Academy for Classical Teachers

September 8, 2026 - April 13, 2026; Enrollment open through April!

C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia are among the most beloved and symbolically rich books in all of children’s literature. Drawing deep upon various aspects of Lewis’ classical education, the books explore betrayal, oppression, sacrifice, honor, and forgiveness, and the character necessary to successfully navigate such dynamics in the world. This course will be attentive to the influences on the series and to its symbolic world, unraveling the layers of its meaning.

N.B., This course is already open, but new students are welcome. Please refer to the schedule below, and note that the text listed should be read prior to the session.

• Session I: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - Tuesday, September 15th, 2026
• Session II: Prince Caspian - Tuesday, October 13th, 2026
• Session III: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Tuesday, November 10th, 2026
• Session IV: The Silver Chair - Tuesday, January 12, 2027
• Session V: The Horse and His Boy - Tuesday, February 9, 2027
• Session VI: The Magician’s Nephew - Tuesday, March 23, 2027
• Session VII: The Last Battle - April 13, 2027

In this course, Brighton Demerest-Smith (a classically trained artist and veteran educator with Great Hearts Academies) moves from how to teach the elements of drawing up through still life and master study. Grounded in fundamentals and close observation of subjects, his methods of teaching drawing are traditional and time-tested.

This version of the course is for Great Hearts employees and affiliates only.

In this self-paced course, veteran mathematics teacher and leader Jake Tawney provides a clear and engaging introduction to the beauty of Mathematics. This course does not propose a specific curriculum. It does, however, present a list of “those things from mathematics you should have learned but probably didn’t.”

This course contains a series of lectures designed to complement the study of the selection of short Platonic dialogues which are required reading in the Great Hearts curriculum (namely the Meno, Euthyphro, Apology of Socrates, and Crito). Each of these will receive a stand-alone commentary offering comprehensive readings of each dialogue. That is, close readings are provided, "front-to-back," of each of the dialogues in turn treating them as self-contained wholes and highlighting features that are particularly fruitful for conversation in Humane Letters seminars. Each dialogue will be treated in segments, varying in length according to the section of the dialogue under consideration.

One hundred years ago this summer, Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States gave a landmark address on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. He said, “The Declaration of Independence is a great spiritual document. It is a declaration not of material but of spiritual conceptions…[which] have their source and their roots in the religious convictions” of the American people. In this course we will explore those roots by studying President Coolidge’s speech and the writings of several prominent leaders he mentions, including Thomas Hooker, Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitefield, who Coolidge believes set the spiritual foundation for our nation.

In this course, we will read The Princess and Curdie closely, appreciating MacDonald’s beautiful descriptions of the natural world and observing Curdie’s evolution as a human being who comes to know Truth. The goal of this course will not be how to teach the book, but rather what it can teach us as we mentor and guide the developing human beings in our care.

This course introduces students to some of the key ideas and arguments in the life and works of Alexis de Tocqueville--the great French aristocrat and statesman who toured America in the 1830s and wrote, "Democracy in America," a work often said to be the best book written about America and about democracy. We will read excerpts from this large two-volume work, as well as from some of his other writings, including a handful of personal letters. No prior knowledge of Tocqueville is required.