CTI @ UT Austin
The aim of the Thomas Jefferson Center at UT Austin is to realize Jefferson's vision of educating citizens and leaders to understand the meaning of liberty and to exercise it wisely. We share Jefferson's conviction that one of the best ways to attain a liberal education--an education suited for a free individual in a free society--is through a serious study of the great books. In our courses, students will engage in a direct, respectful, but probing and critical study of major creative and theoretical works that have shaped human thought and history. They will enter into debates about human nature, ethics, and the meaning of life. They will learn skills of critical reasoning, close reading, and clear, cogent writing. They will join a community of scholars drawn from many departments and many schools of thought, united by a passion for fundamental questions, a spirit of friendly debate, and a willingness to engage in critical self-scrutiny.
2025 Constitution Day Lecture with Vincent Phillip Muñoz
Jefferson Scholars Testimonials 2024
Lewis Fallis on the Political Consequences of Nihilism
James Carey: Duns Scotus’s Modal Argument for the Existence and Freedom of God
David Futscher on Liberalism and Loneliness
2022 Constitution Day; Diana Schaub, Lincoln’s Lyceum Address: Democratic Theory for Citizens
Afternoon Lecture by Dr. Dempsey
Wayne Ambler- Xenophon's Education of Cyrus Lecture
Tocqueville on the Modern Soul
James Abbott Video
Einstein Relativity Myths
Completing the Constitution: The 14th Amendment
Goethe and Schiller - and Us?
The Discovery of Entropy--and its Implications pt.2
Milton's Satanic Verses
Abraham's Confrontation with God over the Fate of Sodom
Aristophanes' Critique of the Gods
A. Lincoln, Philosopher
Adam Smith and Nationalism
Why Future Scientists, Physicians and Engineers Should Study the Great Books
Aristotle and the Foundations of American Liberalism
St. Augustine Goes Global
Rousseau and the Modern Cult of Sincerity
Cervantes' Don Quixote; Differences in Novelistic Structure and Characterization in the Two Parts
Homer and the Foundation of Classical Civilization
How to Begin to Study Thomas Aquinas
The Good, the Bad and the Evil; Faith, Ethics and Truth in the 21st Century
Discovering Oneself Through the Great Books pt. 1
Discovering Oneself Through the Great Books pt. 2