Is Christendom a Great Books program?
Some people think we are but in fact we are not a Great Books Program. A Great Books Program, from what I can tell, is one which studies a certain limited number of primary texts in a Socratic or discussion type forum. No textbooks or secondary sources are used in a Great Books program and all students study the exact same subjects and receive one degree, a BA in Liberal Arts, without having choices of majors. Christendom would be categorized as offering a classical liberal arts education. We rely heavily on primary texts but we also use many secondary sources to gain deeper understanding of the subject matter. Also, the vast majority of our classes are lecture format with students having the ability to ask questions and make comments during class. Although we do have a very strong core curriculum which lasts two and a half years, following the completion of the core, students are given the opportunity to delve deeper into one of six areas of study and major in Theology, Philosophy, En
