Philosophy of Great Books Program Explained

by Professor David Mulroy, Director of the Certificate Program in the Study of Liberal Arts through Great Books

The Great Books Program is a challenge, but it is a challenge that every UWM student should accept. Here's why:

A Good Liberal Arts Education is Priceless

I have made it a point to talk to people in the business and professional community about the value of a liberal arts education. What I hear is this. The economy is booming and there are plenty of jobs. The only thing that holds numerous people back is the lack of basic educational skills, especially in the areas of grammar, vocabulary, and mathematics. People who cannot express themselves clearly and who cannot think through quantitative problems on their own cannot move into positions of authority with the personal and financial rewards that they bring. This was the message of banker and UWM alumnus, Ted Gurzynski, who spoke at a ceremony inaugurating the Great Books program in December 1995, and it is a message I hear repeatedly.

The Key is Selecting the Right Courses

As Gary Wynveen, an expert on the Wisconsin employment picture, put it, "Take the tougher stuff. If you only get a C, so what? They're the courses that will actually make a difference when you get out."

In other words, to get the rewards of a good college education you must select courses that are challenging, improve your basic abilities, and set you apart. In 1994, I conducted discussions with over thirty UWM faculty members aimed at deciding which courses performed these functions best -- besides those like English composition that are already required. There was hardly any disagreement. The courses that we all agreed on became the requirements for the Great Books Certificate Program. Here is what they are.

Foreign Languages

Americans' linguistic skills have declined sharply since the sixties. This is borne out to be standardized test scores and the testimony of many veteran teachers. Although this is an unfortunate trend that should be reversed, it is also an opportunity for students who are prudent enough to apply themselves to the most basic of all studies, language. There is little doubt that college graduates who are able to express themselves with confidence and precision will increasingly stand out and be sought after in the coming years.

There is no better way for English speakers to achieve mastery of their language than by studying a second language. To reap the full benefits of language study, it is necessary to reach the level of being able to read complex literature in the second language. No activity does more to enhance one's understanding of English grammar and vocabulary. The Great Books Program requires at least two years of foreign language study on the college level, three for students who fulfill the minimum mathematics requirement.

Real Math

No subject is more challenging to most students than mathematics. Most American colleges and universities have created loopholes to allow students to graduate without doing advanced math. This is a long-standing practice. As an undergraduate at Georgetown University in the 60's, enrolled in a supposedly elite honors program, I had the option of taking a course called "A Cultural Approach to Mathematics," instead of taking Calculus. I earned an A on the final exam by writing an essay in which I argued that I would have learned more by doing real mathematics! Last semester, I finally made up this educational deficit by taking UWM's excellent course in Calculus. It was certainly a challenge, especially for a person who had not done any algebra since Eisenhower was president, but I am happy that I earned an A in the course.

It is true that people rarely use Calculus in day-to-day life, but it was apparent to me that the mental discipline fostered by this study is extremely vuluble. Solving a complicated problem in Calculus requires logic, judgement, meticulus attention to detail, the ability to follow rules, and a long attention span. A lot of emphasis is placed these days on computer skills, as though time in college would be well-spent learning to use the latest programs. But how much better it is to develop the underlying mental abilities, than to memorize procedures that will soon be obsolete.

Certificate students must earn at least six credits in courses offered by the Department of Mathematical Sciences on the 200-level or above. They have then the option of another advanced math course or two semesters of foregn language on the 300-level. Calculus is not the only choice. UWM's Department of Mathematical Sciences is very attentive to undergraduate needs and is currently diversifying its intermediate curriculum with interesting offerings, for example, in areas like statistics.

History

History is another subject that has suffered in the modern classroom because of the de-emphasis on memorization. The faculty members who collaborated on the Great Books program all agreed that the kind of persective offered by a historical survey was critical to good education -- and often lacking these days even among good, advanced students. Hence we agreed to require the History Department's two courses, 101 and 102, in the History of Western Civilization, known informally as "Plato to NATO."

Great Books

I spent the summer of 1996 at St. John's Great Books College (Santa Fe, Arizona). Undergraduates there are required to learn classical Greek and French. The rest of their curriculum consists of discussion classes focusing on the great books of the western world. "Johnnies" even study mathematics by reading the classics, e.g. Euclid, and working through the proofs and problems that they contain on their own. There are no lecture classes at St. John's. The facluty member in charge of a class begins it by posing a broad question about the assigned reading. Typically, this sparks a discussion among the students, which continues for the rest of the class with little interference from the teacher. The only rule is that the discussion has to be about what the author says. The effect is difficult to describe to people who have not experienced such classes. Texts come to life in a way that rarely happens in a conventional classroom. It is like talking to the author in person.

The philosophy of the Great Books program involves the belief that the Great Books experience is the crown of a good liberal arts education. Students are not well-educated until they have engaged the thought of the great minds of history. Such experience endows people with sophistication that serves them well in practical endeavors, but most people who have studied great books view their practical benefits as secondary.

Students in the certificate program are required to earn fifteen credits in courses in which they read one or more acknowledged classics in their entirety. At present, UWM does not have a complete array of great books courses, but students can obtain the solid foundation of great books education by choosing the right electives. Students are allowed to choose from a wide range of courses to earn Great Books credit. The following are among the most popular choices:

Classics 201, Introduction to Greek Life and Literature (Homer's Illiad and Odyssey)

Comparative Literature 207 & 208, Masterpieces of Western Literature in Translation (Homer, Sophocles, Vergil, Dante, Goethe, and others)

English 452 & 453 Shakespeare I and II

Hebrew Studies 231 The Old Testament in Translation

Italian 333, Dante's Divine Comedy in Translation

Philosophy 349, Great Moral Philosophers (Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, Kant's Foundation of the Metaphysics of Morals).

What You Ought to Do Today

As academic insiders all know, the faculty members for whom colleges and universities compete are the most prolific researchers. Excellent teachers are spread pretty evenly throughout the nation's system of higher education. The result is that a student enrolling at UWM can obtain an education as good as is offered anywhere in the nation -- Harvard, Stanford, Yale, you name it. By far the most significant variable is the amount of time and effort that he or she devotes to study. The opportunity is here and it is too good to waste. If you are a UWM student, I urge you to make a commitment to a great future by seeing me to sign up for the Great Books program. My office is located in Curtin Hall, Room 805. You can make an appointment by calling 229-4711 or reach me via E-mail (dmulroy@csd.uwm.edu). I am looking forward to meeting you!