Many who reject progressive ideology embrace the concept of great books education as a counter to the leftist project of getting students to hate our civilization.
While there is much to be said for a great books curriculum, Professor Michael Kochin argues in today’s Martin Center article that it isn’t for everyone.
A Great Books program is not the best way to get the skills constitutive of secondary education. The ideas found in Aristotle’s Rhetoric about the way humans live together through speech are inexhaustible, but contemporary speech and debate classes offer more relatable examples and give students a chance to hone their PowerPoint skills.
When applying to colleges, Kochin decided that a great books curriculum wasn’t the best program for the scientific background he wanted. He enrolled in standard university programs that were better suited to his goals.
Professors, he says, “should be more than satisfied if [their students] finish college not saying farewell to books, but longing to continue their hopefully lifelong encounter with the best that has been thought and written.” The goal is to have “students leave us with the knowledge that there indeed are great books, and with the taste and discernment to make that greatness a regular part of their lives, whatever their disciplines or pursuits.”