Masters and Scholars

Time was when the rising generation acquired higher learning by close association with a sage or a philosopher: Confucius in Lu, Socrates in Athens, Abelard in Paris, George Wythe in Williamsburg. A student obtained what wisdom he could from discipleship to a master, and built upon that over the years. There existed no academic bureaucracy; so learning thrived.

Something of the sort is being revived in Los Angeles-—or rather, through International Community College there. This peculiar and promising foundation is establishing “an international guild of scholars,” with an Independent Study Program for both undergraduates and graduate students, leading to degrees. The students, who pay $2,624 in tuition annually, choose some well known scholar, writer, or artist as a tutor. That master or tutor may reside thousands of miles from Los Angeles; if so, the students go and dwell near him, or even in his house. Some scholars take one student, some take twenty. A program of reading, discussion, and research is worked out, in a particular discipline. The tutor supervises their work and reports upon it to International Community College at the end of the academic year.

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Russell Kirk

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Russell Kirk

Time was when the rising generation acquired higher learning by close association with a sage or a philosopher: Confucius in Lu, Socrates in Athens, Abelard in Paris, George Wythe in Williamsburg. A student obtained what wisdom he could from discipleship to a master, and built upon that over the years. There existed no academic bureaucracy; so learning thrived.

Something of the sort is being revived in Los Angeles-—or rather, through International Community College there. This peculiar and promising foundation is establishing “an international guild of scholars,” with an Independent Study Program for both undergraduates and graduate students, leading to degrees. The students, who pay $2,624 in tuition annually, choose some well known scholar, writer, or artist as a tutor. That master or tutor may reside thousands of miles from Los Angeles; if so, the students go and dwell near him, or even in his house. Some scholars take one student, some take twenty. A program of reading, discussion, and research is worked out, in a particular discipline. The tutor supervises their work and reports upon it to International Community College at the end of the academic year.