The Great Books Summer Program is offered on three of the finest campuses in the world—Amherst College, Stanford University, and now at The College of William & Mary in historic Williamsburg, Virginia.
Stanford University
Palo Alto, California
Stanford University of Palo Alto, California opened its doors in 1891, and has been one of the finest and most highly-regarded American universities ever since. Its 8,000-acre campus is one of the most beautiful in the nation, offering room to explore as well as carefully-crafted residential and academic spaces for study and comfortable California living.
With its palm trees, breathtaking views of the Santa Cruz mountains, Spanish architecture and sunny 70-degree days, Stanford University is an idyllic setting for The Great Books Summer Program. The Cantor Center for Visual Arts features one of the largest collections of Rodin sculptures outside of France. Hardy souls can climb the 14 floors of the Hoover Observation Tower to enjoy a panoramic view of the Bay area.
The Old Greets the New: Stanford's Reading List
Each campus program—Amherst, Stanford and William & Mary—has its own curriculum and identity, tied to key landmarks and historic events nearby. The curriculum of the Stanford campus is inspired by the West Coast passion to blend the old with the new, focusing more on contemporary texts by setting them in dialogue with classic literature. In the past, students have explored the writings of authors such as Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, Haruki Murakami, Alice Walker, John Muir, and Kurt Vonnegut, while remaining anchored in the timeless traditions of Homer's Iliad, Franz Kafka, René Descartes, and Robert Frost.
Stanford University is located in Palo Alto, California and is less than a thirty-minute drive from both the San Francisco and San Jose airports.
Click here for Google directions to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
Click here for on-campus directions (pdf) to the Great Books Summer Program registration location and dormitories at Stanford University or here for on-campus maps and other information.