Western Canon

[close] As the third oldest college in the United States, St. John's College has campuses located in Annapolis, MD and Santa Fe, NM. At the heart of St. John’s College undergraduate program is a liberal arts curriculum focused on the most important books and ideas of the last 2000 years. Following a reading list that includes many Great Books, all classes are conducted seminar-style, with faculty facilitating the discussion. Our liberal arts undergraduate program is a truly comprehensive education that is perhaps the most rigorous in America. See our full reading list at https://www.sjc.edu/academic-programs/undergraduate/great-books-reading-list

[close] This is a group to read and discuss those books generally referred to as “the classics” or “the Western canon.” Books which have shaped Western thought over the years; books which Robert Hutchins, in his essay for the Great Books of the Western World series, considered important works in “The Great Conversation.” As one participant noted, "the goal of this group is to make reading the classics an enjoyable and enlightening but non-threatening process."

[close] Most of the world's modern thinkers and leaders started with a classical education. Our own Founding Fathers drew inspiration from the works of Plato, Cicero, Plutarch, Tacitus, Montesquieu, and Machiavelli to only name a few. They focused on big ideas and, on this board, we will too. Each month we will aim to cover a work or partial work included in the Great Books of Western Culture. Through discussion I hope to grow in understanding, conviction, and confidence in our beliefs outside the realm of party politics, religion, or other modern institution. Feel free to invite others, and welcome to the Great Conversation.

[close] This is a group to read and discuss the Great Books of the Western World. Books which are generally referred to as “the classics” or “the Western canon.” Books which have shaped Western thought over the years; books which Robert Hutchins, in his essay for the Great Books of the Western World series, considered important works in “The Great Conversation.” The goal of this group is to support each other as we strive to educate ourselves better and soak up all the knowledge we can from some of the world's greatest writers, thinkers, poets, philosophers, politicians, playwrights, and more.