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<p>Chicago and Columbia do share a common history in developing Core curricula and in exploring the Great Books approach. John Dewey was a faculty member of both schools (first at Chicago in the 1890s, then at Columbia for decades). However, I don’t think it is historically accurate to say he heavily influenced the Core curriculum concept. As I understand it, his philosophy was rather antithetical to the Great Books program and to the Core idea. The origins of these approaches generally are attributed to Columbia professor John Erskine.</p>
<p>[The</a> Great Ideas](<a href=“The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center - The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center - The University of Chicago Library”>The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center - The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center - The University of Chicago Library)</p>
<p>But I agree it is a good idea to take a deep look at what students are getting out of these programs at each school, and to compare the Core approach to other approaches such as the Open Curriculum at Brown. </p>
<p>By the way, St. Johns (the Great Books college in Annapolis and Santa Fe) has no religious affiliation.</p>