Photo via Wikimedia: Mosaic depicting Odysseus.

Since arriving at New College, the Board of Trustees and I have committed to returning the institution to its foundation as a classical liberal arts Honors College. Nearly two years later, we’ve honored this promise by reemphasizing the Classics—a tradition that has shaped intellectual thought for centuries.

Through collaboration with our exceptional faculty, New College has launched an innovative General Education core curriculum that provides a strong foundation for students to excel far beyond their college years. One of the many virtues of a great liberal arts education is its multidisciplinary nature, and professors from a wide array of academic fields have contributed in both the assembly and implementation of this curriculum. 

At the heart of New College’s academics is our Logos + Techne curriculum, which combines timeless wisdom with practical applications to prepare students for today’s world. Guided by Logos (reason and understanding) and Techne (practical skill and technology), the curriculum’s shared intellectual experiences allow students to engage deeply with the Humanities and Sciences, exploring great thinkers of Western civilization while embracing modern tools like data science and machine learning.

Our vision for higher education is rooted in the legacy of the Great Books and the foundational ideas of Western civilization. These timeless works encourage students to grapple with enduring philosophical and ethical questions like “What is a just society?” and “What does it mean to live a good life?” These questions and many others are a proven pathway to cultivating critical thinking and intellectual curiosity—embodying New College’s philosophy of “teaching students how to think, not what to think.”

The Techne portion of our curriculum emphasizes career development, hands-on learning, and research to prepare students for real-world opportunities and challenges. It introduces emerging fields like data science and machine learning while teaching practical skills in data analysis, visualization, and problem-solving. These tools are applicable across industries and prepare our students through both intellectual depth and career adaptability. 

A flagship course for first-year students is Homer’s Odyssey, read and discussed in small groups led by faculty from diverse disciplines. I am incredibly excited about this shared class, successfully piloted over the past two years, as it has enhanced camaraderie, critical thinking and inspired conversations across campus. Simultaneously, students will take Techne courses like Introduction to AI or Data Visualization, where they gain practical skills and explore how data-driven technologies and AI impact society. All of this creates a uniquely integrated learning experience, blending tradition and innovation to prepare students for meaningful lives and careers.

In the spirit of Archimedes, we aim to give our students “a firm place to stand from which they can move the earth.” Our new core curriculum integrates the old with the new—and is building a strong foundation for growth. 

Richard Corcoran is President of New College of Florida.

Photo via Wikimedia: Mosaic depicting Odysseus.