Seventy Years of Changing Great Books at St. John's College
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Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Educational Policy Studies Dissertations Department of Educational Policy Studies 8-12-2009 Seventy Years of Changing Great Books at St. John's College William Scott Rule Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/eps_diss Part of the Education Commons, and the Education Policy Commons Recommended Citation Rule, William Scott, "Seventy Years of Changing Great Books at St. John's College." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2009. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/eps_diss/37 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Educational Policy Studies at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Policy Studies Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ACCEPTANCE This dissertation, SEVENTY YEARS OF CHANGING GREAT BOOKS AT ST. JOHN‟S COLLEGE, by WILLIAM SCOTT RULE, was prepared under the direction of the candidate‟s Dissertation Advisory Committee. It is accepted by the committee members in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Education, Georgia State University. The Dissertation Advisory Committee and the student‟s Department Chair, as representatives of the faculty, certify that this dissertation has met all standards of excellence and scholarship as determined by the faculty. The Dean of the College of Education concurs. Philo Hutcheson, Ph.D. Wayne Urban, Ph.D. Committee Chair Committee Member Susan Talburt, Ph.D. Phill Gagne, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member Date Sheryl A. Gowen, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Educational Policy Studies R.W. Kamphaus, Ph.D. Dean and Distinguished Research Professor College of Education AUTHOR‟S STATEMENT By presenting this dissertation as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the library of Georgia State University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote, to copy from, or to publish this dissertation may be granted by the professor under whose direction it was written, by the College of Education‟s director of graduate studies and research, or by me. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for scholarly purposes and will not involve potential financial gain. It is understood that any copying from or publication of this dissertation which involves potential financial gain will not be allowed without my written permission. William Scott Rule NOTICE TO BORROWERS All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University library must be used in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding statement. The author of this dissertation is: William Scott Rule 2049 Queensbury Dr. Acworth, GA 30102 The director of this dissertation is: Dr. Philo Hutcheson Department of Educational Policy Studies College of Education Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30303 – 3083 VITA William Scott Rule ADDRESS: 2049 Queensbury Dr. Acworth, Georgia 30102 EDUCATION: Ph.D. 2009 Georgia State University Educational Policy Studies M.B.A. 1997 Kennesaw State University Management B.S. 1990 Southern Polytechnic State University Computer Science PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 2007-Present Vice President of Economic Development North Metro Technical College 2004-2007 Vice President of Instruction Appalachian Technical College 1995-2004 Chief Information Officer North Metro Technical College PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS: 2007-Present American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers 2003-Present Association for Computing Machinery 2001-Present Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ABSTRACT SEVENTY YEARS OF CHANGING GREAT BOOKS AT ST. JOHN‟S COLLEGE by William Scott Rule This dissertation examines a curricular approach at an institution that claims to maintain a liberal arts focus – that of the canon of Great Books as implemented as a formal curriculum at St. John‟s College. My research question is: what enabled the Great Books program at St. John‟s College to survive for over seventy years? The significance of this question can be seen by noticing that St. John‟s College is the only college in the United States to have exclusively adopted reading the Great Books as its four-year curriculum. Other institutions that have experimented with a Great Books program prior to and since its introduction at St. John‟s College have continued their existing programs as well, but many have limited their Great Books efforts to an honors course or general core requirement, if their Great Books effort survives at all. My dissertation is historical starting with the influencing factors leading to this curriculum‟s introduction at St. John‟s College in 1937. I then outline the implementation and document the changes to the list of Great Books comprising the program as it was updated over the subsequent seventy years as documented in St. John‟s College‟s academic catalogs from 1937 through 2008. I show that the list of Great Books required to be read by every student over the years has contained a consistent core while making slight adjustments. SEVENTY YEARS OF CHANGING GREAT BOOKS AT ST. JOHN‟S COLLEGE by William Scott Rule A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Policy Studies in the Department of Educational Policy Studies in the College of Education Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 2009 Copyright by William Scott Rule 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 Higher Education Curriculum in the United States .................................................5 Attempts at Liberal Education in the Twentieth Century ......................................15 Compiling the Canon .............................................................................................22 Historical Method ..................................................................................................27 2 TWO EDUCATORS LEADING TO THE NEW PROGRAM .............................32 John Erskine ...........................................................................................................33 Mortimer Adler ......................................................................................................51 3 EARLY ATTEMPTS AT GREAT BOOKS PROGRAMS ..................................61 Columbia University ..............................................................................................61 University of Wisconsin ........................................................................................71 University of Chicago ............................................................................................82 4 ENABLING THE CANON ...................................................................................94 1906: Everyman‟s Library .....................................................................................96 1909: Harvard Classics .........................................................................................99 1911: Loeb Classical Library ..............................................................................105 1940: How to Read a Book ..................................................................................109 1952: Great Books of the Western World ............................................................115 5 IMPLEMENTATION AT ST. JOHN‟S COLLEGE ...........................................123 Not Repeating Others‟ Mistakes ..........................................................................131 Seventy-two Years of Great Books......................................................................140 Today (2008) ........................................................................................................150 6 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................157 References ........................................................................................................................162 ii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Common Great Books from Three Lists .............................................................24 2 Columbia University‟s General Honors Reading Lists ......................................43 3 Humanities A Course Required Reading ............................................................70 4 Experimental College Freshman Reading List ...................................................80 5 Everyman‟s Library: Volumes 1-50. ..................................................................97 6 Harvard Classics. .............................................................................................101 7 Loeb Classical Library: Volumes 1-54.............................................................107 8 Adler‟s Great Books List ..................................................................................114 9 Great Books of the Western World. ..................................................................120 10 Authors Surviving Seventy-two Years at St. John‟s