Torrey Berkeley
Previous Classes
The curriculum for Torrey Berkeley varies with every year. The first class read mainly Tolkien and Lewis, but they were not read at all in 2001 when the emphasis was on Chesterton and Bonhoeffer. Torrey Berkeley has a track record of experimenting with new curriculur ideas. This spirit of innovation is perhaps why some refer to the Torrey Berkeley program as the "Skunkworks of Torrey"
Below are brief descriptions of each class since 1999. These are immediately
followed by a list of assigned reading.
1999: FAITH AND FANTASY
An exploration of the role of creativity and imagination in the Christian life. This survey of 20th century fiction by Christian authors confronted students with the power of storytelling and discussed many of the concerns facing contemporary literature today.
C.S. Lewis
- The Magician's Nephew
- The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
- The Horse and His Boy
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Last Battle
- Out of the Silent Planet
- Perelandra
- That Hideous Strength
J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Lord of the Rings
George MacDonald
- At the Back of the North Wind
2000: LADIES AND GENTLEMAN
This ambitious juxtaposition of Victorian novelists Trollope and Doyle with the neo-Victorian Lewis and the not-Victorian Vanauken presented students with different instantiations of English virtue. The logical faculty is at its best in Sherlock Holmes, but Vanauken needs more to make a decision.
Anthony Trollope
- The Warden
- Barchester Towers
- Dr. Thorne
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Hound of Baskerville
C.S. Lewis
- Out of the Silent Planet
- Perelandra
- That Hideous Strength
Sheldon Vanauken
- A Severe Mercy
2001: BONHOEFFER AND CHESTERTON
Two European juggernauts wrestle with the implications of Christianity. For Bonhoeffer, Christ seems to speak to him most clearly through the experience of everyday life. Whether it was through a person, an illness, or the political world, Bonhoeffer interacted with God in the details. Chesterton, on the other hand, seemed to have thought in blocks of centuries and years, not minutes. In both cases these novels, biographies, and reflections announce the power of ideas lived out across many different circumstances.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- Psalms: Prayerbook of the Bible
- Life Together
- Christ the Center
- Cost of Discipleship
- Letters & Papers from Prison
G.K. Chesterton
- Orthodoxy
- St. Francis of Assisi
- St. Thomas Aquinas
- Everlasting Man
- Man Who Was Thursday
- Manalive
2002: THE CHRISTIAN IMAGINATION
This exciting curriculum had one of the most ambitious booklists of any Torrey Berkeley to date. If not for the depth of pages, the breadth of authors and originality of concepts made this blitzkrieg of imaginative literature a challenging survey. Students grappled with more creativity than they could handle and then picked up the pieces in classroom discussions.
Austin Farrer
- The Glass of Vision
William Shakespeare
- Midsummer Nights Dream
G.K. Chesterton
- The Man Who Was Thursday
Dorothy Sayers
- Gaudy Night
George McDonald
- Thomas Wingfold, Curate
Charles Williams
- Many Dimensions
C.S. Lewis
- Till We Have Faces
J.R.R. Tolkien
- Lord of the Rings
2003: CREATION AND REDEMPTION - COLOSSIANS
Building off of the the creative and innovative foundation from last year, this class added contemporary author Annie Dillary and the New Testament book of Colossians to the mix. Every summer a Biblical text is incorporated into the curriculum, but this year a special attempt was made to see the cosmic perspective of scripture as a source of light for the creative/redemptive mind.
Annie Dillard
- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
G.K. Chesterton
- The Man Who Was Thursday
George MacDonald
- At the Back of the North Wind
Jane Austen
- Emma
J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Silmarilion
Frederick Buechner
- The Alphabet of Grace
William Shakespeare
- Julius Caesar
Flannery O'Connor
- Wise Blood
C.S. Lewis
- The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
- The Magician's Nephew
2004: LIVES IN CHRIST - EPHESIANS
A special focus on biographies and the examples of Christians throughout the ages provided a backdrop for this conceptually-drive class. Modern day saints were discussed in the context of ancient ones, and Ephesians was brought to bear on the the subject of the ultimate Christian life.
Athanasius of Alexandria
- Life of Antony
G.K. Chesterton
- Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox
- Saint Francis of Assisi
Philip E. Johnson
- The Right Questions
C.S. Lewis
- Surprised by Joy
John Foxe
- Book of Martyrs
Sheldon Vanauken
- A Severe Mercy
Elizabeth Eliot
- Through Gates of Splendor
William Shakespeare
- A Comedy of Errors
John Sargent
- Life & Letters of Henry Martyn
2005: THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT - REVELATION
Revelation's description of the cosmic reality of Christ and the way that it interacts with and informs the Christian life is set against a series of books which deal with eschatology is very different ways. MacDonald presents child death, Chesterton presents deadly ideas, Lewis examines the end of all things from two different perspectives, and much more.
The Holy Bible
- The Apocalypse of John
Eugene Peterson
- Reversed Thunder
G.K. Chesterton
- The Man Who Was Thursday
C.S. Lewis
- The Great Divorce
- The Last Battle
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- Out of the Silent Planet
- Perelandra
- That Hideous Strength
William Shakespeare
- Othello
George MacDonald
- At the Back of the North Wind
2006: THE MIND OF CHRIST & THE SOUL OF CALIFORNIA
Another innovative curriculum, this class featured Californian authors and dealt with the formation of the literary and cultural soul of California. Classroom discussions centered on the personalities of many of the fictional characters and discussed them in light of Philippians.
Robinson Jeffers
- Selected Poems
John Muir
- Essays
Jack London
- Martin Eden
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
- These are my Rivers
William Shakespeare
- The Merry Wives of Windsor
John Steinbeck
- East of Eden
Ambrose Bierce
- The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary
Czeslaw Milosz
- Visions from San Francisco Bay