The Great Books Program builds on the renowned Great Books Movement. The Program was founded in 2000 AD to provide opportunities for young Americans high school age and older to participate in the enduring "great conversation" about the most influential ideas contained in Western civilization's best masterpieces of literature, history, philosophy and science. 37 colleges and universities offer great books programs ranging from one to four years, but none offer a distance education program.

Our method of teaching by conversationally discussing questions and answers in a spirit of mutual inquiry and discovery dates back to Socrates and is at the heart of the Great Books and classical traditions. It leads students to develop and practice the liberal arts of listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as the habits of reflective, critical thinking. In this environment students begin to develop their thoughts and insights with care and confidence and learn how to express those ideas in the naturally delightful and liberating experience of genuine learning. In this way students gain understanding of their own natures and the nature of the world in which we all live. This makes for a better life, a point on which all the sages who wrote the great books agree.

Mortimer J. Adler

Many years ago - from the Middle Ages to modern times - the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree signified completion of the secondary level of education (following the elementary or primary level) and so readiness to enter into the third level of formal education - the university, for specialization in one's chosen field. With that background in mind, Dr. Mortimer J. Adler wrote:

"If I had any hope that in the foreseeable future, the educational system of this country could be so radically transformed that the basic liberal training would be adequately accomplished in the secondary [i.e., high] schools and that the Bachelor of Arts degree would then be awarded at the termination of such schooling, I would gladly recommend that the college be relieved of any further responsibility for training in the liberal arts... if we are going to have general human schooling in this country, it has to be accomplished in the first twelve years of compulsory schooling...it would be appropriate to award a bachelor of arts degree at the completion of such basic schooling. Doing so would return that degree to its original educational significance as certifying competence in the liberal arts, which are the arts or skills of learning in all fields of subject matter."

In a 1970 appearance on the TV show Firing Line, hosted by William F. Buckley, Jr, Dr. Adler made the same point that liberal education, the backbone of which is study of the Great Books (not student-selected electives), should be completed by the end of secondary (high) school:

"I think the curriculum for liberal studies should be completely fixed. There should be no electives at all. I do not think the student is in any position to make choices about what he should study. I do not think his interests make any difference. They are all human beings; they are all going to become citizens; they are all going to have lots of free time. I think electives – the choice of specialization - should come after the liberal arts degree.

Taking Dr. Adler's words and personal encouragement to heart, in 2000 AD we developed the Great Books Program for students high school and college age and up. Like the AP science courses for which high school students can earn college credits for completing courses of college level content and rigor, the Great Books Program allows willing students to gain a broad, liberal (i.e. from liber or libertas - liberty, or freeing from ignorance) education in the humanities through the study of the great books while in high school or college, via distance education, for college credit. Here is what the American Council on Education concluded after reviewing our Program:

The content and rigor of this course [the Great Books Program courses] are similar to those of courses at colleges and universities. The American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE CREDIT) has evaluated and recommended college credit for 8 courses (totaling 48 credit hours - 6 per semester) of the Western Civilization Foundations's Great Books Program. The American Council on Education, the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and to influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives. For more information, visit the ACE CREDIT website at http://www.acenet.edu/acecredit.

For the benefit of our students, the Western Civilization Foundation's Great Books Program participates in the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Transcript Service. The ACE Transcript Service offers a lifelong record for students who have successfully completed our courses that have been reviewed by ACE CREDIT. This service enables adult learners to present a nationally recognized transcript to the college or university of their choice for the potential award of academic credit. For more information, visit the ACE CREDIT Transcript Service website at http://www.acenet.edu/acecredit

Mortimer Adler [sitting] at his last Great Books Discussion Group,
with our directors [standing, l to r] Steve Bertucci,
Pat Carmack and Tom Orr, 2000 AD