MPC Course and Faculty
The Gentrain (General Education Train of Courses) Program has been offered by Monterey Peninsula College since 1974. It is an interdisciplinary course in Western Civilization, and is presented in four four-week courses each fall and spring semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:45 to 11:00 A.M.
The entire program can be completed in four semesters. It can be taken for credit (one unit per four-week class) or non-credit. A team of four instructors discusses literature/drama, philosophy/religion, history, and art. Guest lecturers are sometimes added for special presentations.
The Gentrain Society sponsors additional lectures, trips, and other activities that complement the material covered in the MPC course.
Current and Recent Units
Registration
Registration for the Gentrain course must be done through the college registration procedures.
You will need your:
- Student ID--(If you do not have one, use your Social Security number)
- PIN--(or your 8-digit birth date as MMDDYYYY, with no punctuation.)
- Gentrain Section Number—0525 for non-credit, 0482 for 1 credit, or 0513 for 3 credits
Stephanie Spoto, PhD teaches humanities at California State University, Monterey Bay and philosophy at Monterey Peninsula College. She holds a PhD in English Literature from The University of Edinburgh, with her doctoral work exploring the influence of esoteric and occult philosophy on early modern literature and politics. In 2009 she was awarded The Centre for Renaissance Studies Research Grant for her study of John Selden’s De Diis Syris (1617) and she has served as peer-reviewer for Forum: a postgraduate journal and for publications from the association Concerned Philosophers for Peace. In 2010 and 2011, Stephanie served as Reader for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in Fiction and Biography, and has reviewed for The Scottish Review of Books, Comparative Civilizations Review, The LSE Review of Books, and other publications.
Gamble Madsen is originally from Claremont, California and specializes in the visualization of Christian theology in medieval and Renaissance contexts. She attended the University of Southern California as an undergraduate and graduate student, ultimately earning a PhD in Medieval Art History (dissertation: images of the Trinity associated with Peter Lombard’s “Commentary on Psalm 109 [France, c.1160]”).
Taylor teaches early and modern U.S. History, Western Civilization, and World History, as well as the history of World Religions. He has taught at De Anza College, West Valley College, and Hartnell College before settling with his wife and two daughters in Marina, CA. For his graduate work, Taylor studied a group of American chemists who worked for the U.S. Army during the First World War. His research followed them through the development of the U.S. Army’s first gas masks and precautionary measures for chemical warfare. He specializes in late 19th/early 20th century British, French and U.S. Diplomatic, International, and Military History.