# Name of Small Liberal Arts College? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2014, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220 "2014-11-10T06:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220/21 "2014-11-11T00:41:09Z")
sbunny8 writes: \> Could you be thinking of New College near Tampa FL? See post #7. ---
**Author:** ![SuperAbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@SuperAbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperAbe)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220/22 "2014-11-11T04:02:29Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Thomas Aquinas is also a saint, so if we’re going to go be whether it fits that part of GreenElf’s description, it couldn’t be that either. True - I was going for the literal “I don’t recall it being named after a saint” since the school isn’t named “_Saint_ Thomas Aquinas”, though I concede that’s an awfully fine needle point upon which to base a debate… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220/23 "2014-11-11T08:11:01Z")
> [@SuperAbe](#): > > [Thomas Aquinas college](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas_College)? > > [ul] > [li]Small (~350 students)[/li][li]one degree only (B.A. in liberal arts)[/li][li]“Great Books” oriented ([The college replaces textbooks with original sources, the seminal works in all the major disciplines](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas_College#Curriculum)")[/li][li]in Southern California[/li][/ul] > > Only misses on the grading issue (which is [unusual in tone but not in practice](http://thomasaquinas.edu/a-liberating-education/assessment)). That’s probably it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220/24 "2014-11-11T12:40:09Z")
Wow, I never even knew that places like this existed. I wish I had known about them 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220/25 "2014-11-11T13:07:28Z")
Ahhhhhh! I wrote: \> See post #7. I meant: \> See post #5. I wrote both posts, but the one that mentioned New College was post #5. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220/26 "2014-11-11T20:43:10Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Then you must be thinking of St. John’s College in Santa Fe, because it exactly fits your description. I suspect you’re just misremembering when you say that it wasn’t named after a saint (and, incidentally, St. John’s isn’t a religious college). Also, St. John’s doesn’t do much science in its curriculum. You read some old science books from centuries ago and do some laboratory work. SJC doesn’t “do much” science? While the study of science there is not hi-tech, every student takes three years of science classes, ranging from botany, anatomy and astonomy, through physics and optics, up to studying relativity and quantum theory. I doubt many students who come out of other colleges with a BS have anywhere near as developed an understanding of the sciences. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220/27 "2014-11-11T20:57:59Z")
Interesting. It didn’t sound like that from the description that I saw. Thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220/28 "2014-11-12T01:55:25Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > I remember getting brochures from several of them including Reed College and Evergreen State College, but the one I’m thinking of is in the southwest US. It had the most offbeat curriculum of any, and the brochure’s content consisted mainly of a listing of great books. Yes, you must be thinking of St John’s. I remember them recruiting me heavily back in the 70s (Reed did, too). It sounded very cool, but I’m glad I ended up elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220/29 "2014-11-12T02:08:31Z")
John Mace, note that in post #23 GreenElf says that it’s probably Thomas Aquinas. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220/30 "2014-11-13T20:06:25Z")
If anyone would like more info about St. John’s (Santa Fe and Annapolis), please see my post(s) in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=740548). I graduated from the Annapolis campus in 1984, and am happy to talk about it here or in private messages or e-mails. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220/31 "2014-11-13T20:09:52Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > Wow, I never even knew that places like this existed. I wish I had known about them 20 years ago. You can go to St. John’s at any age. I was 25 when I started, and not the youngest person in my class. Also, you can take the Graduate program, an abbreviated form of the Great Books program offered over two summers (fulltime) or two school years (part-time evening). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-of-small-liberal-arts-college/704220.md?page=1)