristotle stressed the importance of direct observations in securing facts and data. He drew conclusions from direct observations, and thus initiated the basis for a scientific method of solving problems. Students will explore Aristotelian thinking and its influence on western thought. Emphasis will be placed on a contemporary reading of his works and on the modernity of his approach to an understanding of the world.

An intensive course in the fundamentals of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of the modern Greek language. There will be an extensive practice in listening, and graded reading.

This course will introduce students to classical Greek writers, translation of texts, and cultural aspects of Classical Greece and the Hellenic world. Students will also deepen their understanding of the grammar of Classical Greek.

This course is a thorough and rigorous introduction to biblical Hebrew, with emphasis on grammar, in preparation for translation of biblical prose. Daily preparation and active class participation are mandatory. Readings in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament will increase in complexity throughout the year.

This course is designed to provide students with the skills necessary to read pointed Hebrew texts, with primary attention to the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. There four main objectives: (a) correct pronunciation of biblical Hebrew, (b) accurate translations into good English/Mandarin style, (3) facility with standard reference grammars and lexicons, and (d) mastery of Hebrew grammar. In addition to the ability to read pointed text, some translation from English/Mandarin into standard biblical Hebrew will be required.