Professor Timothy B. Shutt examines the history and culture of ancient Sparta, a society renowned for military excellence and adherence to the values of courage, discipline, duty, and the overcoming of fear. Vastly outnumbered at the Battle of Thermopylae, the Spartan “300” held off an overwhelming Persian force before finally succumbing- but not without inflicting massive casualties and inspiring the rest of the Greeks with the notion that they could persevere.

One of the Modern Scholar’s most popular lecturers, Professor Timothy B. Shutt of Kenyon College examines the contributions of the peoples of northern Europe through their vibrant literary legacy. As Professor Shutt’s textual analysis reveals, Celtic and Germanic values shine through these works, exhibiting such characteristics as courage, self-control, and respect for women. As listeners will find, the legacy of the European Northlands formed a cultural pattern that continues to this day.

Dante’s Divine Comedy stands very high among the greatest literary works ever written. The Commedia is about the afterlife, not just Hell, but Purgatory and Heaven, too. Dante’s genius is the genius of the allegorical method. The Commedia is, in the first instance, an account of Dante’s own salvation. In chronicling his own recovery, indeed his salvation, Dante not only provides us with an autobiography, he also suggests that not only the problems he confronts, but the means by which he overcomes them, are in some sense universal. He is talking not just about himself, but about the salvation of his readers as well.

Western Curriculum Course #1212100 Title: Dickens and Twain: Capturing 19th-Century Britain and America Author: Timothy B. Shutt, Kenyon College Program Description: Few writers are more often read, and better loved, than Charles Dickens and Samuel Langhorne Clemens—Mark Twain. Many of the characters populating their novels have become household words, cultural landmarks in their own right—Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, David Copperfield and Oliver Twist. It is as if we have known them life-long. In this course we take a look at the lives and works of both authors, comparing, and celebrating them, in their use of use language, in their humor—and both, of course, are master humorists—in their evocation of character, and in their evocation and evaluation of the social world in which they find themselves. Lecture Titles: Lecture 1: Introduction Lecture 2: The Life of Charles Dickens Lecture 3: The Life of Samuel Lagnhorne Clemens, aka Mark Twain Lecture 4: Autobiography and Childhood, Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn Lecture 5: Autobiography and Childhood, Charles Dickens, David Copperfield Lecture 6: Twain and Dickens, Vision of Society Lecture 7: Twain and Dickens, Moral and Religious Vision Lecture 8: Twain and Dickens, Women, Sexuality, and Final Assessment About Professor Timothy B. Shutt: For over twenty years Professor Timothy Baker Shutt has taught at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, famed for its splendid teaching, for its literary tradition, and for its unwavering commitment to the liberal arts. No teacher at Kenyon has ever been more often honored, both by the college and by his students, for his exceptional skills in the classroom and as a lecturer. He is the recipient of the Trustee Award for Distinguished Teaching and has thrice been awarded the Senior Cup, presented each year to the community member who has contributed most to the college. Prior to Kenyon, Shutt spent three years teaching English and History at St. Mark’ s School of Texas – a private, K-12, college preparatory institution – where he also coached swimming. After earning his Ph.D. in 1984, Shutt spent two further years at Virginia as Mellon Post-Doctoral Research Fellow. He has published numerous works for Recorded Books Modern Scholar Series, included among them works titled The Life and Works of C.S. Lewis and Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans: The Foundations of Western Civilization. In April of this year, Professor Shutt was named in The Best 300 Professors, published by the Princeton Review.

It can reasonably be argued that the British invented the novel. And to understand the way in which the novel, as a literary form, developed in Britain is key to understanding the literary form itself. In this first of a two-part series, beloved Modern Scholar professor Timothy B. Shutt takes listeners on a panoramic journey across the colorful landscape of British Novelists beginning with Daniel Defoe in the early 18th century all the way to the mesmerizing works of Jane Austen in the early 19th Century. Professor Shutt begins by exploring exactly what a novel is – and what it isn’t – and what defines this unique literary expression. He explores both its antecedents and precursors and where exactly its place in the literary landscape can be found. He then moves on to Defoe’s great work Robinson Crusoe which arguably marks the birth of the novel. Subsequent lectures explore works by powerful literary forces such as Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne, and Sir Walter Scott. Each is brought to life with Shutt’s trademark style, flare, and formidable insights, leaving the listener not only with a solid grasp of this literary form, but also feeling as if they have been on an epic journey through some of the most amazing literary works ever penned.

Named one of the Best 300 Professors by the Princeton Review, Timothy B. Shutt has been repeatedly honored for his exceptional skills as a lecturer. In Greek Legacy, Professor Shutt explores the qualities that set the ancient Greeks apart from other ancient civilizations. The Greeks, more than any other culture, contributed to the formation of our own cultural system. These lectures show how that society developed, what it consisted of, and how it continues to impact the modern world.

Naval battles have long captured the popular imagination, from confrontations between Greece and Sparta in the ancient world to epic conflicts during the World Wars and beyond. In this riveting series of lectures, Professor Timothy B. Shutt explores the naval battles that have helped to establish empires and have changed history. Professor Shutt imparts an under- standing of the importance of naval warfare and of the grandeur and daring of these awe-inspiring clashes.

One of Kenyon College’s most honored professors, Timothy B. Shutt is widely renowned as a gifted polymath and lecturer. The night sky was the ancient world’s cinema, and storytellers have used this panorama to weave fascinating tales since the earliest days of mankind. This captivating series of lectures explores the mythological sagas found in the night sky and the history behind the names of the great constellations.

It is during the Middle Ages that modern Europe, indeed, modern Western culture as we know it, comes to be. Classical Mediterranean culture drew from the ancient Middle East, and more directly, from the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans. The Middle Ages add the Northlands, Celts, and Germans, and ultimately, Slavs as well, to the mix. And the Middle Ages saw the birth of the immediate predecessors of our own ideas about love and marriage as important concerns in their own right, utterly central to a happy and fulfilling personal life. Beyond that, the Middle Ages saw the composition of some of the greatest and most rewarding literary works ever written, the works of Chaucer and Dante no doubt preeminent among them, but by no means are they alone in their surpassing merits. In this course, we will look at some of those other splendid works-Beowulf, the littleknown, but utterly splendid Njal’s Saga, and Sir Gawain the Green Knight among them.

No American masterpiece casts quite as awesome a shadow as Melville’s monumental Moby Dick. Mad Captain Ahab’s quest for the White Whale is a timeless epic–a stirring tragedy of vengeance and obsession, a searing parable about humanity lost in a universe of moral ambiguity. It is the greatest sea story ever told. Far ahead of its own time, Moby Dick was largely misunderstood and unappreciated by Melville’s contemporaries. Today, however, it is indisputably a classic. As D.H. Lawrence wrote, Moby Dick “commands a stillness in the soul, an awe . . . [It is] one of the strangest and most wonderful books in the world.”

From the very outset in the West-from the time of Homer himself in about 750 BCE-the epic has been the most highly regarded of literary genres. It is rivaled only by tragedy, which arose a bit more than two centuries later, as the most respected, the most influential, and, from a slightly different vantage point, the most prestigious mode of addressing the human condition in literary terms. The major epics are the works that, from the very outset, everyone had heard of and everyone knew, at least by reputation. They are the works that had the most profound and most enduring cultural influence. And they are very much with us still, some more than others, but all-or all the most successful ones-are more or less firmly enshrined in cultural memory. They are still read. They are still taught. They still gain imitators and admirers. The stories they tell still shape our imagination and aspirations. In this course, we will revisit the epics, examining the stories told and the characters. We will consider the various styles represented and the societies in which these epics were constructed. Finally, we will arrive at an understanding of the epic as a genre and as a reflection of ancient history.

This course is an interdisciplinary series of connected lectures delivered by eminent scholars from several colleges and universities. Each professor addresses an area of personal expertise and focuses not only on the matter at hand, but on the larger story-on the links between the works and the figures discussed. The lectures address-in chronological sequence-a series of major works that have shaped the ongoing development of Western thought both in their own right and in cultural dialogue with other traditions. In the process, the course engages many of the most perennial and far-reaching questions that we face in our daily lives.

This course is an interdisciplinary series of connected lectures delivered by eminent scholars from several colleges and universi- ties. Each professor addresses an area of personal expertise and focuses not only on the matter at hand, but on the larger story-on the links between the works and the figures dis- cussed. The lectures address a series of major works that have shaped the ongoing development of Western thought. In addition to the series editor, Professor Timothy B. Shutt, other eminent scholars featured in this course are Professor Kim J. Hartswick from the City University of New York, Professor Joel F. Richeimer of Kenyon College, and Professor Lawrence H. Schiffman from New York University.

Odyssey of the West I and II explored timeless works from the ancient world that shaped, and continue to shape, the culture and philosophies of life today. In part three of this fascinating series, Professor Timothy B. Shutt of Kenyon College is joined by Professors Thomas F. Madden (Saint Louis University) and Monica Brzezinski Potkay (College of William & Mary) as they examine the most influential thinkers and works of the medieval world. The Odyssey of the West series addresses in chronological sequence the works that have shaped-and indeed questioned- the ongoing development of Western thought both in its own right and in cultural dialogue with other traditions. Part three is a richly detailed look at St. Augustine, Beowulf, St. Thomas Aquinas, Authurian legends, Dante, Gothic art, and other highlights of the period. Through the course of these lectures, it becomes apparent that the “dark” ages were in fact a time of immense achievement, and a time that richly rewards those who study its art and philosophies.

The Odyssey of the West series addresses in chronological sequence the works that have shaped the ongoing development of Western thought both in its own right and in cultural dialogue with other traditions. Part four provides a close look at the period from the Renaissance to the Scientific Revolution and into the early Enlightenment. These lectures take in the immense variety and singular achievements that have helped mold our present societies.

In weaving together the varied and interrelated strands of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century discourse and events, this course focuses on the contributions to Western history that bear the most responsibility for shaping the world of today. Among these contributions are such vital, yet markedly different documents as the Federalist Papers and the Communist Manifesto. New styles of art and literature are also given a stunning treatment, as the professors delve into discussions on Romantic trends in both art and literature. But perhaps most important of all is the single most influential event in the last five hundred years-the scientific revolution-which serves as the engine of progress driving much of the social, political, and cultural change seen in this dramatic period.

The Odyssey of the West series, a grand exploration of art, literature, revolutionary theories, and intellectual progress through the ages, concludes with a fascinating look at the twentieth century. Series editor and esteemed university professor Timothy B. Shutt is joined by contributing lecturers for a lively discussion of the major works and strains of thought that ushered in the modern age. A fitting capstone for this comprehensive series, this sixth and final installment imparts a learned understanding of the forces that shaped-and continue to shape-Western culture.

Baseball has been celebrated as “America’s National Pastime” for more than one hundred and fifty years, and recalls what, at least in retrospect, seems to be an earlier, more innocent age- long summer afternoons and sandlot ball, fresh rural air or brownstone stoops. In part, this is because most of those who love the game played as children and followed their favorite bigleague teams as children. It is not a game one grows out of, and once smitten, most baseball lovers remain true, passing on their love of the game to their children. And the game itself is ever young, the succession of baseball heroes unbroken: Honus Wagner to Ty Cobb to Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, to Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, to Henry Aaron, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays, to Mike Schmidt, and Cal Ripken, and Tony Gwynn, to the stars of the present. Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal, and Bob Gibson, each generation has its heroes and cherishes the memory of those gone before as an ongoing counterpart to daily life-through the War and the Depression, through the fifties and sixties, and so on to the present day. This course is a celebration of baseball’s rich past-and of a game stronger than ever.

One of the Modern Scholar’s most popular professors, Timothy B. Shutt, brings his literary acumen and trademark enthusiasm to the study of the epic poems that sit at the very wellspring of Western culture. The earliest surviving works of Greek literature, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey exert a continuing influence on modern culture, even today shaping people’s values and conduct. In the tales of Achilles and Hector, of Odysseus and Penelope, Homer explored the notion of arete, which translates as “excellence” or “virtue”. In these illuminating lectures, Professor Shutt delves into these great works, illustrating in fascinating detail the nature of their continuing relevance.

C. S. Lewis produced a body of work as diverse as it is beloved. He is known the world over for his cherished Chronicles of Narnia, but he is also the author of novels for adults, scholarly work, and the writings that rival his Narnia series in terms of continued popularity: his eloquent defences of Christianity. A friend to J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis spent much of his life at Oxford surrounded by academics who often held him in contempt for his Christian views (though few could fail to admire Lewis for his skills as a writer and his exhaustive knowledge of literature). In this course, we will look at Lewis’s life and examine the influences that would help to shape Lewis both as a man and as a writer. We will take an in-depth look at Lewis’s science fiction trilogy, his Chronicles of Narnia, his apologetic and scholarly works, and his other writings. In doing so, we will come to understand the major thematic elements that mark Lewis’s work. More importantly, perhaps, we will come to a finer appreciation of a writer whose true testament may be that which he strove for in all his major works: the evocation of “joy.”

This course addresses three wars fought in antiquity, each of which had-even two thousand years and more later-a decisive effect in shaping our communal sense of who we are, not only in Europe, but throughout the European cultural diaspora, in the Americas, in Oceania, and to some degree, at least, in Asia and Africa as well-wherever, in short, Western values hold. The three wars to be investigated here are (1) the Persian Wars, between a coalition of Greek city-states or “poleis,” most notably Athens and Sparta, and the Achaemenid Persian empire, the central and decisive portion of which took place between 490 and 479 B.C.E.; (2) the later Peloponnesian War between Athens and her allies and Sparta and hers, 431-404 B.C.E.; and finally (3) the three Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, which stretched, on and off, for well more than a century, from 264 to 146 B.C.E. Each of these wars helped, in profound and perhaps surprising ways, to shape, even still, our ideals, our identity, and our values.