The Program in Core Texts and Ideas is an introduction to the liberal arts through the study of the great books. It complements any major in the university with a sequence of six courses that can also meet UT core requirements. To complete the program, students take one course from each of four areas, as well as two great books electives from our list of qualifying courses. The four required areas are listed below, together with 2011-12 courses that satisfy them.
1. Philosophy and Literature of the Ancient World
Classical philosophy and literature primarily from ancient Greece, exploring fundamental questions about human nature, justice, ethics, and humanity's place in the cosmos. Readings will include one or more masterpieces of epic or tragedy and one or more dialogues of Plato.
CTI 301 Ancient Philosophy and Literature-W (Dempsey, fall)
or CC 301 Introduction to Ancient Greece (Aprile, fall; Dean-Jones, Spring)
or UGS 302 The Discovery of Freedom (Woodruff, fall)
or CTI 335 / GOV 351C Classical Quest for Justice (L. Pangle, spring)
2. History of Political Philosophy
Introduces the great rival conceptions of the moral basis and goals of political life as elaborated by revolutionary thinkers in the history of political philosophy, including but not limited to Aristotle, Aquinas, Locke, and one or more late modern critics of the enlightenment.
UGS 303 Justice, Liberty, Happiness (T. Pangle, fall)
or CTI 303 / GOV 314 Competing Visions of the Good Life (Abramson, spring)
or students may take both of the following to satisfy the CTI political philosophy requirement and one CTI elective: CTI 335/GOV 351D Theoretical Foundations of Modern Politics (Devin Stauffer, Fall) and CTI 335/GOV 351C Classical Quest for Justice (L. Pangle, spring)
3. Major Texts of World Religions
A study of basic religious texts, including both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, examined from various perspectives, with emphasis on the fundamental questions and ideas raised in those texts.
CTI 304 The Bible and its Interpreters (Gardner, spring)
or students may take both of the following to satisfy the CTI religion requirement and one CTI elective: CTI 310 Intro to Hebrew Bible (Pat-El, fall) and CTI 310 Intro to New Testament (Friesen, fall) or CTI 310 Rise of Christianity (White, spring)
4. America's Constitutional Principles
Close readings from primary texts that have shaped or that reflect deeply on American democracy, including the Declaration of Independence, The Federalist Papers, and Tocqueville's Democracy in America.
GOV 312P America's Constitutional Principles: Core Texts (Buchanan and Paoli, fall; Dana Stauffer, Spring)
GOV 312P-H America's Constitutional Principles: Core Texts-Honors (Dempsey, spring)
or GOV 312R America's Constitutional Principles: Equality (Theriault, spring)
or CTI 326/AMS 370 Tragic Comedy of American Democracy (Marshall, spring)
