St. John’s Head Tutor Eva Brann Shares Unique Approach to Great Books with Shalem Faculty

Eva Brann, former dean and the longest-serving tutor at St. John’s, the premier non-denominational Great Books college in the United States, visited with Shalem faculty on January 14-15 to share her distinctive student-centered approach to learning. A 2005 recipient of the National Humanities Medal, Brann played a key role in developing St. John’s unique curriculum, which has provided an important pedagogical model for Shalem. Emphasizing the importance of requiring students to go straight to the sources of the Western tradition, and to discuss, in the context of small seminars, the classics of such disciplines as literature, philosophy, theology, economics, and history, Brann maintained that students who emerge from this sort of educational experience exhibit a fearlessness when confronted with the unknown. Shalem board member and St. John’s alum Jed Arkin, who participated in Brann’s visit, agreed, crediting the liberal education he received there with his ability to confront complex, unfamiliar challenges, and question the opinions of “experts” over the course of his business career.

During her time at Shalem, Brann led faculty in a Great Books seminar on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, demonstrating the sort of intellectual engagement that can only occur absent a reliance on textbooks, and without the distancing format of frontal lectures. She also shared suggestions for engaging students fully in their studies, such as her insistence that professors make themselves as available as possible outside of class for impromptu conversations, and her belief in the need for a shared educational philosophy among faculty members. She praised Menachem Kellner, Chair of the Interdisciplinary Program in Philosophy and Jewish Thought, and Ido Hevroni, Shalem Educational Director, for their initiative in establishing the faculty development program, which seeks to create a vibrant, cohesive group of colleagues dedicated to the liberal-arts model. “It’s incredibly encouraging that influential educators such as Eva Brann are supportive of what we’re trying to do here at Shalem,” said Hevroni. “It’s also great to see how receptive Shalem faculty were to her ideas, and how much they’re looking forward to applying them.”

Kellner and Hevroni plan to bring other leading representatives of the American liberal-arts model to Shalem in the coming months, including Columbia College’s associate dean of the core curriculum, Roosevelt Montás, who arrives in March.