St. John's College

Today while I was working hard at the library, I read an article in the Washington Post about liberal arts colleges with the report focusing on St. John's College in Annapolis. Lets just say that the colleges curriculum intrigued my interest; this was the first time I had heard of the college or the idea of a Great Books List

As a student of the humanities, I at first found the idea rather radical compared to what culture dictates as a well rounded college education. I found myself rather jealous of new students there and debates and arguments they would participate in, but as I stewed over the schools curriculum, I have come to conclusion that having a set curriculum is a disservice to the students.

Studying the classics, while important would come to be rather dull and boring. I understand that comprehending these works is a challenge, but a traditional college or university you are able to take classics classes that examine the same works. I know because I took a classics class. At a traditional institute one is also able to take lab sciences, mathematics, and philosophy with the caveat that the variety of courses is much larger allowing one study what they want. While St. John's has prestige and a challenging curriculum, I find that I would miss the ability to chose my classes. There numerous philosophy, history, and English courses available and a traditional institution allows one to choose a German history class over Imperial Russian history or British literature over Japanese literature. The American culture has instilled in me a desire for choices which is why I think that in long run I would not have succeeded with a set curriculum, but power to all of those attend St. John's and succeed. I am still somewhat jealous.