“Leo Strauss on Liberal Education”


by Nathan Tarcov

In 1959, Leo Strauss delivered a commencement address to the University’s Basic Program entitled, “What Is Liberal Education?” In the space of just a few pages, Strauss asked not only what constituted a liberal education but also such questions as how an education rooted in the Western tradition fit into a multicultural world, and what it meant for a democratic society. Professor Tarcov will discuss Strauss’ remarks, which were later included in his book, Liberalism Ancient and Modern (1968). The relevant reading is available via Google Books and will available at the session.


A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise and Reign of the “Great Books of the Western World” Series and the Heyday of the American Middlebrow


A Great Idea at the Time

On pages 172–173 of A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise and Reign of the ‘Great Books of the Western World’ Series and the Heyday of the American Middlebrow by Alex Beam (2008) interviews Clare Pearson, then Chair of the Basic Program, about the program’s past and present.