Great Books Honors
Major
B.A. with a Major in Great Books Honors
The Bachelor of Arts in Great Books Honors is offered in partnership with the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas.
The major strives to cultivate wisdom through engagement with the foundational texts of the human tradition, offering students a coherent course of study centered on the classics of philosophy, literature, theology, science, art, and political thought.
Students read works from ancient thinkers to those of the twentieth century. They are introduced to multiple traditions—Greek, Roman, Jewish, Christian, Enlightenment, Romantic, and beyond. The major is structured as an inquiry into the debates which have animated Western civilization—and which illuminate the encounter between East and West.
Courses emphasize close reading, dialectical reasoning, and open discussion. Students become problem-solvers who read deeply, speak thoughtfully, and write with clarity and force.
Great Books Honors is designed to be integrated with numerous other pursuits and majors across the university.
A non-honors option is available for internal transfer students.
Fall 2027 Catalog
Major Requirements
The major has two tracks. In the non-honors track, which is only available for internal transfer students, students complete a 24-credit sequence of courses and 6 hours of electives, as well as a minor and intermediate proficiency in a foreign language.
Great Books Honors
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Six-Course Great Books Sequence
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Great Books Electives
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Honors Discussion Sections
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Specialized Foreign Language Requirement (Latin, Ancient Greek, French, or German) – Intermediate Level Proficiency
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Internship, Capstone, or Thesis Project
Great Books Non-Honors
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Great Books Sequence
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Great Books Electives
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Foreign Language Requirement – Intermediate Level Proficiency
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Transcript-Recognized Minor
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Free Electives
Sample of Great Books Course Offerings
Ancient Worlds I: Human and Divine
Ancient Worlds II: Philosophy and the City
American Letters: Colonial Times to Reconstruction
American Letters: Gilded Age through the Twentieth Century
Classical and Medieval Worlds
Renaissance, Reformation, and the Age of Reason
Great Books in Leadership
Great Books in Law and Justice
Classics of Mathematics and Scientific Thought: Antiquity
Classics of Mathematics and Scientific Thought: Modernity
The Modern Soul
Romanticism, Revolution, and Reaction
Technology and the Human Experience
Fertility, Birth, Fragility, Dying
