Rhetoric in Action: The Senior Thesis with Tom Vierra
Senior thesis is the capstone moment of a classical Christian education. It is where students pull together years of grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric training into one demanding, meaningful project. In this episode, Davies Owens talks with Dr. Tom Vierra, Senior Thesis Coordinator at Wilson Hill Academy, about what senior thesis is, why it is more than a long paper, and how it forms students who can think clearly, research carefully, and speak truth with conviction and grace in a culture of shallow soundbites. They also dig into the six-part classical structure, the value of refutatio and antithesis, and how schools can uphold academic integrity in the age of AI.
BaseCamp Live · Tom Vierra, Davies Owens
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Show Notes
Senior thesis is the capstone of a classical Christian education, and Dr. Tom Vierra believes it may be one of the most countercultural things schools do today. In this episode, Davies Owens talks with Tom, longtime classical educator and Senior Thesis Coordinator at Wilson Hill Academy, about why thesis is far more than “just a big paper.” Tom shares his path from early days at Great Hearts to helping shape Wilson Hill’s senior thesis program, where students research a topic that matters, write a 12–15 page thesis-driven paper, and publicly defend it. Along the way, they learn self-management, deep research, biblical reasoning, and confident communication that carry far beyond college.
Together they unpack the six-part classical rhetoric structure, including exordium, narratio, and refutatio, and why Wilson Hill requires students to write an antithesis paper arguing against their own position. This habit trains humility, civil discourse, and the ability to engage real counterarguments rather than living in an echo chamber. Tom also gives examples of standout thesis topics, from classical music and beauty to AI in medicine and political theory, and explains how schools can approve ambitious topics that still reflect a biblical worldview.
🎧 Tune in to hear:
- Why senior thesis is the true capstone of classical Christian education
- How the six-part structure and antithesis train deeper thinking and discourse
- Ways to navigate AI while still forming original thinkers and speakers
- Practical encouragement for parents and schools walking through the thesis year
Davies and Tom address the challenge of AI, why filters and detection tools are not enough, and how a live oral defense reveals whether students truly own their work. They also touch on Augustine’s “all truth is God’s truth” approach to pre-Christian thinkers like Aristotle and Cicero, and how their insights on persuasion, instruction, and delight can be used faithfully under Scripture. Tom closes with encouragement for parents who feel the weight of senior year and for educators who want to make thesis a core part of their school’s identity rather than an add-on requirement.
Resources Mentioned:
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