Classes resume in Greece for Ralston College’s third cohort of Master's students

About Ralston College’s Master of the Arts in the Humanities

Taken together, the academic itinerary of the MA’s four terms and their chronological sequence provides students with an integrated knowledge—and experience—of the West’s intellectual, spiritual, and historical trajectory.

“At Ralston College, we take seriously the importance of imparting to students the ideas and ideals, and the unfolding story, over three millennia, of Western civilization, so they can better find themselves in, understand, and work to improve, our contemporary world," President Blackwood said.

The MA charts its course through Western civilization, from the Greek world of Homer, through major literary and philosophical works of Ancient Rome and Medieval Europe, then into the Renaissance and up to our modern era.

Among the College’s first two graduated classes, the Greek language residency has proved to be extremely popular; graduates express both gratitude and excitement about being able to access the foundational texts of the Western Canon directly—without translators, commentators, or other intermediaries. 

“Few things better enable free inquiry than the ability to access the thoughts of those who lived in the past without intermediaries or ideological distortion. Our radically innovative and immersive approach to language learning gives students the ability to read confidently in Greek or Latin—accessing directly the works of Homer, Plato, Augustine, and others—in only a few months of hard study. It's proven to be one of the most exciting and transformative aspects of the Ralston experience,” he said.

The first Term in Greece includes several weeks of in-person learning from the Island of Samos as well as extensive travel throughout the Peloponnese Region including visits to Patmos, Ephesus and Nafplio.

After Greece, students travel to Savannah, Georgia, where the College has an expanding campus in the city’s National Historic District. Greek studies continue throughout the year and students are given ample opportunities to explore works of philosophy, art, and literature. Intense scrutiny of specific works is paired with ambitious, wide-ranging surveys. 

Ralston College’s MA is also enriched by a wide range of concerts, symposia, guest lectures, and other events that supplement the main curricular program. 

The College’s annual Sophia Lectures, a public lecture series that explores perennial questions in philosophy to make sense of our contemporary moment, invite preeminent scholars to its Savannah campus.

In the College’s inaugural academic year, the Sophia Lectures were given by Dr Douglas Hedley of the University of Cambridge, and, the following year, they were given by Dr Iain McGilchrist. During their respective stays on campus, Drs Hedley and McGilchrist dined often with students and made themselves available for discussion and informal seminars. 

“Many applicants share with us their frustration at having graduated from universities, however prestigious their names may be, without a real education. They keenly welcome the opportunity to ask and explore fundamental human questions, and in a community that values friendship and freedom of thought,” President Blackwood said.

Other guest lecturers at Ralston College during the 2023-24 academic year included professional icon carver and liturgical artist Jonathan Pageau, American political philosopher and legal scholar Peter Berkowitz, literary scholar and popular author Mark Bauerlein, French linguist and world-renowned Greek pedagogue Christophe Rico, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Joshua T. Katz, and architects Peter Pennoyer and Christian Sottile.

About Ralston College 

The immersive Greek language residency, which is so popular with Ralston’s MA graduates, has inspired the College to continue expanding its offerings. Last month, it launched its first non-degree Summer Latin Program.

On July 23rd, the College welcomed to Sicily 25 young scholars, selected from applicants across five continents, where they began a nine-week program of immersive learning how to read and speak Latin and Italian. 

In addition to extensive classroom time, the program includes guided travel through the Bay of Naples, Rome, Florence, and many other historic sites throughout August and September. The teaching team, comprising some of the most gifted spoken Latinists in the world, will teach the entire course by the direct method. Students’ concentrated linguistic study will be enriched by the reading of literary, historical, and philosophical texts, evening seminars, archaeological visits, and speaking Latin and Italian wherever possible.

Making additional language courses available was a natural next step for the College while it continues working toward accreditation and, eventually, the launch of an undergraduate degree in the Humanities. 

President Blackwood expressed his enthusiasm for the beginning of the College’s third academic year and the students who make up its third class of MA graduates.

“The public deserves to have confidence in universities’ ability to transmit knowledge to young people. The expressions of support and encouragement that Ralston College regularly receives from people around the world deepen my conviction that there has never been a greater time–and indeed a greater need–to build a new university.”

Regular open-house tours in Savannah will resume this fall when the Class of 2025 returns to the United States after their first term in Greece. 

An announcement about the College’s public lectures and the featured speaker of this year’s annual Sophia Lecture Series will follow.