The Basic Program

One of the better things I have done in my life is attend the University of Chicago’s Basic Program. The Basic Program is a four year noncredit sequence of courses in the classics. You go to class one night a week for three hours and discuss the Great Books.

The folks I attended class with were mostly older professional people, so there was not a lot of social diversity. However, it sure was different than going to college because everybody came to class well prepared to discuss the books.

The instructors were top notch although they didn’t actually instruct or lecture. They pointed to a couple of passages in the books or asked a couple of questions, then made sure the discussion kept flowing and stayed on track.

The Basic Program offers Alumni classes too for those who have graduated from the four year program. One year I took a three quarter sequence in the Hebrew Bible. I enjoyed discussing the Bible in that setting. We could have gone on for another 100 quarters before we wore out the book, such was the depth of discussion into which we immersed ourselves.

Then I decided to take a break to study mathematics and mathematical logic on my own. Math is a disease I have caught sporadically during my life. I caught it briefly last year, but that’s another story. Studying math logic took longer than I expected, so I didn’t take anymore classes.

I have been looking at the Alumni courses offered this summer. I might jump back in, but I am feeling ambivalent.