William C. MichaelWilliam C. Michael

Mr. William C. Michael, O.P., is the founder and headmaster of the Classical Liberal Arts Academy and a Lay Dominican in the Catholic Church. Mr. Michael received an honors degree in Classics and Ancient History from Rutgers University and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He led the CLAA to accreditation with Cognia in 2024. He has been studying and teaching the classical liberal arts for over 30 years.

Join Us for CLAA Parent Meetings

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Dear friends, All parents are invited to join Mrs. Michael and I for weekly parent meetings beginning on September 2, 2026. Weekly meetings will be held each Wednesday at 9:00pm EST on Zoom. We will begin at the scheduled time and continue until discussions come to an end. This year, meetings will be recorded and the audio content published for listening. Nevertheless, we ask parents to join us with questions and topics for live discussion.  This is a great source of support for the Academy community and allows us to work together effectively. Parents are free to participate as they … Continue

ABANDONING “HOMESCHOOL” CULTURE FOR REAL CLASSICAL CATHOLIC STUDY

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William C. Michael discusses the evolution of homeschooling from the late 90s to the early 2000s, highlighting the shift from traditional school-based education to home-based learning facilitated by technological advancements. He criticizes the homeschool culture for its rejection of modern technology and its focus on outdated methods. Michael advocates for a classical liberal arts education integrated into family life, emphasizing the importance of authentic Catholic community and personal study. He argues that true Catholic education should be grounded in the local parish and family culture, rather than adopting the artificial homeschool culture.

Music in the Quadrivium: What Classical Music Education Actually Is

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This week I received an email from a prospective father with some questions about the quadrivium and how music is to be studied. I would like to take the question up here, because it requires some explaining and clarification, and I do not think I would do it justice in an email reply. I also think it is a question other parents are quietly asking. Let me give the question first, as it was written, and then take it apart and answer it as clearly and thoroughly as I can. “Music at first seems like an art that is best … Continue

Understanding the Renaissance

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In the Classical Liberal Arts Academy, we need to understand real classical Catholic culture (Aristotle, Aquinas) and distinguish it from ancient pagan culture and modern culture. The fake classical education movement doesn’t understand this distinction and is restoring a culture that is neither truly classical nor Catholic. This video by Dr. Adam Walker (Harvard) helps to identify the sources of the Renaissance, which led from classical Catholic culture to modern secular culture. WCM

The Latin Language and Its History

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In this lesson you will learn where the Latin language came from, who used it, and why it is still studied today. Latin began as the speech of one small people. In the middle of Italy there is a plain called Latium, and the people who lived there were called the Latins. Their language was therefore called Latin. On that plain, beside the river Tiber, the city of Rome was built. Rome was at first only one town among the towns of Latium, and its language was the ordinary language of its neighbours. Rome grew. It mastered the rest of … Continue

Can We Prove that God Exists?

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As we must speak with unbelievers in modern secular society, we must know whether the existence of God can be proven and what the arguments are by which this can be done. In the video below, a Dominican friar provides a brief explanation of the subject. Below the video the original teaching of the Dominican saint, Thomas Aquinas, can be read in full. Whether God exists? by St. Thomas AquinasSumma Theologica, Part I, Question 2, Article 3 The existence of God can be proved in five ways. The first and more manifest way is the argument from motion. It is … Continue

Understanding Apostolic Succession (Dominican)

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Christ’s saving mission continues to our day through chosen disciples, the Church’s clergy. Today’s bishops are the Apostles’ direct successors, and these bishops pass the fullness of holy orders to other men through ordination. In this Aquinas 101 video, Fr. Dominic Langevin, O.P., explains the role of apostolic succession within the sacrament of holy orders.

Arithmetic, the Science of Number

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Return to MAT-251 Modern Arithmetic III MAT-251 Lesson 001 – Arithmetic, the Science of Number Welcome to Modern Arithmetic III, the third and final course in your study of Arithmetic. If you have completed the earlier courses, you already know how to count and write numbers of any size, how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, how to work with fractions and decimals, with measures, percentage, and proportion. You have learned the whole of Arithmetic once, and then a second time more deeply. Why, then, should you study it a third time? The answer is the key to this entire … Continue