FAQs
Learn More about Great Texts
The Great Texts major is a community of scholars and students who study, discuss, and write about some of the most powerful works of literature, philosophy, and theology, from antiquity to the present. We study these works as part of an ongoing conversation about how we order our lives as human communities and as individuals. We offer a major, a minor, and a secondary major. Our courses are also part of the curriculum for students in the Honors Program, the University Scholars Program, and the School of Engineering and Computer Science. Great Texts is also a major available as a part of the Honors College's Bachelor of Philosophy degree. Great Texts courses provide apprenticeship in the skills of writing and analysis that everyone needs, but we do this in the context of debates and stories (historical and fictive) that offer formation in practical wisdom. We also recognize the central place of Christian faith in those ongoing debates and narratives.
Yes! To be accepted into Great Texts students must first apply to Baylor University through goBAYLOR.
Once you’ve applied to Baylor, complete the University’s Elite Academic Programs application. Select Great Texts. There, you’ll also find details on all Honors College programs, application steps, essay prompts, and key deadlines. The Elite Academic Programs application opens each fall on September 1.
Students majoring in Great Texts may choose between two degree paths:
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) — An interdisciplinary liberal arts degree that pairs well with minors, double majors, or pre-professional tracks.
Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) — A highly selective, research-intensive degree that includes a required secondary major, a robust core curriculum, and a required senior thesis. Students who are accepted into the B.Phil. are automatically accepted into Great Texts.
Great Texts students are intellectually curious and eager to explore deep questions. They enjoy discussion-based learning, appreciate the power of stories and ideas, and want to make meaningful connections between past and present.
The major draws students preparing for careers in law, medicine, education, ministry, public service, business, and academia.
Great Texts graduates excel in a wide variety of professions. The major includes optional Pre-Health, Pre-Law, Pre-Seminary, and Liberal Arts tracks. Many of our students also go on to graduate studies in theology, literature, or politics, while others go into Classical education. Our graduates have gone into professions ranging from pharmacology to the piloting of military helicopters, but their shared experience of Great Texts has taught them not to mistake how they earn a living for who they are. They have good jobs, but they have also considered what it means to be genuinely free.
Many academic disciplines focus on either general principles (concepts) or individual particulars (historical details), but the study of Great Texts provides you with the experience of making connections between these realities, discerning how and why specific concepts may or may not be relevant to a particular situation. This is why Great Texts provides such excellent formation for the medical and legal professions, but also for anyone interested in lived practical wisdom.
Not everyone is a scientist, or an engineer, or a business leader, but all scientists, all engineers, and all business leaders are human beings. The study of Great Texts provides you with an opportunity to become a genuine leader in your academic discipline or professional field. Reality doesn’t conveniently divide up questions of knowledge from questions of ethics or questions of enjoyment. In contrast to modern academic disciplines, the study of Great Texts allows you to ask the most practical questions about how we, as humans, order our lives together by exploring the connections between what we know, how we live, and what we enjoy. If you are interested in being a leader in your field, consider adding Great Texts as a minor or secondary major.
No; our courses extend from the ancients to the moderns. See a list of possible texts and authors that you would study. The major includes a core historical sequence that goes through the twentieth century, in addition to topical courses on music, the visual arts, the philosophy of science, business, leadership, and Christian spirituality.
Yes. Great Texts pairs well with a wide range of other majors and minors, including Biology, Political Science, Religion, English, Philosophy, History, and Business.
Students pursuing the B.A. often choose to have a secondary major. Those in the B.Phil. are required to have a secondary major.
The Great Texts program is one of the departments that make up the Honors College. Students who are accepted to the Great Texts major become part of the Honors College. Together with the Bachelor of Philosophy degree, Honors Program, Baylor Interdisciplinary Core, and University Scholars, we work to provide all of our students with a world-class education, taught by leading scholars in their disciplines, in a caring Christian community.
By virtue of becoming part of the Honors College, students who are accepted as a Great Texts major are eligible to apply for Scholarships that are specific to the Honors College. There are also some scholarship funds specifically for the support of students who major in Great Texts.