Great Books: Books to Call Home About
Great Books is a one-of-a-kind course offered to students at the University of Utah, challenging them to dive into foundational texts and contemporary analyses of social issues. During the course, faculty and students will discuss excerpts from six different books, encouraging shared exploration.
The course, celebrating its third year offered on the course catalog, is led by Nadja Durbach along with several College of Humanities faculty, grad students, and staff who each bring their own disciplinary expertise. “In addition to introductions to some great important books, and fun books to talk about, it’s also sort of a chance to introduce the various disciplines in the humanities,” said Scott Black, professor of English and a coordinator of the course. Prior to the start of the course, faculty meet together to discuss which books they each want to focus on that semester, factoring in how the books fit together. The final selections are all books that faculty members are passionate about and enthusiastic to teach.
On Tuesdays, students are introduced to a topic in lecture by a faculty member. Later in the week, students meet in smaller sections to further discuss the material in a more conversational setting. Students are challenged through these discussions to engage thoroughly with issues such as religion, law, authority, and the extent of human knowledge. “Already I can see lots of ways these books are talking to each other. The students will figure that out, it’s part of the class,” Black said.
The class is comprised of students from various majors and years. “Only one of the 18 students I have [in my section] is planning on becoming a Humanities major,” Durbach said, “They’re completely up to the task. What they said to me on the first day, which I thought was fascinating, was that some of them love reading, but they don’t get to do that in their other classes.”
Currently, in the course, Richard Preiss from the English Department is teaching Richard III by William Shakespeare. “I think in the beginning students are a little bit intimidated because they think of this as great literature, right? They think they won’t understand the language, but when Richard Preiss does the first lecture, he situates them in the world of theater and explains that this is popular entertainment, not high culture at the time,” Durbach said. The book will be covered over the next three weeks of the course, prompting conversations about topics such as authority and power.
Additional books being discussed in this course are The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Odyssey, The Cheese and the Worms, Critique of Pure Reason, Language and Experience: Evidence from The Blind Child. Each of these important books highlights different areas of the humanities, offering new students the opportunity to explore what the college offers. “It’s a great lineup. Each of these books is important and influential, and they remain great introductions to their fields and to the Humanities," said Black.
Not only is this class dedicated to teaching great books, but it also teaches students skills that they will carry through college in their studies. By diving into each facet of the humanities, students have a better understanding of the College of Humanities, and how it can help prepare them to interact with life’s big questions.