Opening Question

It's the beginning of the academic year! And that means our incoming students are busy reading The Iliad and The Odyssey. In the first episode this season, Ellie, Fred, and Paul talk epics - what are they, why are they the way they are, and can we still write one today?  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Jack T...

We open every class session with an Opening Question....but should it be an Answered Question by the time our three hours of class are up? Fred, Paul, and Ellie are joined by Dr. Siân Draycott to answer this question about answering questions.  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Jack Truly ---------- Torrey Honors Co...

SPOILERS! We talk about spoilers and we spoil some things.  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Jack Truly ---------- Torrey Honors College is the undergraduate honors program at Biola University. We bring together students with different backgrounds from all over the world in pursuit of a common goal. At Torrey Honor...

In the Torrey Honors College curriculum, we spend four years marching through nothing but the Great Books, beginning with Homer and ending.... barely in the 20th century? What's going on? Paul, Ellie, and Fred talk about why we have so few books from the ol' 1900s on our list.  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Prod...

Ah, the age old question for Torrey students. What happens if you have a few bad class sessions in a row. Is everything broken? Is your education a failure? Ellie, Fred, and Paul talk about not-so-good sessions and what that really means for your education.  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Jack Truly ---------- To...

Ellie, Fred, and Paul bring it back to basics and ask: Why discuss in the first place? What makes discussion different from lecture, and why is it our favorite thing to do? Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Jack Truly ---------- Torrey Honors College is the undergraduate honors program at Biola University. We bring...

We know the drill: you choose your major based on the career you want, and the job you hope to get. Right? But what about that whole "liberal arts" part of your degree - what's all that for? Paul, Ellie, and Fred talk about how (or... if!) reading and talking in Torrey will land you that sweet six-fig salary. Because that's what life's all about, right?  Hosted by: Ellie M...

Ellie, Fred, and Paul are joined by faculty guest Dr. Isaac Blois to talk about the value of "pagan" literature. We ask: is reading just for fun, or just for learning? Can you learn from books other than the Bible, and if so, what types of truths or lessons can non-biblical texts impart?  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Edit...

Students often ask us, why does it take so long to get to a female author in our curriculum? Paul, Fred, Ellie, and guest faculty member Dr. Laurie Wilson discuss! Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Jack Truly ---------- Torrey Honors College is the undergraduate honors program at Biola University. We bring together...

Faculty guest Dr. Janelle Aijian joins Fred, Ellie, and Paul to talk through her research on acedia, or the "noon-day demon" - a sin that tempts you not to be lazy or slothful (as its usually translated) but rather to avoid what you were called by God to do.  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Jack Truly --...

Ellie, Fred, and Paul discuss what it means to be a "perpetual member" - our fancy name for alumni - and all that comes after you leave Torrey.  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Jack Truly ---------- Torrey Honors College is the undergraduate honors program at Biola University. We bring together students...

As we wrap up our semester, it's a great time to discuss our end-of-semester oral exam, affectionately named "Don Rags." Join Ellie, Fred, and Paul as we talk through what an oral exam is, how it works, and why we do it. Thanks for listening to Season 4!   Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Timothy Hou...

Paul, Ellie, and Fred are joined by another Torrey faculty member, Dr. Greg Peters. Dr. Peters is a professor of monastic studies, and in this episode we discuss what it's like to be a specialist in a generalist program. How do our faculty integrate their academic specialties into a program that spans English, Philosophy, History, Aesthetics, and Theology?  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul S...

Join Fred, Paul, and Ellie in our discussion on the timelessness of truth. We've talked in the past about "chronological snobbery" - the impression that whatever comes out today must inherently be better than what has come before - but what about those things that endure always? Is truth timeless, or does it develop over time?  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred...

Join Ellie, Fred, and Paul as we finish our discussion on the Great Books tradition. We wrap up the convo we started last week on the roots of Torrey, so be sure to tune it to that episode if you haven't yet!  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Timothy House ---------- Torrey Honors College is the undergraduate...

Fred, Ellie, and Paul talk history in this two-part episode. We often describe the Torrey Honors College as a "Great Books Program", but what is the Great Books movement and how did it emerge? There was lots to talk about, so join us again for Part II!  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Timothy House -----...

Torrey faculty member Dr. Adam Johnson joins Paul, Fred, and Ellie to talk about Torrey Parks, Traherne, and being outside. Learn more about one of our summer Off-Campus trips, Torrey Parks (led by Dr. Johnson), and listen in on what sounds almost like a real opening question as we discuss all things nature and being outdoors.  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executi...

Welcome back for Season 4! In our opening episode, Ellie, Fred, and Paul discuss what the Socratic method is in general. We talk a lot about how we do what we do, but we wanted to take a step back to discuss what it is that we do, and a little bit more of why we do it.  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executive Producer: Ellie Martin Editor and Producer: Timothy Hous...

The life of reading and the mind seems like something you might get to do in college, but then never again. After all, who isn’t tired after working all day?! In our final episode of season 3, Ellie, Fred, and Paul get into a lil argument about what it means to continue with a life of the mind, even after you graduate college.  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and Dr. Fred Sanders Executi...

Ah, a question we get all the time from our incoming students: but surely I don’t need to read Antigone again, or The Odyssey, or Dante’s Inferno again - I read those already in high school! Paul, Ellie, and Fred discuss the nature of reading as re-reading in this penultimate episode of season 3. Turns out, there are some books that reading once just barely scratches the surface of what there is t...

Ellie, Fred, and Paul are joined by Dr. Matt Jenson, a fellow Torrey faculty member and systematic theologian. In this episode, the four of us discuss the role of the theologian in the life of every Christian - what spiritual, practical, and hermeneutical lessons we can learn from them, and how theologians impact the way we read and study Scripture.  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spears, and D...

A little bit of a Part 2 to our last episode (Why a different tutor every session?), where Paul, Fred, and Ellie wrap up the conversation about the mystifying and magical teaching schedule. Then we embark on a new question: What actually makes a Torrey session good? Do students and faculty agree when a discussion has been successful? What, my friends, makes for a good discussion anyway?  Hosted by...

Torrey students’ cohort and mentor stay the same, but every single class session has a different tutor. In fact, students don’t even know who their tutor will be when they come to class! Why this variety and mystery? Ellie, Paul, and Fred talk through one of the most bewildering parts of Torrey’s pedagogy - and even reveal a little of the magic of how the massive teaching schedule comes together e...

So much of your energy in college seems to be spent on a non-transferable skill: writing academic papers! Why do your professors make you write so much, and what do they think you’ll gain from the process? Is academic writing like eating your vegetables - not very fun, but worth it in the end? Join Fred, Paul, and Ellie as we unpack this love-to-hate topic.  Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul Spear...

Ellie unapologetically stole a real opening question from one of Dr. Laurie Wilson’s sessions with Torrey seniors - but to make up for it, Laurie agreed to be the very first guest on Opening Question! Ellie, Paul, Fred, and Laurie discuss the value of a Torrey education, both during and after college, with Augustine's On Christian Teaching as their guide.   Hosted by: Ellie Martin, Dr. Paul S...