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Faulkner University's Great Tradition
The Great Books Honors College welcomed two distinguished speakers to Faulkner University April 3 to share their outlook on the Great Tradition at the honors college's annual conference. Dr. Richard Gamble of Hillsdale College in Michigan is credited with editing The Great Tradition, Classical Readings on what it Means to be an Educated Human Being. Dr. Robert Thornton, a professor at Califorina State University, Fresno, is an expert on Greek culture and its influence on Western civilization. Thornton also writes and comments on contemporary political and educational issues contributing to numerous publications and Web sites and speaking and appearing on many radio and TV shows including "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher."
The Great Tradition is not just an anthology. It is a philosophy embraced by Faulkner that a liberal arts education should seek to educate the whole person. Integrating the teachings of Plato, Augustine, Erasmus, C.S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot and other classic writers, a Faulkner liberal arts education aims to develop the minds and characters of its students and not merely train one for a specific field. As Dr. Roberts Woods, director of Great Books Honors College, explained, "There are a few who still champion the best of the past and the eternal relevance of such an education."
A number of Faulkner students, faculty and staff, as well many off-campus guests affiliated with Classical Christian education, came to hear the esteemed professors. Thornton opened the lectures with his topic "The Demise and Death of the Great Tradition" detailing the shift in universities from character-based education to skill-based education. In his lecture "The Rebirth and Return of the Great Tradition," Gamble discussed how a liberal arts university can return to its original mission of educating the soul in addition to the mind. The conference ended with a question and answer discussion panel facilitated by Woods. All who attended benefited from the program's intent to provide "the description of the best kind of liberal arts education and what a genuine liberal arts university would look like."
The Great Tradition is not just an anthology. It is a philosophy embraced by Faulkner that a liberal arts education should seek to educate the whole person. Integrating the teachings of Plato, Augustine, Erasmus, C.S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot and other classic writers, a Faulkner liberal arts education aims to develop the minds and characters of its students and not merely train one for a specific field. As Dr. Roberts Woods, director of Great Books Honors College, explained, "There are a few who still champion the best of the past and the eternal relevance of such an education."
A number of Faulkner students, faculty and staff, as well many off-campus guests affiliated with Classical Christian education, came to hear the esteemed professors. Thornton opened the lectures with his topic "The Demise and Death of the Great Tradition" detailing the shift in universities from character-based education to skill-based education. In his lecture "The Rebirth and Return of the Great Tradition," Gamble discussed how a liberal arts university can return to its original mission of educating the soul in addition to the mind. The conference ended with a question and answer discussion panel facilitated by Woods. All who attended benefited from the program's intent to provide "the description of the best kind of liberal arts education and what a genuine liberal arts university would look like."
