St. John's College Maryland Campuses

St. John's College Annapolis Campus offers a distinctive liberal arts education centered on the Great Books program, where students immerse themselves in the foundational texts of Western civilization through small seminar discussions, tutorials, and preceptorials. The curriculum spans four years, progressing from ancient to modern works, fostering critical thinking, dialogue, and intellectual inquiry without lectures or traditional majors.

• Literature and Philosophy: Students read seminal works by Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Nietzsche, exploring themes of ethics, human nature, and society in weekly seminars.
• History and Political Science: Courses delve into historical texts like Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, Machiavelli's The Prince, and Tocqueville's Democracy in America, analyzing governance, power, and cultural evolution.
• Mathematics: Tutorials cover Euclidean geometry, algebra, calculus, and modern topics, emphasizing logical reasoning through problem-solving in small groups.
• Science: Laboratory-based classes examine ancient and modern science, from Aristotle's Physics to Newton's Principia and Einstein's relativity, combining experimentation with textual analysis.
• Languages: Students learn Ancient Greek and French through immersion, reading original texts like Sophocles' tragedies and Molière's plays to grasp linguistic nuances.
• Music and Fine Arts: Classes involve performing and analyzing works by Bach, Beethoven, and others, alongside discussions of visual arts from ancient sculptures to modern paintings.
• Advanced Seminars: Upperclassmen engage in elective preceptorials on specialized topics, such as existentialism or scientific revolutions, building on foundational studies.

This rigorous, discussion-based approach cultivates versatile thinkers prepared for diverse careers in law, medicine, business, academia, and public service. With no grades or exams in the traditional sense, assessment occurs through participation and essays, promoting personal growth over competition. The program totals around 1,000 pages of reading per semester, ensuring depth and breadth in humanistic education. Extracurriculars complement academics with music ensembles, sports, and community engagement, all within a close-knit residential community of about 450 students.

At St. John's College Santa Fe Campus, the educational experience mirrors the Annapolis program, emphasizing the Great Books curriculum through interactive seminars, math tutorials, science labs, and language studies. This non-specialized approach encourages students to connect ideas across disciplines, reading primary sources from antiquity to the present in a collaborative environment.

• Literature and Philosophy: Core readings include epics like the Iliad and Odyssey, philosophical dialogues by Plato and Kant, and novels by Dostoevsky and Woolf, dissected in Socratic-style discussions to probe existential and moral questions.
• History and Political Science: Texts such as Herodotus' Histories, Hobbes' Leviathan, and Marx's Communist Manifesto provide insights into historical events, ideologies, and political structures through analytical seminars.
• Mathematics: Sequential tutorials progress from precalculus through differential equations and abstract algebra, using classical methods to develop deductive skills and mathematical intuition.
• Science: Integrated classes explore the history of science, covering Ptolemy's astronomy, Galileo's mechanics, Darwin's evolution, and quantum theory, with hands-on experiments to verify concepts.
• Languages: Intensive study of Ancient Greek enables direct engagement with Euclid and Plato, while French classes facilitate reading Descartes and Camus in the original, enhancing interpretive abilities.
• Music and Fine Arts: Students sight-read and perform chamber music from Palestrina to Stravinsky, and examine art history through texts and campus collections, linking aesthetics to broader intellectual themes.
• Elective Preceptorials: Juniors and seniors pursue in-depth topics like feminism in literature or chaos theory, guided by faculty in small groups for personalized exploration.

The Santa Fe campus, serving around 400 students, integrates this curriculum with the unique Southwestern landscape, offering hiking, art studios, and cultural excursions. The word-intensive program, averaging 30 books per year, builds eloquent communicators and adaptable graduates for fields like education, tech, nonprofits, and creative industries. Emphasis on community living, with no frats or Greek life, fosters lifelong friendships and ethical reasoning in a supportive, egalitarian setting.