The minor in Great Books provides a variety of course options and a flexible sequence of study. The six courses capture well the point of reading classic texts and the opportunity to participate more fully in the ideal of liberal arts education. Accordingly, the minor is intrinsically interdisciplinary and horizon-expanding.
Minor requirements include:
Required Courses:
In lieu of PH 105 and PH 107, students may take PH 108-109 The Philosophical Life Seminar I-II, a two-semester course, taught by one professor and covering the same topics as PH 105 and PH 107 but ordered historically.
Choose two of the six Great Books seminars:
- PH 271 - Great Books Seminar I: The Ancient World - Homer to Plutarch
- PH 272 - Great Books Seminar II: The Medieval World - Augustine to Chaucer.
- PH 273 - Great Books Seminar III: The Renaissance - Machiavelli to Pascal
- PH 274 - Great Books Seminar IV: The Enlightenment and Its Discontents - Locke to Dostoevsky
- PH 275 - Great Books Seminar V: The Contemporary World
- PH 276 - Great Books Seminar VI: Non-Western Classics
Choose two electives from the following:
- PH 271 - Great Books Seminar I: The Ancient World - Homer to Plutarch
- PH 272 - Great Books Seminar II: The Medieval World - Augustine to Chaucer.
- PH 273 - Great Books Seminar III: The Renaissance - Machiavelli to Pascal
- PH 274 - Great Books Seminar IV: The Enlightenment and Its Discontents - Locke to Dostoevsky
- PH 275 - Great Books Seminar V: The Contemporary World
- PH 276 - Great Books Seminar VI: Non-Western Classics
- PH 455-457 - Integrated Studies Seminars
- PH 467-469 - Focused Study Seminar
As an introduction to the Major, we offer a course for freshmen and sophomores, PH 170 Introduction to Integrated Studies: Great Ideas, Great Texts, and Great People, which may count as the open elective.