The purpose of this paper is to examine the great books program as it contends with the concerns of Eurocentrism. St. John's College, a liberal arts college, which introduced an undergraduate great books program in 1937, will be the main focus.
General education programs based on Western civilization, including great books programs, have been criticized vociferously by multiculturalists for being Eurocentric, and since the 1980s, some of them have been replaced with more multiculturalistic programs. However, despite the criticism by multiculturalists, and some changes in its reading list, St. John's College has maintained its Eurocentric undergraduate great books program.
This paper comprises five sections : Section 1 deals with the purpose and structure of the paper ; Section 2 presents a review on previous studies concerning the history of the great books program at St. John's College ; Section 3 reveals Eva T. H. Brann's understanding of liberal education and multiculturalistic views ; she has been a faculty member since 1957 and has worked as a dean from 1990 to 1997 at St. John's College, Annapolis ; Section 4 scrutinizes how Brann defended the great books program so as to avoid criticism by the multiculturalists in the early 1990s ; On the basis of the four sections described above, Section 5 presents concluding remarks on the program.

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