STEM Seminar

In the STEM seminar, your child will explore the big questions, with the aid of some of the sharpest thinkers of history. Some of the key themes are the nature of our minds, the process of science itself, and the interconnectedness of the natural world as God's creation.

This course places emphasis on the philosophy and history of science and math. After developing understanding of the paths to knowledge, we will investigate technology, the fruit of science and math, and examine what it is, how it works, and how it shapes the world and ourselves. We will then turn our study towards the natural world. The student will engage with serious thinkers and deep texts with our guidance and mentorship.

Your child will finish the course with a strong foundation in science and math, as well as a feeling of wonder for the world and the story of how humans came to understand it.

Trimester 1: The mind's ability to perceive the world. The power of science in exploring reality, with both its strengths and limitations. McGilchrist's hemisphere hypothesis will be foundational in our understanding. The Church's relationship with science. Science's relationship with language. The history of science, from ancient Greece to the present day, viewed both as a continuous process and a series of revolutions.

Trimester 2: Technology as an extension of mind, which acts on the world. Math beyond numbers, with emphasis on graphs, game theory, logic, and proofs. Beauty-first exploration into music and math via Boethius. Modern technology, in terms of big data, machine learning — and how it shapes the world. Demystifying the ever-contentious topic of AI. The philosophy and history of technology, as expressed by Ellul and Mumford.

Trimester 3: The beauty of the natural world as a reflection of its Maker. A journey through the heavens and the earth. Comparative study of cosmology/astronomy over time. Biology, viewed as organic harmony rather than mechanistic force. Strong emphasis on ecology. We will spend some time with Kepler, Aristotle, and related primary sources. We may also investigate Chinese perspectives on heaven and earth, and their fulfillment through Orthodox Christianity. Our journey ends with patristic sources on creation.