Jun 12, 2009 / 01:05 am
Magdalen College of Warner, New Hampshire has appointed Dr. George Harne as its new academic dean. In conjunction with the announcement of his appointment, Harne also unveiled the Catholic college’s new Honors Program which integrates Great Books-based Socratic seminars with courses in catechesis, music and the visual arts.
Dr. Harne, who holds a doctorate and a master of fine arts in musicology from Princeton University, primarily studies and teaches medieval music, music theory and twentieth-century music.
He and his wife Debbie have been married for seventeen years and have four children, a Magdalen College press release reports. They converted to Catholicism from Anglicanism in 2005 and reside in Warner, New Hampshire.
Unveiling the Magdalen College Honors Program, Dr. Harne said it extends the college’s “rigorous” Program of Studies.
“We've seen students, both current and incoming, who desire more challenging coursework and readings,” he said.
In addition to its Great Books seminars, the Honors Program will also include study abroad courses in Rome and Norcia, Italy.
Magdalen College explained that the program is intended to offer “intellectually ambitious” students opportunities to participate in advanced courses in Geometry and Reasoning, Latin and English Composition.
Honors Colloquium students will explore selected texts, themes, authors or media to complement the Program of Studies. Topics of study will include modern cinema, Dante’s Divine Comedy and the twentieth century German Thomist Joseph Pieper.
Magdalen president Jeffrey Karls stated that the new program will allow honors students to focus not just on independent growth, but also on raising academic standards and achievements across the board.