This track is available:
- Session 4 (July 12-17, 2026)
The BCYC Immersion Great Books summer program gives high school students the opportunity to start to enter the great conversation about the fundamental truths of human existence that thinkers have been engaged in for centuries. The Great Books Program at Benedictine College leads students through some of the most engaging and ennobling texts in history — from the ancient world to the 20th century. The BCYC Immersion Great Books Track focuses on a close reading of The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, a text which introduces the reader into most of philosophy’s major questions through a short work in both prose and poetry, written by a man in prison awaiting execution.
“The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books.” — C.S. Lewis
“Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of the truth.” — St. John Paul II
Track Instructor
Assistant Professor, Philosophy
Dr. Francis Petruccelli was born and raised in Rockville, Maryland. He attended Benedictine College, graduating in 2011 with a double major in English and Philosophy. He completed his graduate work at The Catholic University of America, earning his M.A. in 2017 and his Ph.D. in 2019. His dissertation explored the relationship between nature and the notions of goodness and reasons. His primary area of specialization is ethics, and he is especially interested in virtue ethics, and in the intersection of subjectivity (the “I”), teleology (the “good”) and normativity (the “ought”). He also likes to engage with contemporary philosophical thinkers that have deep roots in the tradition of Western philosophy. He currently lives in Atchison with his wife, Lindsay, their four boys, and their cat, Thelonious.