Hidden Gems are honors programs, major degree programs, minor degree programs, and certificate programs that guide students through a high-quality and coherent interdisciplinary education across the liberal arts. Philosophy, literature, politics, history, and the Great Books of Western Civilization are topics that are often a focal point. Particularly valued are programs that encourage connections between the liberal arts and STEM, business, medicine, and other nontraditional liberal arts subjects. These programs are focused on classroom instruction. Some of them may offer fellowships or scholarship programs, but they all emphasize building community around dialogue and learning.
Explore this page to learn more about these programs.
If your college's academic program is interested in becoming a Hidden Gem, contact ACTA's What Will They Learn?® team.
Ashland University
Ashland, OH
Ashbrook Scholar Program
Ashland University’s Ashbrook Scholar Program boasts an impressive liberal arts curriculum emphasizing Western Civilization and the founding of the United States. Students engage in seminar-style classes, reading a variety of authors including Plato, Shakespeare, Hobbes, and Churchill. Ashbrook Scholars receive an annual, merit-based scholarship and exclusive internship opportunities through the program’s national network of colleagues, alumni, and friends.
Azusa Pacific University
Azusa, CA
The Honors College at Azusa Pacific University
The Honors College at Azusa Pacific University seeks to educate the next generation of leaders through exposure to the liberal arts. Students read primary sources of the Great Texts, including Aristotle, Augustine, and C.S. Lewis, in small, discussion-based classes with faculty and peers. The Honors College grants early registration privileges, financial support, and private housing for its freshmen.
Belmont Abbey College
Belmont, NC
The Honors College at Belmont Abbey College
Belmont Abbey’s Honors College emphasizes ancient and modern thought through its Great Books curriculum. Taught by experienced faculty, students can read works by Shakespeare, St. John Paul II, and Fredrick Douglas, while experiencing close comradery with their peers. The Honors College also offers cultural events and study abroad opportunities at their overseas abbey in Ireland.
Benedictine College
Atchison, KS
Great Books Program
The Great Books Program at Benedictine College offers students the option to fulfill general education requirements through a rigorous liberal arts curriculum. Open to all majors, this four-semester pathway follows the development of human thought from the Ancient World, through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and to the modern world. Benedictine also invites scholars to meet and share ideas in connection with the Nelson-Atkins Museum and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
Biola University
La Mirada, CA
Torrey Honors College
The Torrey Honors College at Biola University allows students to engage with and openly discuss great authors and thinkers, from Plato and Aristotle to C.S. Lewis. Students are encouraged to work collaboratively with peers and faculty alike and are given mentorship opportunities to prepare them personally and professionally for life outside of college.
Faulkner University
Montgomery, AL
Great Books Honors Program & Online B.A. in Humanities
Faulkner University’s Great Books Honors Program serves students across academic disciplines, tailoring honors courses and pathways to each. Writing, thinking, and discussing are key features of the program, which serve to foster transformative experiences for students. The University’s online Humanities degree aims to deepen students’ understanding of society and the arts, while enhancing skills in analysis, writing, and critical thinking.
Franciscan University of Steubenville
Steubenville, OH
Great Books of Western Civilization Honors Program
The Great Books of Western Civilization Honors Program provides students with a rich liberal arts education steeped in the Western Tradition. Students encounter authors like Homor, Thomas Aquinas, Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson, and Kant in an exclusive curriculum comprised wholly of the great books. The program fosters analytical reading, discussion, and expository writing, and is guided by the teachings of the Catholic Church.
George Fox University
Newburg, OR
The Honors Program
George Fox University’s Honors Program provides an education based on the Great Books tradition to form and prepare students for 21st century life. Professors guide small Socratic seminars to help students encounter the readings in greater depth. Freshmen are offered an exclusive Honors Orientation, spiritual retreats, weekly events, and an Honors Forum to foster community.
Georgia State University
Atlanta , GA
Philosophy, Politics and Economics, B.I.S.
The Philosophy, Politics and Economics Bachelors of Interdisciplinary Studies (B.I.s.) at Georgia State University exposes students to each discipline, enabling them to contribute to and discuss political and economic institutions and the policies and practices that form them. It sharpens students’ analytical and critical reasoning and writing, preparing them for success in law, government or public service, and entrepreneurial endeavors.
Houston Christian University
Houston, TX
The Honors College
Houston Christian University’s Honors College helps students to grow in their intellectual and moral lives through rigorous engagement with the great works of Western civilization. Students participate in small discussion-based classes and explore disciplines as diverse as theology, psychology, drama, philosophy, and economics. The Honors College also offers students co-curricular activities such as symposia, roundtables, and opportunities for undergraduate research.
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS
Primary Texts Certificate Program at Kansas State University
Kansas State University’s Primary Texts Certificate Program is an 18-hour program of study that enables students to read original texts and discuss the work of influential thinkers. The certificate program covers disciplines such as philosophy and literature, and authors like Galileo and James Madison.
Kentucky State University
Frankfort, KY
Whitney Young College Honors Program
The Whitney Young College Honors Program encourages its students to pursue knowledge for its own sake and develops students’ communication and reasoning skills. Students read and discuss the great works of the Western and Eastern traditions in small seminars. Students can go on to major in any field while enjoying exclusive honors program study abroad and internship opportunities.
Lipscomb University
Nashville, TN
Honors College at Lipscomb University
The Honors College at Lipscomb University introduces students to history’s significant topics, ideas, questions, and thinkers through its rigorous and interdisciplinary honors curriculum. Honors students study a range of disciplines such as literature, theology, and the natural and social sciences and are offered exclusive research and grant opportunities.
Mercer University
Macon, GA
Great Books Program
Mercer University’s Great Books Program consists of eight courses focused on reading, discussing, and writing about the Great Books of the Western Tradition. Students analyze works from many authors, including Aeschylus, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hamilton, Dostoevsky, and Jane Austen, and learn from interdisciplinary faculty across the College of Liberal Arts.
Morehead State University
Morehead, KY
George M. Luckey, Jr. Academic Honors Program
The George M. Luckey, Jr. Academic Honors Program challenges its students through its rigorous and enriched scholastic education. It seeks to broaden students’ personal development to prepare them to be successful citizens capable of making valuable contributions to society. Exclusive scholarship, housing, and overseas opportunities are available for honors students.
Palm Beach Atlantic University
West Palm Beach, FL
Frederick M. Supper Honors Program
The Frederick M. Supper Honors Program at Palm Beach Atlantic University seeks to help students lead a well-lived life by cultivating their faith, character, and intellect. Honors students are carefully selected by the faculty and join a community of dedicated scholars. Students read the works of Plato, Bacon, Thucydides, and Aquinas, as well as such transformative texts as Beowulf and The Koran. The program grants credit to those studying abroad.
Purdue University - West Lafayette
West Lafayette, IN
The Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts Certificate Program
Purdue University’s 15-credit hour Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts Certificate program introduces students from all majors to transformative texts across disciplines. The program, founded in 2017, serves over 8,000 students per year and acts as a “core within a core”, allowing students to satisfy general education requirements simultaneously. Cornerstone aims to inspire and train students to speak confidently, write clearly, read closely, and develop a lifelong love for learning.
State University of New York - University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY
The Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Major Program at SUNY-Buffalo
The University of Buffalo’s Politics, Philosophy, and Economics major program integrates insights from philosophy, political science, and economics into a constructive framework that enhances students’ analytical skills. The program creates prepared leaders eager to shape and improve the relationship between markets and the liberal sociopolitical order.
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
The Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Minor Program
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) minor program invites students to consider the relationships between social, political, and economic institutions, alongside questions of rights, liberties, and justice. Students engage with these questions in an academic community centered on rigorous interdisciplinary study, and rooted in the work of John Locke, David Hume, Adam Smith, among others.
University of Tulsa
Tulsa, OK
The Honors College at the University of Tulsa
The Honors College at the University of Tulsa provides honors students with an education in the Great Books tradition that is designed to satisfy students’ general education requirements and complement their chosen major. Students read and discuss authors and thinkers such as Homer, Seneca, Augustine, Dante, Douglas, and Morrison under the guidance and mentorship of accomplished faculty.