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No textbooks. Primary sources only.
We read Euclid, not a book about Euclid. Plato, not a Plato summary. This is education at the source.
Shimer Great Books School at North Central College
The life of
the mind,
lived fully.
A four-year liberal arts program where students read original works, discuss them in small seminars, and connect ideas across the humanities, sciences, and social thought.
Located in Naperville, Illinois · rooted in the great books tradition
Shimer at a Glance
1853
Founded
14
Students max per seminar
3
Core areas
2017
Joined North Central
Why Shimer
An education built around original works, shared inquiry, and serious conversation.
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Every class is a seminar.
Classes center on guided discussion rather than conventional lectures. Students and faculty examine the texts together.
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Three core areas. One conversation.
Humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences meet in a curriculum built around questions that cross disciplinary boundaries.
Student interviewsVideo coming soon
In Their Own Words
Hear from Shimer students
Students to be announced
Several current students talk about what studying at Shimer is actually like — the seminars, the reading, and the community.
Voices in the Great Conversation
Plato
Dialogues
Aristotle
Ethics
Euclid
Geometry
Dante
Poetry
Newton
Science
Kant
Reason
Start Here
The essentials, all in one place.
Get a clear picture of the program, the experience, and your next step—whether you are just discovering Shimer or ready to apply.
Your Shimer Experience
Read deeply. Speak thoughtfully. Make the education your own.
Shimer combines an intimate intellectual community with the resources of North Central College. Your seminars provide a shared foundation; electives, a second major, research, internships, and campus life let you shape what comes next.
- 01Begin with shared questions
Build habits of close reading, discussion, mathematics, logic, and interdisciplinary inquiry.
- 02Connect the core areas
Move among humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences instead of treating them as separate worlds.
- 03Expand your path
Add another major or minor, pursue research, join organizations, and gain experience beyond the seminar.
- 04Bring it together
Complete advanced work and carry the ability to question, reason, and communicate into what follows.
Now at Shimer
Explore the program and the people shaping it
Start with the curriculum, see what is coming up, and meet the faculty who guide seminar conversations.
Curriculum & Core Areas
Full curriculumUpcoming Events
All eventsFaculty
All facultySP
Stuart Patterson
Professor of Shimer Great Books School
DB
Daniela Barberis
Associate Professor
AD
Ann Dolinko
Professor
Across Generations
The Shimer conversation continues after graduation.
Alumni keep exchanging ideas, reflections, and community news through a growing bulletin archive.
Frequently Asked Questions
All FAQsQuick answers about the program, admission, and cost. For the full list, open the About page.
Ready to Join the Conversation?
Apply to Shimer at North Central College
Admission is through North Central College — let the office know you’re interested in Shimer, and staff will guide you from application to enrollment.
Academic Calendar
Schedule
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Upcoming this month
Shimer House
See when the Shimer building is in use.
Open North Central College's live room calendar to view public scheduled use of Shimer House, Room H362-03, at 5 S. Loomis Ave.
An open time does not guarantee building access or permission to reserve the space.
Check building calendar
Live schedule provided by North Central College
Weekly timeline
Shimer House use for the next 30 days
Published classes, meetings, and events using Shimer House during the next 30 days. Only verified entries are shown.
An empty period does not guarantee access or availability. Check the official building calendar before making plans.
Life around the seminar table
Community
Shimer students belong to a small Great Books program within the wider North Central College community: close seminars, campus organizations, public events, and shared traditions.
How community works
A small intellectual circle with a full college around it.
Shimer community life starts in discussion, then extends into campus events, student organizations, leadership, and informal reading and conversation outside class.
Seminar Culture
Classes are built around discussion, careful listening, and direct engagement with primary texts.
North Central Campus
Shimer students have access to clubs, facilities, performances, athletics, and student services at North Central College.
Events and Traditions
Lectures, symposia, reading groups, and community gatherings give students more ways to keep the conversation going.
Ways to belong
A community built through conversation, campus life, and shared work.
Students can enter the Shimer community through seminar, student-led gatherings, public programs, and the wider North Central College network.
Begin at the table
Discussion-based classes make it easy to know classmates by name and build habits of serious, generous conversation.
Step into campus life
Students can join organizations, performances, service work, athletics, and social events across North Central.
Keep the inquiry going
Reading groups, lectures, faculty conversations, and student initiatives extend the questions beyond class.
Student organization directory
Groups, societies, and reading circles
Published student organization listings appear here when they are added through the site editor.
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active groups
About Shimer
Everything you need to know about our program, curriculum, faculty, and what makes a Shimer education unlike any other.
Our Mission
What are “Great Books”?
History
Curriculum
Faculty
Committees
Apply & Visit
Tuition & Aid
Campus Resources
Accessibility
FAQ
Our Mission
The Shimer Great Books School at North Central College brings students into direct contact with major works in philosophy, literature, science, history, and the arts, so they can study not just conclusions but the thinking behind them.
Students learn in small seminars where faculty guide discussion, ask hard questions, and help each person connect ideas across disciplines. The program is built around close reading, thoughtful argument, and a shared commitment to learning together.
Original sources
Students work with primary texts rather than relying only on summaries or secondhand accounts.
Seminar discussion
Faculty and students sit together, ask questions, and shape the conversation as a community.
Cross-disciplinary learning
The program connects questions from the humanities, sciences, and social thought.
Academics at Shimer
Curriculum
Every Shimer course is a small seminar built around primary sources — the works that have shaped how we understand ourselves and our world. The course titles below are the enduring questions themselves, studied across the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences.
Class formatDiscussion seminars
Learning materialsPrimary sources
ApproachInterdisciplinary
Degree pathsB.A. + related minor
Shared intellectual ground
Three core areas. One continuing conversation.
Each area asks its own questions, but Shimer students learn to follow ideas across the boundaries between them.
01
Humanities
Why do we tell stories? Major works of literature, philosophy, history, and the arts — from journeys through art and fiction to music, verse, and drama.
02
Natural Sciences
What is the world made of? Through original texts and experiments, students ask what matter, light, and life really are.
03
Social Sciences
What is justice? Political and social thought — authority and freedom, power and statecraft, revolutions — across time and tradition.
A professor’s introduction to each path
Hear how the major and minor are structured, what students read and discuss, and how each path can fit into a North Central education.
Major introduction videoVideo coming soon
Shimer Great Books B.A.
Introducing the major
Faculty presenter to be announced
A faculty introduction to Shimer’s full interdisciplinary sequence and the experience of studying the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences together.
Minor introduction videoVideo coming soon
History of Ideas
Introducing the minor
Faculty presenter to be announced
A faculty introduction to the related minor, its focus on close reading and discussion, and the ways it can complement another major.
Current semester
Courses offered this semester
Explore the Shimer seminars offered this semester. Consult North Central College’s official class schedule for current instructors, meeting times, credits, registration details, and any schedule changes.
Program requirements
Compare the Shimer Great Books major with the related interdisciplinary History of Ideas minor. Requirement groups are presented in the order students use them to build each pathway.
Bachelor of Arts · Full program
Shimer Great Books, B.A.
01The Great Books major comprises the entirety of the School’s core curriculum. Majors take courses in all three areas — humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences — learning to integrate knowledge and methods from disparate fields.
Related minor · minimum 16 credit hours
History of Ideas
02A related interdisciplinary minor of at least 16 credit hours centered on close reading of primary texts and discussion of influential ideas from antiquity to the present.
Elective coursework
Electives
03Elective courses for the major and minor, added here as they're finalized.
Admissions
How to Apply
There is no separate Shimer application. Apply to North Central College through the route that matches your student type, then tell your admission counselor you want to explore Shimer Great Books.
Shimer applicationNo separate form
Apply throughNorth Central College
ExploreB.A. or related minor
Application process
Four steps from interest to application
Use this as the practical sequence. Current deadlines, requirements, and financial aid details should always be confirmed with North Central admissions.
Submit an application
Apply through North Central College using the application option that fits your student type.
Name your Shimer interest
Tell admissions you are interested in Shimer Great Books so they can connect you with the right academic information.
Send materials
Provide transcripts and any required supporting materials listed by North Central admissions.
Visit and decide
Schedule a visit, ask about a Shimer seminar, review scholarships and aid, and confirm whether the Shimer B.A. or related History of Ideas minor fits your plans.
Applicant paths
Start with your applicant type.
Shimer students enter through North Central College. Your admissions counselor can help match the right application route with your academic plans.
First-year students
Apply as an incoming undergraduate and tell admissions you want to explore Shimer Great Books.
First-year detailsTransfer students
Share prior college coursework so North Central can review transfer credit and advise your Shimer path.
Transfer detailsInternational and other applicants
Find North Central guidance for international, homeschool, veteran, former, and other applicant types.
See every applicant type
Programs
Choose the Shimer path that fits your degree plan
Both options use Shimer’s seminar model: primary texts, close reading, and sustained discussion across disciplines.
Shimer Great Books, B.A.
The full interdisciplinary program for students who want Shimer to be the center of their college course of study.
History of Ideas
A related interdisciplinary minor for students who want to study influential ideas through close reading and discussion alongside another degree program.
Questions and next steps
You do not have to figure it out alone.
Student types
First-year, transfer, international, homeschool, veteran, and former students each have official application guidance.
Compare applicant routesScholarships and aid
Shimer students can use North Central financial aid resources, including scholarships, grants, and aid counseling.
Explore tuition and aidVisit campus
A visit is the best way to understand seminar learning, campus life, and whether the Shimer community fits you.
Explore visit options
Application preparation
Prepare before you open the application.
Requirements vary by applicant type. Use this list to get oriented, then confirm current materials, dates, and aid details with North Central admissions.
- Choose the application route that matches your student type.
- Ask how the Shimer B.A. or related History of Ideas minor fits your degree plan.
- Prepare transcripts and any required supporting materials.
- Schedule a visit or conversation about seminar learning.
Beyond the seminar
Opportunities for Students
Shimer students extend their seminar work through the Senior Thesis and North Central College’s research, internship, and study abroad programs. The School has also hosted the Civic Humanities Project for high school Freedom Scholars.
Build your path
Turn inquiry into experience.
Choose opportunities that deepen your questions, test your ideas, and connect your Shimer education to the world beyond the classroom.
North Central resources
Keep exploring.
For Shimer alumni
After Shimer
Shimer alumni remain part of a community shaped by shared books, serious conversation, and friendships across generations. Reconnect, follow alumni news, and find the resources that keep Shimerians in touch.
One community, many generations
The conversation still belongs to you.
Whether you studied in Mount Carroll, Waukegan, Chicago, or Naperville, alumni share a history of inquiry and a community that continues beyond campus.
Alumni pathways
The habits of the seminar keep shaping alumni lives.
Shimerians carry the conversation into their work, communities, and lifelong learning—then bring new questions and experiences back to one another.
- 01Share what comes next
Alumni bring close reading, clear argument, and intellectual independence into graduate study, careers, creative work, and public life.
- 02Return to the conversation
The Shimer Great Books Reunion brings alumni back to familiar questions, seminar conversations, and friendships across graduating classes.
- 03Use alumni resources
Find transcript guidance, career support, alumni events, historical materials, and North Central College’s wider alumni network.
- 04Stay informed
Follow the alumni bulletin and archived Shimer podcast to keep up with community news, events, reflections, and ongoing conversations.
Alumni resources
Reconnect, find support, and handle the practical details.
Start with Shimer-specific traditions and records, then use North Central College’s wider alumni network for events, career support, and ongoing connection.
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Shimer Great Books Reunion
Find reunion information and return to the conversations and friendships that shaped the Shimer experience.
Open resource 02Shimerian Resources
Use North Central’s Shimer-specific hub for historical records, account guidance, and transcript information.
Open resource 03Order a Transcript
Request an official North Central or former Shimer College transcript through the Registrar’s verified process.
Open resource 04Alumni Events
See upcoming North Central alumni gatherings, Homecoming information, and opportunities to return to campus.
Open resource 05Career Support
Explore North Central career resources and professional-development support available through the College.
Open resource 06North Central Alumni Hub
Update your profile, submit a class note, find alumni programs, and contact Alumni & Family Engagement.
Open resourceThe Great Conversation Continues
Notable voices who studied here first.
Shimer adopted its seminar-based Great Books curriculum in 1950. In the decades since, its graduates have carried those habits into careers across science, politics, the arts, and public life.
Robert Keohane
1961Influential political science professor at Princeton University.
Jerome Kristian
1953Cosmologist known for research on quasars.
Peter Cooley
1962Poet and longtime English professor at Tulane University.
Mia Park
1995Television host and actress.
Jesse Kraai
1994Chess Grandmaster and author.
Dorian Electra
2014Musician and video artist.
Stay Part of the Conversation
Keep the Shimer conversation going
Alumni stay in touch through reunions, archived conversations, and resources built for Shimerians.
Questions, ideas, and feedback
Questions & Feedback
Ask a question, share an idea, or raise a concern with the Shimer Great Books School. Your note will open as an email draft addressed to the Shimer office, so you can review it before sending.
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What would you like Shimer to know?
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