The Academy

Course Listings for 2024-2025 Academic Year

Please note: Course cost DOES NOT include student registration fee or family technology fee. Course offerings are subject to change based on student enrollment.

All courses listed meet on the campus of Houston Christian University.
Meeting days are Tuesday/Thursday unless otherwise noted.

View the full Academy Book Lists (coming soon).

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  • Introduction To Great Books And Composition B (non-credit)*
    Recommended for 7th-8th grade students.

    Introduction to Great Books and Composition B is a college preparatory, in depth literature and writing course.  Student will read and discuss works from authors such as Plato, G. K. Chesterton, J. R. Tolkein, and C. S. Lewis. The class also focuses on college-level composition with a particular emphasis on the argumentative essay.

    *This course is middle school/junior high school level and cannot be taken for high school or college credit.

    HCU Campus
    Tuesday/Thursday |  11:00 am-12:15 pm
    $800 per year, no college credit.

    Intro to Great Books B Reading List 2024-25 (coming soon)

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  • English 1313: Composition and Literature I
    Recommended for 9th-12th grade students. This course is a pre-requisite for ENGL 1323.

    A student-driven, Socratic-style literature class that integrates training in composition and rhetoric. Students will complete a research paper in MLA format.

    Reading list includes Homer’s Odyssey, Virgil’s Aeneid, Sophocles’ Antigone, Aristotle’s Poetics, Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and more.

    We recommend that the course be counted as high school English credit. Students will earn three undergraduate credit hours in English 1313 from Houston Christian University.

    Tuesday/Thursday | 11:00 am-12:15 pm
    $1000 per course, 3 units of transferable college credit.

    ENGL 1313 Book List 2024-25 (coming soon)

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  • ENGL 1323: Composition and Literature II
    Recommended for 11th-12th grade students.

    Prerequisite: ENGL 1313.  Please note, this course can only be taken after successful completion of ENGL 1313 or upon submission of a college transcript showing successful completion of Freshman Composition I.

    This course continues the study of composition and rhetoric introduced in English 1313: Composition and Literature I. Students will gain an understanding of why reading literature is deeply important for Christians; learn the conventions of such literary genres as poems, stories, novels, and plays; study methods of literary analysis; and interpret literature from a Biblical perspective through the exploration of Biblical archetypes, typology, language constructions, and metaphor in classic works of Western literature. Students will learn to write well-constructed arguments about literature and life in standard English, culminating in a fully developed research paper in MLA format.

    Reading list includes Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale, Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads, Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, selected poems and short stories, and more.

    We recommend that the class be counted as high school English credit. Students will earn three undergraduate credit hours in English 1323 from Houston Christian University.

    HCU Campus
    Tuesday/Thursday | 12:30-1:45 pm
    $1000 per year, 3 units of transferable college credit.

    ENGL 1323 Book List 2024-25 (coming soon)

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  • History 2311: Western Civilization I
    Recommended for 9th-12th grade students.

    A student-driven, Socratic-style classroom environment, integrating training in university-level essay writing and a comprehensive understanding of the major shifts of Western Culture, with a special emphasis in the literature from the Ancient World to the end of the Middle Ages in Europe.

    Reading list includes Homer, Herodotus, Cicero, Augustine, Anselm, Shakespeare, Aquinas, Erasmus, and much more.

    We recommend that this course be counted as both high school history and English credit. Students will earn three undergraduate credit hours in History 2311 from Houston Christian University.

    Tuesday/Thursday | 2:00-3:15 pm
    $1000 per year, 3 units of transferable college credit.

    HIST 2311 Reading List 2024-25 (coming soon)

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  • GOVT 2313: American and Texas Government
    Dr. Shannon Holzer
    Recommended for 10th-12th grade students.

    Government 2313 explores the structure and operation of the national and Texas governments by reading and discussing foundational philosophical texts that influenced American democracy. With an emphasis on the US Constitution, the three branches of government, federalism, the concept of limited government, civil rights and civil liberties, students will read original source material, including the entirety of the U.S. Constitution, as they develop a thorough understanding of the specific branches, their powers, and interaction.

    Reading list includes Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Machiavelli’s The Prince, selections from Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, The Declaration of Independence, The U.S. Constitution, The Texas Declaration of Independence, and more.

    We recommend that the class be counted as high school history credit. Students will earn three undergraduate credit hours in Government 2313 from Houston Christian University.

    Tuesday/Thursday | 2:00-3:15 pm
    $1000 per year, 3 units of transferable college credit.

    GOVT 2313 Reading List 2024-25 (coming soon)

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  • APOL 3303: Apologetics for Everyone
    Professor Bill Scott
    Recommended for 9th-12th grade students.

    This course will offer students a survey of the contemporary approaches to apologetics, including philosophical apologetics, cultural apologetics, and biblical apologetics. The course will also introduce students to some contemporary issues in apologetics, such as the relationship between science and faith, and common challenges to traditional Christian ethics.

    HCU Campus
    Tuesday/Thursday | 9:30-10:45 am
    $1000 per year, 3 units of transferable college credit.

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  • CNMA 1302: The Art of Cinema & New Media
    Professor Chris Hartwell
    Recommended for 9th-12th grade students.

    A comprehensive overview of the video production process, including an introduction to camera operation, lighting and sound equipment, general set protocols, post-production software, and workflow. Students will also be introduced to cinematic storytelling with the chance to make short films and other productions throughout the class.

    Tuesday/Thursday | 9:30-10:45 am
    $1000 per year, 3 units of transferable college credit.

    Required Supplies/Materials for CNMA 1302

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  • High school juniors and seniors are also eligible to enroll in traditional one-semester undergraduate courses alongside college students. Interested students should check the  course catalog, then email TheAcademy@hc.edu for class availability and dean’s approval.

    NOTE: these courses may meet on different days/times than the two-semester Academy courses.

    $1000 per 3-credit course, transferable college credit.

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