St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, is, I believe, unique in the academic world. They operate on what they call the "Great Books" method. The students spend 4 years reading 100 books, which the College thinks are the indispensible books for an educated person. (The list is revised periodically -- it's not always the same 100). It covers such diverse writers as Euclid, Freud, Isaac Newton, and, of course, "literary" authors. Science and math[s] are learned from original writers. Also, there are no professors, no lectures and no exams. The students are taught by tutors, as at Oxford & Cambridge. [Actually they teach themselves, guided by tutors.] Strange as this may sound, it actually produces graduates who are in great demand by corporations and other employers. I imagine they have a website where you can learn more about this program and the reading list. It's not a real old idea; although St. Johns is an old institution, it used traditional methods until the 1930's, when it was on the verge of going out of business and the Great Books program was invented to keep it going.
