A Student's Guide to Core Curriculum: Core Curriculum Guide

Truly a must-read for every graduating senior before they head off to college, this Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) book is foundational if a student wants to actually get an education during their tenure in "higher education." Henrie begins by asking why students actually go to college in the first place - for purpose will determine process; meaning that what each student hopes to achieve while in college will dictate what they do with their time, what courses and professors they select, and how they prepare themselves for the challenges which lie ahead. Henrie talks about the telos, the end result of a goal-oriented process. Similar to working out physically, if the desired end result is weight loss, a program can be specifically tailored to meet one's goals. While, if the end result is body building, the program will be an entirely different workout regimen. Henrie argues the same is true for education - if the end result desired is a job, a student will make various choices in the educational forum to meet that goal; but if the end result desired is the proverbial liberal education, different choices are generally required. Henrie proposes that if a student wants this well-rounded education (and he makes a very good case for that being the desired result), that each student can obtain it at least to some level no matter what institution of higher education they attend if they just look for the "core curriculum" - the classics, philosophy, religion, political science, English, and history. While most students begin to specialize and narrow their educational selections in college, Henrie makes a profound argument that every student should have as their foundation these core selections, to be built upon with their majors or specialized disciplines. Henrie gives a generic course description to identify in each of these core disciplines as well as what foundational reading selections that course should cover. Even if the student is unable to select every course from the core curriculum, the book is a wealth of knowledge of valuable resources for the lifelong learner as well. This is one of several books in a series for students and it is the centerpiece and most important one - I think every student needs to read this book for the philosophical foundation that is shared as well as for the incredible resource list mentioned above. And, by student, I mean anyone who still loves to learn.

How great it would be if today's Colleges and Universities would take the advice of this book and introduce (or reintroduce) a required core curriculum in Western Civilization! This book provides some healthy advice to help students plan such a program independently. Contrary to the previous reviewer's complaint, I find no arrogance or condescension in the author's tone. My guess is that the reviewer simply was not mature enough to rationally deal with the author stating truths with which the reviewer struggles to accept, and therefore resorts to personal attacks (which are much easier to make than intelligent rebuttal).

I purchased this book in the middle of my freshman year of college and I have tried to select my courses based on Mr. Henrie's recommendations. Overall, I have found this book to be useful for its stated purpose, but there are some shortcomings present. For example, on p.48 Mr. Henrie advises students that "if you must choose between the Old and New Testaments, opt for the New." This is not remarkable in its own right, but compare it to the author's advice on p.105: "If your college offerings have constrained you to take a course on the New Testament rather than a course on the Bible as a whole, you really must proceed to the Old Testament. Not to do so is to succumb to one of the oldest Christian heresies: Marcionism."Such confusion is not especially helpful, and neither is the author's sometimes arrogant and condescending tone. That said, this book is still worth purchasing. I recommend it especially to future and current college students.

At the recommendation of a professor with whom I was mentoring a group of first-year students, I read this book as a senior beginning my last semester at a liberal arts college where I'd had a great deal of freedom in choosing my gen. ed./ core curriculum. I only wish I'd read it my freshman year, when I was beginning my pursuit of a liberal education that ended up being very haphazard with the guidance of an advisor who was a computer science instructor. Henrie presents a clear, easy to follow approach to the core curriculum in a manner that is simple enough to engage the interest of college freshmen. I am recommending it to my high school senior sister.

This (very) short book is a remarkable find. Most universities today have completely abandoned their traditional core curricula or replaced the core with nebulous "distribution" requirements. This book is a blueprint for college students to use their ELECTIVES to assemble a core curriculum of their own. But it is also much more. Each of the write-ups of the eight recommended courses is really a short Socratic meditation, raising profound questions about central issues in the Western tradition. I suspect that a typical freshman won't realize just how provocative these questions are. But perhaps if they take the prescribed courses and then re-read this book in their senior year they will discover that they've acquired the tools for a lifetime of reflection. It has been years since I went to college, and I know that some of the book's assertions and questions startled me, once again, into reflection.