Shimer College Campuses

The Chicago Campus, hosted at the University of Chicago's International House from 2006 to 2017, represented Shimer College's final iteration, immersing students in a vibrant academic hub. The Great Books curriculum persisted, prioritizing seminar-based exploration of enduring ideas in humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and fine arts. This urban setting enriched discussions with diverse perspectives from surrounding institutions.

• Foundations Seminar: Engaged with Thucydides' History, Herodotus, and Cicero, investigating history, rhetoric, and citizenship.
• Humanities Core: Traced intellectual history from Aquinas and Luther to Kierkegaard and Camus, debating religion, reform, and absurdity.
• Social Sciences Core: Examined Bentham, Durkheim, and Rawls on utilitarianism, sociology, and justice.
• Natural Sciences Core: Studied Faraday, Darwin, and Watson-Crick on electromagnetism, evolution, and genetics.
• Integrative Arts: Analyzed Marx's Capital alongside Beethoven's symphonies and Picasso's works, connecting economics, music, and visual culture.
• Advanced Humanities: Focused on 20th-century philosophy with Heidegger, Sartre, and Derrida, exploring phenomenology and deconstruction.
• Advanced Social Sciences: Addressed globalization through Habermas, Said, and Nussbaum, critiquing discourse, orientalism, and capabilities.
• Advanced Natural Sciences: Delved into chaos theory, neuroscience via Damasio, and climate science, emphasizing interdisciplinary ethics.

Assessment relied on narrative evaluations, oral defenses, and capstone projects, eschewing grades for qualitative feedback. The program incorporated occasional interdisciplinary electives, such as science and society or literature and law, leveraging Chicago's resources. With 80-120 students, the close-knit community fostered mentorship and collaborative research.

This phase highlighted Shimer's adaptability, integrating digital humanities tools while preserving textual focus. Graduates pursued advanced degrees, policy roles, and entrepreneurship, embodying the college's ethos of critical inquiry. The Chicago location amplified networking, with seminars often spilling into Hyde Park's intellectual scene, culminating in a legacy of innovative liberal education.

Shimer College's Mount Carroll Campus, operational from 1853 to 1978, offered a rigorous liberal arts education centered on the Great Books curriculum. This approach emphasized close reading, critical discussion, and interdisciplinary inquiry through small seminar-style classes. The program was designed to foster intellectual independence and ethical reasoning, drawing from foundational texts across humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and fine arts.

• Seminar in Ancient Greek Literature: Focused on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Plato's Republic, and Aristotle's works, exploring themes of heroism, justice, and philosophy.
• Humanities I: Examined medieval and Renaissance texts, including Dante's Divine Comedy, Shakespeare's plays, and Machiavelli's The Prince, analyzing human nature and political thought.
• Social Sciences I: Covered foundational political and economic theories through Locke, Rousseau, Smith, and Marx, discussing liberty, equality, and capitalism.
• Natural Sciences I: Integrated scientific method via Euclid's Elements, Galileo's dialogues, and Newton's Principia, emphasizing empirical reasoning and the philosophy of science.
• Fine Arts: Studied aesthetics through Vasari's Lives and Kant's Critique of Judgment, with discussions on art's role in society.
• Humanities II: Delved into 18th- and 19th-century literature, including Jane Austen's novels, Goethe's Faust, and Tolstoy's War and Peace, addressing modernity and individualism.
• Social Sciences II: Explored 20th-century ideologies with Freud, Nietzsche, and Weber, critiquing psychology, existentialism, and bureaucracy.
• Natural Sciences II: Addressed evolution and relativity through Darwin's Origin of Species and Einstein's theories, bridging biology, physics, and ethics.

Students engaged in oral exams and written essays, with no multiple-choice tests, promoting deep comprehension. The curriculum evolved slightly over decades but remained committed to Socratic dialogue. Electives included advanced seminars on Eastern thought or contemporary issues, always tied to great texts. This holistic education prepared graduates for diverse careers in law, education, business, and public service, emphasizing lifelong learning. The campus's rural setting enhanced focused study, with about 100-200 students annually participating in these intensive courses.

Overall, the Mount Carroll era solidified Shimer's reputation for transformative education, influencing subsequent iterations of the program.

During its tenure at the Waukegan Campus from 1978 to 2006, Shimer College continued its signature Great Books program, adapting the curriculum to an urban lakeside environment while maintaining small class sizes and seminar discussions. The focus remained on Western intellectual tradition, encouraging students to grapple with primary sources in humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and integrative studies. This period saw refinements to include more diverse perspectives within the canon.

• Seminar in Classical Foundations: Analyzed Sophocles' tragedies, Virgil's Aeneid, and Augustine's Confessions, probing ethics, fate, and faith.
• Humanities Sequence: Progressed from Chaucer and Milton to Wollstonecraft and Douglass, examining gender, race, and enlightenment ideals.
• Social Thought I: Dissected Hobbes, Mill, and Tocqueville on governance, rights, and democracy.
• Scientific Inquiry I: Reviewed Copernicus, Kepler, and Lavoisier's contributions, fostering understanding of paradigm shifts in science.
• Arts and Interpretation: Explored Hegel, Nietzsche, and Dewey on beauty, culture, and pragmatism.
• Humanities Advanced: Covered modernist works like Joyce's Ulysses and Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, alongside Eliot's poetry, addressing fragmentation in modern life.
• Social Sciences Advanced: Tackled Keynes, Arendt, and Foucault on economics, totalitarianism, and power structures.
• Natural Sciences Advanced: Incorporated quantum mechanics via Bohr and Heisenberg, and ecology through Leopold, linking science to environmental ethics.

The curriculum required comprehensive oral and written evaluations, with students leading discussions to build confidence and analytical skills. Special topics seminars occasionally addressed non-Western texts like the Bhagavad Gita or Confucian Analects for comparative purposes. Enrollment hovered around 100 students, benefiting from proximity to Chicago's resources for guest lectures and internships. This era emphasized community governance, with students participating in curriculum committees.

Shimer's Waukegan phase reinforced its commitment to dialogic learning, producing alumni who excelled in academia, nonprofits, and creative fields. The program's intensity—averaging 15-18 hours of weekly seminars—cultivated resilient thinkers ready for complex global challenges.