Shimer Great Books School

Shimer Great Books School
Former names
Mount Carroll Seminary, Frances Shimer Academy, Frances Shimer Junior College, Shimer College
TypeGreat Books-focused academic department
Established1853 (1853)
Parent institution
North Central College
Location
Chicago, Illinois

41°49′55″N 87°37′33″W / 41.83194°N 87.62583°W / 41.83194; -87.62583
Websitewww.northcentralcollege.edu/shimer-great-books-school

Shimer Great Books School (pronounced /ˈʃaɪmər/ ⓘ SHY-mər) is a Great Books college that is part of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Prior to 2017, Shimer was an independent, accredited college on the south side of Chicago, originally founded in 1853.

Originally founded as the Mount Carroll Seminary in Mount Carroll, Illinois in 1853, it became affiliated with the University of Chicago in 1896 and was renamed the Frances Shimer Academy after founder Frances Wood Shimer. It was renamed Shimer College in 1950, when it began offering a four-year curriculum based on the Hutchins Plan of the University of Chicago. After the University of Chicago parted with both Shimer and the Hutchins Plan in 1958, Shimer continued to use a version of that curriculum. The college relocated to Waukegan in 1978 and to Chicago in 2006. In 2017, it was acquired by North Central College which established the Shimer Great Books School to continue offering its curriculum.

It has a long reputation as being intellectually original, demanding, and rigorous. The current academic program is based on a core curriculum sixteen required courses in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. All courses are small seminars with no more than twelve students, and were based on original sources from a list of about 200 core texts broadly based on the great books canon. Classroom instruction is Socratic discussion. Considerable writing is required, including two comprehensive examinations and a senior thesis. Students are admitted primarily on the basis of essays and interviews; no minimum grades or test scores were required. Shimer has one of the highest alumni doctorate rates in the country.[1][2][3]

According to The New York Times, students "share[d] a love of books [and] a disdain for the conventional style of education. Many say they did not have a good high school experience".[4] Students, who tend to be individualistic and creative thinkers, are encouraged to ask questions.[5] Shimer historically averaged 125 students, and enrolled 97 in 2014.[6] Most Shimer alumni went on to graduate studies.[7][8]

Shimer was, until joining North Central College, governed internally by an assembly in which all community members had a vote.[9] In 2016, Shimer announced an agreement to be acquired by North Central College.[10] The agreement came to fruition on June 1, 2017, when Shimer's faculty and curriculum were subsumed into North Central as a department known as the Shimer Great Books School of North Central College.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference magazinelauds was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Liberal Arts College Rankings". The Washington Monthly. Archived from the original on 17 December 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference bourque was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference smallcampus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Peterson's Four-Year Colleges 2007. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: Thompson Peterson's. 2006. p. 2248. ISBN 0-7689-2153-8.
  6. ^ "Facts & Figures that Set Shimer Apart from Other Colleges". Shimer College. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  7. ^ Flink, John (January 26, 1998). "Small Shimer College Ranks High in Sending Students on to Ph. D. s". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest 418523045.
  8. ^ Southwell, David (January 23, 1998). "Shimer College's Graduates Go Far". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original (fee required) on November 4, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  9. ^ "How It Works". Shimer College. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
  10. ^ "Board Votes "Yes" to Memorandum with North Central College: Shimer College". www.shimer.edu. Archived from the original on June 12, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2016.