After a decade of defining the term "great books", Pepperdine can conclude that its Great Books Colloquium, a discussion-based series of courses, is a success.

      The program was developed eleven years ago when four professors, Dr. Michael Gose, Dr. Victoria Myers, Dr. Royce Clark, and Dr. Norman Hughes, designed and implemented an experimental seminar program to expand the minds of eighty incoming Seaver College students.

      Currently, the Great Books Colloquium, now taught by a rotating staff of ten faculty members, involves approximately 140 students, ranging from freshmen to seniors.

      This success has a been a bit of a surprise to some of the Great Books founders. As Dr. Gose put it, "The colloquium has surpassed my own expectations. We originally thought of it only as an experiment; now it has become my primary teaching load."

      One reason for the success of Great Books may be the Seaver College general education requirements that it fulfills. The colloquium fulfills students' education requirements in freshman seminar, English 101 and 102, and Religion 301. It also satisfies either the Economics 200 or Political Science 200 requirement. But if students drop out of the colloquium before successfully completing all of the four courses, they receive only elective credit for the courses.

      From its beginnings, the Great Books Colloquium was to be a four-semester series of courses that would meet twice a week. During the four semesters, students would read a variety of classic works and then meet to discuss those "great books" in classes of about twenty students.

      Each semester would parallel an area of the Seaver College liberal arts education, either social science, humanities, religion, or natural science. The original four professors represented each of those areas, Dr. Gose in social science, Dr. Myers in humanities/fine arts, Dr. Clark in religion , and Dr. Hughes in natural science.

      These professors designed the Great Books Colloquium with five purposes in mind. According to a past Great Books Program Review, the program was intended to engage students in "close critical reading of selected influential works."

      Following these readings, students would participate in discussions led by the professor. These discussions gave students the opportunity to learn to listen and to support their own views with textual evidence. Students would learn to be open to other views and ideas. The ultimate goal of the program was for the students to become independent of the professor, leading and participating in the discussions on their own.

      Great Books also allowed students to gain knowledge and understanding of Western writings and heritage. The course series would influence and expand students' writing abilities.

      Finally, the colloquium intended to develop a sense of community within the groups of participating students. Because students would be working together in such closely knit groups, they would gain a common interest in discovering the purpose and ideas behind their readings.

      According to Gose, these original purposes are still being fulfilled in the Great Books Colloquium today. "I have found the great books approach to be an especially powerful paradigm for helping students to improve their critical and analytic thinking," Gose explains. "Our recent survey of graduates tends to confirm this thought. On a five point scale, alumni gave 'improved critical thinking' a 4.82 mark," he says.

      However, there have been some changes to the four-semester program since its inception. For example, the program initially intended to have each Great Books section studying the same literature at the same time. But courses have not developed that way.

      Today, each section studies literature that the individual professor has chosen from a common list of recommended Great Books reading. This list, which includes works by Homer, Plato, Shakespeare, Milton, was adapted from a Great Books program from St. John's College. But because professors are allowed to choose which works they want to study, there are differences in syllabi between classes.

      Students have mixed feelings about these course differences. According to one freshman enrollee, "The work we read in Great Books is fascinating.

      But why do the professors choose different works to read? It really divides us into our groups because we are not always able to talk about what we read with students in other sections."

      But, as Great Books professor Dr. Darrel Colson explains, "The Great Books Colloquium Reading List is compiled of works that all draw on the same themes. Part of the individuality of the colloquium is the literature that each section reads and the way that the students choose to discuss it," he says.

      Colson came to Seaver College to be a part of the Great Books program a year and a half ago. He was drawn to the program because "it offers tremendous opportunities for students to think and grow along with their professors," as he puts it.

      Pepperdine's Great Books Colloquium has lived up to his expectations so far, he also mentions. According to Colson, who instructed a similar program at a school in Louisiana before coming here, "The students are diligent both in their outside homework and in their thoughts and discussion within the class."

      Freshman English major Mylei Basich feels she has profited from enrolling in the program. "I chose it because I thought it would be interesting and challenging. It has definitely been challenging, probably ten times harder than any of my other courses," Basich said. "But it has been interesting, too, reading stuff writtern over a thousand years ago. The ideas, questions and problems they encounter we still face today."

      Another difference that has become apparent over the time that the colloquium has existed is the amount of outside experience that comes with the class. Eleven years ago, in a Graphic article, Gose mentioned that in a typical week, students and teachers would "participate in a related activity, such as a concert, a film or a field trip and work on personal expressions of culture."

      But this is not entirely the case today. Generally, due to time constraints on both students and the professors, outside activities are not always possible. In many cases, students think it is enough work simple to get the assigned reading done.

      A lack of time does not mean that students would not like to see more outside trips and activities incorporated into the Great Books Colloquium.

      One sophomore explains, "My freshman class of Great Books visited the J. Paul Getty museum last year to view the ancient Greek and Roman antiquities after we completed Homer's The Iliad. It was amazing to see those pieces come alive after reading the book." But he adds, "I have not been on a trip like that for Great Books since."

      Despite these minor changes, though, Pepperdine's Great Books professors are quite satisfied with the curriculum. In fact, when asked if he would revamp the program in any way after eleven years, Gose responded with a hearty, "no."

      He does mention that some changes are considered though. "We, the Great Books discussants, do consider minor changes from time to time. We can never really decide, for example, whether we think Augustine should be taught in Great Books I or II," Gose says.

      However, Great Books professors have considered another change.

      "We often think about adding more courses," says Gose. "My personal opinion is that most students are fine with the four courses, but that some would profit from a 'great books' or 'great works' emphasis within the existing Humanities Division."

      Gose also adds, "I would also like to find an effective way of adding some art and music to the curriculum as 'texts' to be discussed."

      Many students, even those not majoring in a humanities-related area, reflect the same satisfaction with the Great Books curriculum. Sophomore Jenette Kyte, an accounting major, explains, "I enjoy the reading we do for Great Books. The books are interesting. Discussing the works and writing papers on them increases my understanding of the literature. Plus, Great Books really is helping me to complete my general education requirements. "

      But not every student shares this belief. Sophomore English major Cory Cochrane dropped the colloquium after her freshman year. "I already had the requirements for a couple of the courses Great Books fulfills," she explains. "It would have been redundant to take Great Books, but I do miss reading the books and discussing them."