Presented by Carol Donlon EDAE 520

R.M Hutchins Believed Education Should Be:  “Neither a means toward earning a living nor of promoting social reform.” (Education, 1953, p. 5)  “It’s object to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.” (Education, 1953, p.5)  “It should provide a common stock of fundamental ideas.” (McGettigan & Messina, 2011, p. 3)

How do we obtain this common stock of ideas? By reading and discussing the Great Books

Story Behind The Great Books  1940’s - R.M. Hutchins and Mortimer Adler, discuss education reform to address specialization and decline of liberal arts  Great Books education program starts at the University of Chicago  Great Books Foundation is formed to discuss important books regarding western tradition and paperback editions are published (History, n.d.)  1947 – Sen. Benton requests that Adler and Hutchins draw up a definitive list for Encyclopaedia Britannica publication ( Carmac, n.d.)

Great Books are Launched  Released April 15, 1952  54 volumes  443 works  74 writers from Homer to Freud  102 Great Ideas (Bethune, 2008)

What Are Great Books?  A group of books that some authorities and institutions view as constituting the foundations of western culture (Great Books, 2011)  A method of education using a discussion approach (Socratic method) based on these books (Carmack, n.d.)

Great Books Examine: History Fiction Mathematics Politics Drama Ethics Religion Poetry Education Philosophy Natural Science

Example of Authors and Works:  Aristotle – Politics  Austen – Emma  Freud – The Unconscious  Hippocrates – Works  Plato – Laws  Shakespeare – Romeo and Juliet  Tolstoy – War and Peace  Woolf – To the Lighthouse (Great Books of the Western World, 2011)

How does a book become a Great Book? Three Criteria: 1) Contemporary significance to the issues of our times 2) Inexhaustible as it can be read many times and still provide benefit 3) Relevant to a many of the of great ideas and issues for the last 25 centuries (Great Books, 2011)

Response to Great Books Critics “Great Books is a potpourri of conflicting views…that continuously strive to refute other views that purportedly comprise a single tradition.” (Deneen, 2010, p. 32) Supporters “Great Books does not stifle debate, nor do they favor the ideas of one group within society over those of another.” (Hafner, 1991, p. 1062)

Response to Great Books Critics Great Books are “icons of unreadability.” (Bethune, 2008, p. 3) “Reading the Great Books requires a lot of hard work.” (Hafner, 1991, p. 1063) Supporters “ …readers are capable of understanding far more than the critics deem possible.” (Great Books of the Western World, 2011, p. 5) “Struggling with one of these texts improves one’s reasoning and critical skills.” (Hafner, 1991, p. 1063)

More Responses Critics  Selected parts of the western world are over represented  Narrow selection of authors and works (Great Books of the Western World, 2011)  The contributions of women and minorities to western culture, is not represented (Hafner, 1992) Supporters “These criticisms may be accurate, but they do not invalidate the importance of the Great Books or the significance of the list’s revision.” (Hafner,1992, p. 1062) Adler states, “we did not base our selections on an author’s nationality, religion, politics, or field of study; nor on an author’s race or gender.” (Great Books of the Western World, 2011, p. 11)

Great Books Relevance Today Critic “ignores the audience and in so doing reveals its parochialism, its innocence towards history. We no longer live in a book dominated culture; to treat our students as though we did is to violate their very psychic structure.” (Wilhelmsend, 1987, p. 331.) Supporter “ We want the voices of the great conversation to be heard again because we think they may help us to live better now… that progress and progress in education in particular, depends on the incorporation of the ideas and images in this set…” (Hutchins, 1952, p. 47)

The Great Books Live on In:  Great Books Foundation  Universities and colleges  K- 12 classrooms  Libraries  Discussion groups  Prison outreach programs  Blogs For further information go to:

Citations  Bethune, B. (2008). Great shams of the western world. Maclean’s, 121 (49) 50  Carmack, P. (n.d.). A return to the classics. Retrieved from  Deneen, P. (2010). Why great books aren’t the answer. Current, September,  Education: The great conversation (1953) Retrieved from  Great Books. (2011) Retrieved from  Great Books of the western world. (2011) Retrieved from  Hafner, A.W. (1991). On my mind: in defense of the great books. American Libraries, 22 (11),  History of the Great Books Foundation. (n.d.) Retrieved from  Hutchins, R.M. (1952) The Great Conversation. Retrieved from  McGettigan, B. & Messina, J. (2011). The educational theory of R.M. Hutchins. Retrieved from  Wilhelmsen, F. (1987) The great books: enemy of wisdom. Modern Age, Summer/Fall,