Chapter Nineteen Approaches to Teaching a Great Books Core at an Orthodox College

Abstract

If we are to consider seriously the possibility of an Orthodox college in North America, then it is worth considering how it might best deliver a core curriculum that is based on the kinds of texts commonly designated as “great books.” That there ought to be a core, and that it should be based on classic texts, are assumptions for which I will not argue at any length. Concerning the former, it seems to me rather evident that twentieth century experiments in abandoning a core curriculum altogether have been unsatisfactory, not only in making higher education a hit and miss proposition for the students, and resulting in highly unpredictable outcomes, but leaving the faculty with virtually nothing in common upon which they can reliably build in delivering non-core classes. And that this core should be based upon Great Books seems to me especially compelling at a college meant to express Orthodox Christianity, which has sustained such a powerful and characteristic respect for tradition. Beyond this, Great Books expose students to the greatest minds, both challenging them, and teaching them humility. Moreover, the very stature of what we unfashionably call “Great Books” typically consists in their richness and multi-dimensionality. (For example a very long, and very interesting, book could be written recounting the many differing interpretations of Plato’s Republic during the last two and a half millennia.) Learning not just to cope with this element, but to thrive within it seems to me the best way to teach young minds to deal with a world that does is not often susceptible to clear-cut interpretations, and with problems that rarely admit of simple solutions. The question of how much of the curriculum should consist of Great Books courses, I think it best to leave open for now, although I will say that I think it should probably be well under half.