The Homo Universalis: What is a Literary Education?

Faculteit—

NiveauBachelor

Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

After completing this course students will:

understand the primary importance attached to literature in traditional ideals of liberal education.
understand how changing conceptions of literature have affected 20^th- and 21^st-century ideals of liberal education.
have a theoretical grasp of the concepts of the ‘classic’, the ‘masterpiece’, the ‘canon’ and ‘world literature.’
be familiar with a series of famous literary works from the classical tradition that for many centuries have been considered invaluable to the human mind.
have formed and expressed their own vision about the importance of literature for becoming an educated human being.

Relationship between assessment and learning goals:

Assignment	Assesses which course aims?
Mid-term research presentation Essay 1 Essay 2 (educational statement)	1, 3, 4 1, 3, 4 1, 2, 3, 5

Content

Literature and Liberal Education

Liberal education is one of the most influential and enduring legacies of Greek and Roman civilization. Until the late nineteenth century, its guiding idea was that the proper way to cultivate a critical and autonomous mind – needed for all people intending to hold positions of public responsibility – is through reading and studying a selection of highly regarded and influential books on generally relevant subjects. As early as the fourth century BC, this belief was advocated by ancient Greek philosophers as diverse as Plato and Isocrates. Under the late Roman empire, it underlay the development of the ‘seven’ liberal arts - subdivided into the ‘trivium’ (grammar, logic, oratory) and the subsequent ‘quadrivium’ (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy). Although liberal arts curricula have nearly always had some breadth, pride of place was traditionally taken by a set of literary disciplines that touch on general human values and life questions. Being called ‘humane letters’ or studia humanitatis, these literary disciplines comprised both imaginative literature, such as epic, drama and lyric poetry, and discursive literature, such as rhetoric, history and moral philosophy. Underlying the tradition of liberal arts education, then, is a deep faith in the educational power of 'humane' literature. The aim of this course is to deepen our understanding of the age-old ideal of a humane, literary education. By jointly reading a series of world-renowned books – from St. Augustine’s Confessions to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, from Cervantes’ Don Quixote to Kafka’s The Trial – we will address the question of why some literary works become 'classics' or 'masterpieces' that are widely regarded as invaluable to the human mind.

Format

Taught once a week in tutorial format if the class size is under 8 students.

Class meets two times a week. The instructional formats are lectures, close reading sessions, discussion-based seminars and student presentations. Students are expected to thoroughly prepare class readings of both primary and secondary literature, to make their own notes and to actively participate in the textual analyses and interpretative discussions conducting during the seminars.

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