Academic Courses
The Millis Institute offers two accredited tertiary degrees, a Bachelor of Arts in the Liberal Arts (BALA) (available as standard and accelerated tracks) and a Diploma of Liberal Arts (DipLA) (available in two versions with slightly different unit offerings). Students enrolled in either degree can apply to study in a 5-week intensive at Oxford University.
Both degrees initiate students into a time-tested “path of wisdom.” Advocated by figures from Aristotle to Augustine to C S Lewis, that path follows the following steps:
4) Engaging theology ('Queen of Sciences') and special revelation
-culminates in the key claims of the Christian story, including the
Trinity, Incarnation and the call to live out one’s faith in all of life
3) Contemplating truth, goodness and beauty through reason
-includes history, literature, philosophy and questions about
pursuing "the good life”—i.e. ethics and culture
2) Discerning various orders in God’s creation
-what is known in the western tradition as the quadrivium, which includes
geometry, music, and astronomy—i.e. subjects that explore the physical,
numerical, spatial, and musical order of the universe
1) Acquiring the foundational tools of learning
-what is known in the western tradition as the trivium of grammar, logic, and
rhetoric—i.e. learning how to write, think and speak well
IS THIS PATHWAY NEW TO YOU?
Don’t worry; we’ve created a foundations unit to help. “Foundations of Faith, Learning and Vocation” contains shorter and more accessible readings that introduce you to the sort of thinking we pursue, texts we discuss, and questions we wrestle with in these degrees.
As students progress along this historic pathway, they cultivate the ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and understand the world in which they live, thereby enhancing the likelihood of succeeding in multiple career fields and in life.
