3. Great Books are...
books that comprise the
foundation in literature of
Western culture;
books that tradition , various
institutions and authorities have
recognized as foundations of
Western culture;
The concept of Great
Books was a result a discussion
among American academicians
and educators in the 1920's and
1930's to improve the higher
education system by returning
it to the western liberal arts
tradition of broad cross-
disciplinary learning.
4. What are liberal arts?
Liberal arts education is the
traditional academic program in
Western higher education. Liberal
arts generally covers three areas:
sciences, arts, and humanities. Its
central academic disciplines include
philosophy, logic, linguistics,
literature, history, political science,
sociology, and psychology.
5. Great Books : Its Origin
Pioneers of great books
Robert Hutchins
Mortimer Adler
Stringfellow Barr
Scott Buchanan
Jacques Barzon
Alexander Meiklejohn
These academicians and
educators believed that the emphasis
on rigid specialization in American
colleges had harmed the quality of
higher education by failing to expose
students to the important products of
Western civilization and thought.
8. Mortimer Adler An American philosopher, educator, editor,
and advocate of adult and general education by
study of the great writings of the Western world.
While still in public school, Adler was taken
on as a copyboy by the New York Sun, where he
stayed for two years doing a variety of editorial
work full-time. He then attended Columbia
University, completed his coursework for a
bachelor’s degree, but did not receive a diploma
because he had refused physical education
(swimming).
He stayed at Columbia to teach and earn a
Ph.D. (1928) and then became professor of the
philosophy of law at the University of Chicago.
There, with Robert M. Hutchins, he became a
proponent of the pursuit of liberal education
through regular discussions based on reading
great books. He had studied under John Erskine
and edited 54- volumes of Great Books of the
Western World in 1952.
www.britannica.com
9. Mortimer Adler cited 3 criteria for the inclusion of a book in the
Great Books list.
1. The book has contemporary significance.
(relevant to the problems and issues of the present)
2. The book is inexhaustible.
(can be read repeatedly with benefit)
3. The book is relevant to a large number of great ideas and great issues
that have occupied thinking minds for the last 25 centuries.
( timeless )
10. The Great Books Program
A university or college Great Books Program is a program inspired by the Great Books
movement begun in the United States in the 1920s. The aim of such programs is a
return to the Western Liberal Arts tradition in education, as a corrective to the
extreme disciplinary specialisation common within the academy. The essential
component of such programs is a high degree of engagement with whole primary texts,
called the Great Books.
The curricula of Great Books programs often follow a canon of texts considered more
or less essential to a student's education, such as Plato's Republic, or Dante's Divine
Comedy. Such programs often focus exclusively on Western culture. Their
employment of primary texts dictates an interdisciplinary approach, as most of the
Great Books do not fall neatly under the prerogative of a single contemporary
academic discipline. Great Books programs often include designated discussion groups
as well as lectures, and have small class sizes. In general students in such programs
receive an abnormally high degree of attention from their professors, as part of the
overall aim of fostering a community of learning.
www.wikipedia.com
11. Looking into a wider perspective ...
According to the Great Books Foundation, the following set of guidelines must
be observed in the selection of Great Books :
1. Selections must support extended interpretive discussion.
Shared Inquiry discussion asks readers to search a text for meaning, so it must
support multiple interpretations. Many well-written works are unsuitable for Shared
Inquiry discussion because their meaning or intention is explicit, or because the
questions they raise cannot be answered with evidence from the text.
2. Selections must raise genuine questions for adults as well as
students.
Shared Inquiry is a collaboration between the leader and participants, so leaders must
bring to the discussion genuine curiosity about ideas in the text that are of interest to
them. Selections for students must satisfy the curiosity of adults as well as younger
readers, and be rich enough to raise issues that everyone can think about from his or
her own perspective.
12. Looking into a wider perspective ...
3. Selections must be limited in length.
Critical thinking requires that the reader examine details, make connections, and draw
conclusions from close, attentive readings, preferably over several days. Short stories, essays,
poems, novellas, audio recordings, and videos are well suited to Shared Inquiry discussion. With
longer works, such as novels, Shared Inquiry is more satisfying when using excerpts—a few
chapters or even just a few pages—that are sufficiently strong to stand alone.
4. Selections must be age appropriate.
The themes and issues presented in Great Books selections are within the level of maturity and
experience of the recommended age group. At the same time, the selections open new worlds for
students; they reveal the familiar in new ways and present something new in ways that are
familiar. Because we choose selections that pique the curiosity of both the leader and students,
Great Books selections are particularly well suited for bridging different proficiency levels within
the classroom.
13. Looking into a wider perspective...
5. Selections and authors must represent a
variety of cultures.
Within each collection of texts we offer, readers should be
able to see characters and situations that reflect their own
identities, as well as characters and situations that present
cultures different from their own. Because the goal of
Great Books programs is to create collaborative
communities in which questioning, listening, and curiosity
are valued, it is crucial that readers have the opportunity to
encounter diverse authors and explore texts that mirror the
wide range of human experiences.
Source: https://www.greatbooks.org/nonprofit-
organization/history/
