Recorded HS

A Contrast of Kings: Macbeth and Julius Caesar (Catholic Shakespeare Series)

Our course will very briefly review that evidence and then place its focus on examining the two plays most widely read by high school students. Although set in Scotland of the 11th century and Rome of the 1st century BC, both plays comment clearly and powerfully on the sad situation of the Catholic Church, outlawed and persecuted in Shakespeare’s England. Both dramas end with victory for Christ’s Holy Bride that cannot, for long, be suppressed.

Recorded HS

Early and Late Comedies: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest (Catholic Shakespeare Series)

Shakespeare’s comedies are marvelously funny at every level from low humor to grand comedy of Godly forgiveness. We will see how the Master combines both to keep us penny-groundlings amused and in order, even while he is soaring over our heads into Heaven!

Recorded HS

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Sign up today and learn why Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's finest plays. "To be or not to be" is the question, but the answer to this most complex of plays is beguilingly elusive. Join Professor Pearce and fellow students to go deep into Hamlet and find all of the answers.

Recorded HS

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

In this course, Dr. Russell will guide you through the play and help you discover the profound beauty of Shakespeare. Presenting six sets of lovers, A Midsummer Night’s Dream reveals the silliness of all lovers. However, the spiritual power and wisdom of Oberon makes all go well, even as his provident guidance is tangled by his servant Puck (or Luck)!

Recorded HS

A World Without God

St. John tells us, “You have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”

Recorded HS

Catholic Literary Giants

Join Joseph Pearce, the premier literary biographer of our time and author of the book Catholic Literary Giants, and step into the worlds of six favorite Catholic authors -- Shakespeare, Newman, Hopkins, Belloc, Chesterton, and Tolkien -- to get excited about how six great writers have so much to offer.

Recorded HS

Cultural Literacy for Catholics

What are some of the basic things all educated Catholics should know? Sadly, most Catholics don’t know them! From the point of view of Literature and its impact on culture, these basic “everybody should know this” stuff would include the issues we will examine in each class meeting.

Live HS

Drama and the Human Spirit for High School

Drama is exciting and learning about Drama is even more exciting! Join professional actor and playwright Kevin O’Brien as he leads us through a brief survey of the History of Drama, showing how Drama expresses and enlightens the Human Spirit!

Recorded HS

Drama and the Human Spirit for High School with Kevin O’Brien

Drama is exciting and learning about Drama is even more exciting! Join professional actor and playwright Kevin O’Brien as he leads us through a brief survey of the History of Drama, showing how Drama expresses and enlightens the Human Spirit!

Live HS

Early and Late Comedies: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest

Shakespeare’s comedies are marvelously funny at every level from low humor to grand comedy of Godly forgiveness. We will see how the Master combines both to keep us penny-groundlings amused and in order, even while he is soaring over our heads into Heaven!

Recorded HS

Henry V

Join us for Henry V, which is widely enjoyed as Shakespeare’s portrait of a noble, high-spirited and virtuous king. This may be Shakespeare’s presentation of an ideal king for an England that is weary of an aging and childless spinster monarch.

Recorded HS

How to Read Great Literature

Professor Pearce will outline and explain the basic rules for reading and understanding the deepest level of meaning in the great works of civilization, including Homer, Beowulf, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Hopkins, Eliot, Lewis and Tolkien.

Recorded MS

Humor on Stage & Screen

In this middle school drama course, learn some of the best humorists and comedians in the history of Western culture. From Ancient Greek to Shakespeare, and Gilbert and Sullivan to Laurel and Hardy -- analyze humor on the stage and screen from a literary and historical perspective.

Recorded HS

I Hate Poetry!

Is it possible to go from hating poetry to loving poetry? Is it possible to be able to tell a good poem from a bad one? How about the poems we write but are too scared to show anybody else? Are they any good? Can we make them better?

Recorded HS

Shakespeare and King Lear

Enjoy this profoundly Christian play in historical context, exploring the story’s themes of love and betrayal, good and evil, nihilism and meaning, and more.

Recorded HS

Shakespeare and Richard II

Learn Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Richard II -- and delve into a famous story of the nature of authority as it affects man, the medieval culture, and the Magna Carta’s birth with beautiful poetry and non-stop action.

Recorded HS

Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra

An in-depth study of one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies focusing on its timeless moral dimension and therefore its perennial relevance.

Recorded HS

King Lear by William Shakespeare

Professor Pearce, author of three books on Shakespeare and editor of the Ignatius Critical Edition of King Lear, will reveal the deep Christian meaning of one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.

Recorded HS

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the most famous love story ever written. Its cultural influence is so profound that Shakespeare’s “star cross’d” lovers have become synonymous with the very meaning of romantic love.  In this course, Joseph Pearce, editor of the Ignatius Critical Edition of Romeo and Juliet, asks and answers these questions as he invites students to see the play through Shakespeare’s Catholic eyes.

Recorded MS

Shaking Up Shakespeare

Get excited about Shakespeare in this dynamic introduction to one of the most celebrated writers of history, as stage actor Kevin O’Brien comes to class dressed as a Shakespearean character to get your student delighted with learning each week.

Recorded HS

The Comedies of Shakespeare: As You Like It

As You Like It is a comedy classic and one of Shakespeare’s most complex works. It has a little bit of everything - romance, adventure, sophisticated humor, unsophisticated humor, rebellious teens, a love story and some of the most amazing poetry ever written.

Recorded HS

The Comedies of Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado about Nothing is one of the classic comedies of Shakespeare. It features the sparkling battle of wits between Beatrice and Benedick, two star-crossed lovers who act as if they can’t stand each other, but secretly are in love with each other!

Recorded HS

Julius Caesar

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar focuses on how even noble men like Brutus become corrupted by the lust for power and harm their country under the pretense of doing good for it. At the same time, the play subtly presents the will of Christ as the ultimate force which drives history, using flawed men like Caesar as its instruments for good.

Recorded HS

Literature: What Every Catholic Should Know

Join Professor Joseph Pearce and learn about everything from the Greek epics to Shakespeare's plays to Tolkien's famous trilogy. What Every Catholic Should Know is an insightful introduction to the world's rich depository of stories. Learn how great literature mirrors The Story—the Story of Salvation History and how it directs us back to the Storyteller, God himself.

Recorded HS

Mythology in Literature

What is myth and how does it relate to storytelling in general and to our Catholic Faith in particular? How have the great myths of the world’s cultures been adapted into novels and plays?

Recorded HS

Romeo and Juliet

In this course, you will study Sheakespeare’s fabulously beautiful use of language and learn why Romeo and Juliet are the best-loved couple in love ever created. Romeo and Juliet live in a world full of conflict and danger as all love must, and it is to teach us how to love well in such a world that Shakespeare wrote his play.

Recorded HS

Speech and Communications

Explore some of the greatest speeches and orators of all time -- and learn how a good argument is developed, structured, and spoken so that you can appreciate and analyze good verbal rhetoric to come up with your own short speeches that are engaging, entertaining, and effective.

Live HS

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

Explore one of Shakespeare’s greatest and most controversial plays alongside Professor Pearce, the author of three books on Shakespeare and editor of the Ignatius Critical Edition of The Merchant of Venice. In six classes, you will learn about Shakespeare’s life and Catholicism as well as grappling with the questions the play asks about choice, justice, and joy.

Recorded HS

The Tragedies of Shakespeare: Othello

Othello is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. It not only deals with the great mystery of love and jealousy - but the question of manipulation, control, and power.

Recorded HS

The Iliad by Homer

Sign up for this course to learn with Prof. Joseph Pearce as he guides us through Homer’s classic work. We will examine the ways in which its moral vision harmonizes with that of Christianity, offering timeless insights into the human condition.

Recorded HS

William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice (Catholic Shakespeare Series)

Shakespeare combines the themes of world-weariness and youthful love as he presents us with two cities: Venice and Belmont. In Venice the cruel and legalistic Shylock seeks a demonic revenge on Antonio, the Merchant of Venice. In Belmont, love and hope create an almost-paradisial world. But both must combine as Portia leaves her beautiful mountain to save the life of Antonio in Venice. At the heart of the play is the Eucharist.

Recorded HS

William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night; or What You Will (Catholic Shakespeare Series)

Twelfth Night, or What You Will is an Epiphany play. Shakespeare celebrates the sheer joy and redemption of the Christmas season even as he brings his characters to their own epiphanies.

Live HS

The Odyssey by Homer

Register today to learn why Prof. Joseph Pearce says that Homer is at the foundation of Western Civilization. Homer is arguably, with the possible exception of Dante and Shakespeare, the greatest writer that Western Civilization has produced.

Recorded HS

The Odyssey by Homer

Register today to learn why Prof. Joseph Pearce says that Homer is at the foundation of Western Civilization. Homer is arguably, with the possible exception of Dante and Shakespeare, the greatest writer that Western Civilization has produced.