Short Courses
Important conversations in the Christian tradition, both old and new
Our short courses are great opportunities to explore a book (old classics and new works), discuss important questions of faith and culture, or explore the intersection of science and faith. While intended primarily for Virginia Tech students, we welcome faculty, staff, and local community member participants as well.
Current Short Courses
What Does Christianity Say About Animals?
Led by veterinarian Mary McDonald, this course will explore Christian thought about animals throughout history and discuss the implications for our society and how we live our lives today.
With readings from church fathers like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, philosophers like Descartes, and modern thinkers like C.S. Lewis, we’ll think about attitudes towards creation, the problem of animal pain and the question of animal redemption, and consider a Christian approach towards animals. We will also enjoy guest lecturers Cyril Clarke and Dan Givens.
Previous courses have included:
- Andrew Peterson, Adorning the Dark
- Francis Schaeffer, Pollution and the Death of Man
- C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
- John Lennox, 2084 and the AI Revolution
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground
- C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
- Christopher West, Our Bodies Tell God's Story
- Weekend Seminar with Dr. Daniel Fabrycky, Astrophysics & the Meaning of the Universe
- George MacDonald, The Princess & The Goblin
- John Lennox, Cosmic Chemistry
- Marilynne Robinson, Gilead
- Felicia Wu Song, Restless Devices
- James Davison Hunter, To Change the World
- Leo Tolstoy, Walk In The Light While There Is Light
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
- Kaitlyn Schiess, The Liturgy of Politics
- John Lennox, Can Science Explain Everything?
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
- James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to be Secular
- Dennis Venema & Scot McKnight, Adam and the Genome
- N.T. Wright, The New Testament in its World
- C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
- Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation
- Steven Bouma-Prediger, For the Beauty of the Earth
- William Webb, Slaves, Women and Homosexuals
- Jemar Tisby, The Color of Compromise
- Yuval Levin, A Time to Build
- St. Anselm of Canterbury, Cur Deus Homo?
- Francis Schaeffer, Pollution and the Death of Man
- Andrew Peterson, Adorning the Dark
