In the unit on Norwegian Americans, students read Ibsen's Doll House, selections from the diary of a pioneer woman named Elisabeth Koren, Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth, and an essay about Scandinavian-American ethnicity. In the unit on African Americans, students read selections from the autobiographies of such figures as Olaudah Equiano, Harriet Jacobs, and Frederick Douglass. They have sometimes read such novels as Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Luther College has no English or history requirement beyond Paideia One. The course is therefore meant to provide an introduction to Western civilization, global culture, and American diversity as well as teaching writing, research, and communication skills.
Students engage in weekly discussions, and receive special instruction in writing and research.
The Paideia Two requirement at the college allows students to choose from a variety of team-taught courses that deal with questions of values, but these courses have no texts in common. Paideia One is a prologue to the total education experience at Luther College. It provides a foundation for a liberal arts education, for the continuous learning which is the responsibility of a citizen in a free society. Such a foundation provides patterns for thinking and raises questions about the values which keep our society vital.