Jefferson Scholars

A Message from the Directors

Welcome to the Jefferson Scholars Program! Our program is just a few years old, but what it contains is something that has provoked, challenged, and inspired many generations of students seeking a liberal education: a first-hand, rigorous encounter with the great books that helped to make our world what it is, and that can equip you to face new challenges well.

The Jefferson Scholars Program will educate you as leaders and as citizens, but first of all, as human beings. Prepare to be startled, puzzled, and disturbed. Prepare to question what you think you know, but, also perhaps, to discover in your own minds the first stirrings of wisdom about things you may have thought no one could know. Prepare to listen, to take risks, and to enter into debates with your classmates, your professors, your books, and, not least of all, with yourselves.

There is a great deal of talk these days about the economic value of an education. You have perhaps also heard that UT Austin is a great party school. Learning how to think is always useful, and college should certainly be fun. But most of all, college should be a time to enjoy a precious kind of freedom, rare in human history, rare even or especially in modern day America, with all of our incredible busy-ness and networking and multi-tasking and start-ups and connectivity—and that is the freedom of true leisure. The ancient Greeks asked themselves what was most worthwhile in life, after we set aside the work we must do out of necessity and the play we need in order to relax from work, and their answer was: serious leisure, at the heart of which they put the pursuit of learning.

You will soon be arriving on the campus of a great university, a place where you can follow your curiosity about almost anything in the world, study it at the highest level, and discuss it with like-minded students. You have probably never been so free as you soon will find yourselves. Once all life’s responsibilities begin to crowd in on you after graduation, you may never be so free again. Make the most of it!

Our best,

Dana Stauffer                                                      Thomas Pangle                                               

Professor of Government                                  Joe R. Long Chair in Democratic Studies,

Co-director, Thomas Jefferson Center             Department of Government

Jefferson Scholars Activities and Events

 

Thursday Lunch Seminar Series

Throughout the year we will have professors give short, informal talks over lunch on topics related to your coursework in the program. These will all be on Thursdays from 12:30 to 2, so please keep that time free in your schedule if possible.

Peer Mentors

As part of our effort to create a small-college learning experience within the large university that is UT, we would like to encourage all freshman Jefferson Scholars to take advantage of the opportunity to be paired with a peer mentor. Mentors are current Jefferson Scholars who will have a fund that they can draw on to take you to lunch, coffee, recreational events like hikes, Frisbee, and bowling, and cultural events on and off campus. You can choose your own mentor by visiting our peer mentor page, or request a mentor by emailing us at cti@austin.utexas.edu.

Jefferson Book Club

The Jefferson Book Club meets approximately every 2 weeks for an informal discussion of a short work or selection from a great book. This fall the meetings will be held on Mondays at 5 pm.

Overview of Jefferson Scholars Coursework

The Jefferson Scholars Program consists of six related courses, leading to the Certificate in Core Texts and Ideas. This sequence of courses, which can be completed in your first three semesters or spread out over as many semesters as necessary to accommodate the needs of your major, will serve several functions in your academic program.

First, the program gives you the foundation for a rich liberal education with an in-depth exploration of major questions, ideas, and books that have shaped the modern world. The program includes one course in each of four areas, covering the philosophy and literature of ancient Greece, the Bible and its various interpreters, the history of political philosophy, and the founding principles of the United States, plus two electives.

Second, these same course will give you a coherent path through the UT core curriculum. Depending on your selections, you can satisfy the following UT Core requirements with your JSP coursework:

UT Core Courses
Signature Course	UGS 303 Challenge of the Greeks UGS 303 Ancient Philosophy and Literature
Social Science	CTI 302 Classics of Social and Political Thought
Visual and Performing Arts	CTI 301G Intro to Ancient Greece
US Government	GOV 312P Constitutional Principles Core Texts

 

Third, when you complete the six courses you will earn the Certificate in Core Texts and Ideas, which will satisfy the minor/certificate requirement for majors that require one, and will provide an additional credential for students in other programs. 

Below are the four required areas for the certificate, together with the courses open to freshmen that satisfy them. Please review this tab for unique numbers, times and locations for these courses in Fall 2025:

 

Area 1 Philosophy and Literature of the Ancient World (choose one)

CTI 301G Introduction to Ancient Greece (fulfills Visual and Performing Arts requirement)       

UGS 303 The Challenge of the Greeks (fulfills Signature Course requirement)

UGS 303 Ancient Philosophy and Literature (fulfills Signature Course requirement)

 

Area 3 History of Political Philosophy

CTI 302 Classics of Social and Political Thought (fulfills Social and Behavioral Science requirement)

 

Area 4 America's Constitutional Principles

GOV 312P Constitutional Principles: Core Texts (half of core Government requirement when paired with GOV 310L)

 

You can view the complete Certificate Plan and a full list of approved electives here:

Certificate Plan

Qualifying Courses

Registration Information

Please show the following information to your academic advisor.

Registering for the Certificate in Core Texts and Ideas

When you come for orientation you should tell your advisor you will be working towards the Core Texts and Ideas Certificate. If your major program requires a minor or certificate, this will serve that function. Formal registration for a certificate is possible only after classes have begun, so at that time we will initiate the application for the certificate on your behalf and you will receive a secure academic note (SAN) from the registrar, prompting you to see your advisor to complete the process. Please contact your advisor as soon as your receive that SAN.

The freshman program for Jefferson Scholars consists of a course on the ancient Greeks, and, if you have room in your schedule, a second course that will address related themes from different perspectives. You are encouraged to take two JSP courses if possible. Also, one of these courses should be a Signature Course unless your major program has its own Signature Course.

Selecting Courses

UGS 303 Challenge of the Greeks (fulfills core signature course requirement)

• 68290            TTH     2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (F 11-12)    UTC 4.104  Stauffer
• 68295            TTH     2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (F 12-1)      UTC 4.104  Stauffer
• 68300            TTH     2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (F 1-2)        UTC 4.104  Stauffer
• 68305            TTH     2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (F 2-3)        UTC 4.104  Stauffer
• 68310            TTH     2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (F 3-4)        UTC 4.104  Stauffer
• 68315            TTH     2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (F 4-5)        UTC 4.104  Stauffer

UGS 303 Ancient Philosophy & Literature (fulfills signature course requirement)

• 67100            TTH     2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (F 11-12)    RLP 0.130  Koons
• 67105            TTH     2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (F 12-1)      RLP 0.130  Koons
• 67115             TTH     2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (F 2-3)      RLP 0.130  Koons

NOTE: As stated above, if you are in an additional program that requires you to take their Signature Course, please plan to take the alternate Area 1 course below:

CTI 301G Introduction to Ancient Greece (fulfills VAPA, alternate to UGS)

• 31230            MWF     1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.         WEL 1.316           Gulizio
• 31235            TTH     2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m.          GDC  6.202          Fallis
• 31240            TTH     3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.          WCP 5.102           Fallis

If you have room in your Fall schedule for an additional JSP course, we recommend either this course that satisfies area 3:

CTI 304 (cross-listed with R S 315) The Bible and Its Interpreters (carries Writing flag)                 

• 31250             TTH    9:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m.        BEN 1.122           Malik
• 31255             TTH     11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.     BEN 1.122           Malik
• 31260             MWF    12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.      PAR 204             Leff

or this one that satisfies area 4:

GOV 312P    Constitutional Principles: Core Texts (fulfills half of core govt. requirement)

• 39435              MWF      9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.        GAR 0.210          Borck
• 39440              MWF       10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.      PAR 303             Carre
• 39445              MWF       11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.      MEZ 1.212           Ghibellini
• 39450              TTH        11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.       GAR 0.128          Kitch
• 39455              MWF       1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.         PAR 208             Ghibellini

In choosing your courses, please keep Thursdays from 12:30 – 2 free in your schedule if possible, since we often schedule events for Jefferson Scholars then.

A Message from Academic Advisor Cassadie Charlesworth

Hello Jefferson Scholars!  Congratulations on being accepted into the Jefferson Scholars Program, and welcome to the University of Texas at Austin. We look forward to having you this fall.

To reserve space in the courses you have selected, please fill out the Google form that I will email you the week before your orientation session—and please let me know if you have any questions at all.

Cassadie Charlesworth

Academic Advising Coordinator

cassadie.charlesworth@austin.utexas.edu

512-232-7283

BAT 2.102

Course Descriptions

CTI 301G Introduction to Ancient Greece

This course introduces students to the history, the culture, the religion, and above all the thought of the ancient Greeks. The material for this course will consist almost entirely of primary sources. We will begin with a unit on Greek history in which we will use passages from Thucydides and Herodotus to try to see what was unique about the Greeks and what they saw as unique about themselves. We will then study closely some of the chief literary and philosophic works of ancient Greece, including Homeric Epic, tragedies, and Platonic dialogues.

UGS 303 The Challenge of the Greeks

This course will study works of ancient Greek historians, statesmen, tragic and comic dramatists, and philosophers to explore abiding questions and issues of human existence as they first emerged in the brilliant, tumultuous world of ancient republicanism. We will focus especially on the challenge that philosophic rationalism and science posed to traditional conceptions of justice and religious belief, and the ways in which philosophic thinkers defended their claim to provide the best guidance for life.

UGS 303 Ancient Philosophy and Literature

This course explores timeless questions about the nature of human happiness and the moral obligations of citizenship through the philosophy and literature of ancient Greece and Rome.

CTI 304 The Bible and Its Interpreters

A study of basic religious texts, this course includes both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, examined from various perspectives (including comparative, historical, philosophical, and literary), with emphasis on the fundamental questions and ideas raised in those texts. The course seeks to develop a wide-ranging familiarity with the Jewish and Christian Bibles and with the dominant modes of ancient, medieval, and early modern biblical interpretation. Readings include an extensive range of primary sources, including both the Scriptures themselves and some of their most influential exegetes.

CTI 302  Classics of Social and Political Thought

Explores the origins of social scientific thought in the history of political philosophy and traces the development of one or more of the social sciences in modern times. Focuses on fundamental ideas about human nature, civil society, and politics, explored through reading such authors as Aristotle, Aquinas, Locke, Rousseau, Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and Freud.

GOV 312P Constitutional Principles: Core Texts

This class is a study of the basic principles of American political life: democracy, equality, and liberty. Through a close reading of core texts of the American political tradition, we will attempt to see how these ideals took hold in the US, what arguments were made on their behalf, and what possible pitfalls there are for a society dedicated to those ideals. In exploring the theme of equality in America, a substantial unit will study the theme of slavery and race in America and the writings of African-American thinkers.