<p>Does anyone know of a school that has a program similar to St. John's College? The St. John's approach seems like a good fit but the virtually exclusive focus on the intellect seems overwhelming. (Please exclude the U. of Chicago.)</p>
<p>I don't know what you're looking for exactly, but check out the Great Conversation program at St. Olaf College.</p>
<p>We had some similar conclusions about St. John's as my D was interested in going there. I was impressed with the quality of their course of study, but had some concerns with the pragmatics. One of my D's possible career options was Psychiatry. We had some concern with the fact that if she pursued this approach, she would still have to take pre-med courses at a different school while paying the St. John's tuition--and having to go to summer school, after demanding semesters at St. John's without the benefit of a summer "wind-down".
At the accepted students' day last spring at the school she eventually selected, she had discussions with professors from the Classics and Philosophy departments about the potential of emulating certain aspects of the St. John's experience while preserving some educational pragmatism. She received a supportive response. In fact, one prof made the exact same trade (St. John's vs a school where his father taught, hence free tuition---he went with the latter but constructed a curriculum to capture the St. John's "Western Canon".)</p>
<p>I would highly recommend discussing this with the appropriate departments of other schools that you or D or S may be interested in. You may get a positive response.</p>
<p>Aside from this approach, I have heard that Columbia University, at least at one time, offered a "Great Books" focus to a number of their courses.</p>
<p>Shimer College, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Thomas More are also "Great Books" colleges. Shimer is <em>very</em> small, located in Waukegan, IL. I don't anything about the others.</p>
<p>University of Dallas also has a Great Books core curriculum. </p>
<p>My son went to a summer program at Thomas Aquinas (CA). He loved the program and beautiful campus. It is VERY conservative, Catholic, though, so if that isn't you, it might not fit. It also seems very rigorous, intellectual.</p>
<p>Please excuse the rather indefinite response, but one of the larger schools in Texas has a honors great books curriculum. I think it's UT, but obviously am a bit vague.</p>