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29-733: Zaytuna College seeks to integrate the institutions of the American liberal arts college and traditional Islamic education, drawing on their shared roots in the classical liberal arts . In the academic year 2014–2015, Zaytuna College had an undergraduate student body of about fifty students, most of whom lived on campus. Zaytuna College offers a BA in Liberal Arts & Islamic Studies and an MA in Islamic Texts. Courses range from Arabic grammar and Islamic jurisprudence, to American history and ancient literature. In 1996, Zaytuna Institute

58-522: A Cheat) in 1938, Marcel Pagnol 's The Baker's Wife in 1940 and Mario Camerini 's The Spirit and the Flesh , an adaptation of Alessandro Manzoni 's classic novel The Betrothed , in 1948. To commemorate the seven hundredth anniversary of Roger Bacon , Erskine wrote A Pageant of the Thirteenth Century, a biographical play which was produced at Columbia University and published as

87-623: A book by Columbia University Press in 1914. The Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College holds a collection of his papers. In 1946 he served as the first chairman of the American Writers Association . He was married twice, to Pauline Ives (m. 1910–1945) and Helen Worden Erskine (m. 1946–1951). With his wife Pauline (Ives), he was the grandfather of actress Lindsay Crouse and the great-grandfather of actress Zosia Mamet . He died on June 2, 1951, in New York at

116-523: A concept he elaborated in his noted essay The Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent . He found little support for the course from the senior faculty, and junior faculty members like Mark Van Doren and later after 1923, Mortimer Adler took up sections of the course. This course would later go on to inspire the Great Books movement, centered on the Great Books of the Western World . The course

145-474: A denominational liberal arts college, Zaytuna College combines a Great Books approach to the liberal arts with elements of a traditional Muslim seminary education. There is a single undergraduate major, which is a Muslim analogue to the historic Greats degree at Oxford. The undergraduate degree is built on the classical model of the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic), common to education in medieval Christendom and Islam, including staple ancient texts like

174-602: A revival of the American denominational liberal arts college, with a Muslim ethos. Trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar , logic , and rhetoric . The trivium is implicit in De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella , but the term was not used until the Carolingian Renaissance , when it

203-648: A second, larger location nearby, known as the Upper Campus. When the college was first accredited in 2015, it was a first for an American Muslim college. It was initially accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges for its BA in Liberal Arts & Islamic Studies and its non-degree Summer Arabic Intensive Program, which has since been integrated with the BA program. Zaytuna received further accreditation for its graduate program in 2018. As

232-495: A teacher who has studied the text, in a chain going back to the author.  So far, it is the only American graduate program to feature this method. Zaytuna's faculty includes both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars, with a variety of educational backgrounds. The college is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission . Zaytuna College is built on a classical liberal arts curriculum, influenced by

261-498: Is the art of thinking; and rhetoric is the art of communicating thought from one mind to another, the adaptation of language to circumstance. . . . Grammar is concerned with the thing as-it-is-symbolized. Logic is concerned with the thing as-it-is-known. Rhetoric is concerned with the thing as-it-is-communicated. John Ayto wrote in the Dictionary of Word Origins (1990) that study of the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric)

290-521: Is to identify what is most probably true or false where logical certainty is not possible. Aristotle defined rhetoric as, "the power of perceiving in every thing that which is capable of producing persuasion." Sister Miriam Joseph , in The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric (2002), described the trivium as follows: Grammar is the art of inventing symbols and combining them to express thought; logic

319-603: The Isagoge of Porphyry . All students are required to take Arabic, so that they can read primary sources from the Muslim tradition in their original form. Some students supplement this with other languages, including Persian, Greek, and Biblical Hebrew according to their interests and research needs. In addition to their grounding in reasoning and language skills, students take courses including theology, philosophy, law, history and constitutional law. The college's graduate program,

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348-456: The Boar's Head Society for literature. In 1920, he instituted Columbia College 's General Honors Course, a two-year undergraduate seminar that would later help inspire "Masterworks of Western Literature", now known commonly as "Literature Humanities", the second component of Columbia College's Core Curriculum . This course taught the classics in translation instead of the original Latin or Greek,

377-693: The Classical education movement ) and at the independent Oundle School in the United Kingdom . Etymologically, the Latin word trivium means "the place where three roads meet" (tri + via); hence, the subjects of the trivium are the foundation for the quadrivium , the upper division of the medieval education in the liberal arts , which consists of arithmetic (numbers as abstract concepts), geometry (numbers in space), music (numbers in time), and astronomy (numbers in space and time). Educationally,

406-476: The MA in Islamic Texts, is built on rigorous primary source readings of Muslim texts in their original languages and training in advanced research skills. Graduate students must pick between a philosophy-focused track or a law-focused track. They must then produce original research on their chosen topics. With this text-based approach, students in the MA program follow the traditional Muslim system of learning directly from

435-418: The author of numerous publications, including several humorous novels retelling myths and legends, besides essays, criticism, and two volumes of autobiography. These included Penelope's Man and Adam and Eve, Though He Knew Better . Erskine was also an accomplished composer, pianist and musician. He wrote several books of music and the libretto for George Antheil 's opera Helen Retires (1931), which

464-462: The musical score for The Governor's Vrouw (1900), a two-act comic opera by Henry Sydnor Harrison and poet Melville Cane , who also wrote the lyrics. He won the Butler Medal in 1919. During his career Erskine published over 100 books, though as a writer he first received acclaim with his novel The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1925). This novel was made into a silent film by the same

493-405: The name in 1927, directed by Alexander Korda . Other films based on his works included A Lady Surrenders (1930) by John M. Stahl , Bachelor of Arts (1934) by Louis King and The President's Mystery (1936) directed by Phil Rosen . The 1956 biopic of French noblewoman Diane de Poitiers entitled Diane was based on his story with a screenplay by Christopher Isherwood . He was also

522-608: The pilot program and a summer Arabic intensive course led to the inaugural undergraduate degree cohort in 2010, consisting of eight female and seven male students. Upon its move to Berkeley, Zaytuna College rented space from the American Baptist Seminary of the West (ABSW). In July 2012, Zaytuna acquired its own campus on Berkeley's "Holy Hill", a location so named because it is host to a number of theological colleges and seminaries. In 2017, Zaytuna went on to acquire

551-479: The process of composing sound arguments and identifying fallacious arguments and statements and so systematically removing contradictions, thereby producing factual knowledge that can be trusted. Its aim is to calculate what is certainly true or false. Rhetoric is the application of language in order to instruct and to persuade the listener and the reader. It is the knowledge (grammar) now understood (logic) and being transmitted outwards as wisdom (rhetoric). Its aim

580-507: The traditional Muslim and Scholastic systems as well as the Great Books course pioneered in the 20th century United States by John Erskine , Mortimer Adler , and Charles van Doren . Adler would go on to instruct founder Hamza Yusuf in philosophy and educational theory. Through this synthesis, it aims to produce students who are educated in the Muslim tradition and conversant in the contemporary world alike. By doing so, it sees itself as

609-479: The trivium and the quadrivium imparted to the student the seven liberal arts of classical antiquity . Grammar teaches the mechanics of language to the student. This is the step where the student "comes to terms," defining the objects and information perceived by the five senses. Hence, the Law of Identity : a tree is a tree, and not a cat . Logic (also dialectic ) is the "mechanics" of thought and of analysis ,

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638-688: Was an American educator and author, pianist and composer. He was an English professor at Amherst College from 1903 to 1909, followed by Columbia University from 1909 to 1937. He was the first president of the Juilliard School of Music . During his tenure at Columbia University he formulated the General Honors Course—responsible for inspiring the influential Great Books movement. He published over 100 books, novels, criticism, and essays including his most important essay, The Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent (1915). Erskine

667-636: Was based on The Private Life of Helen of Troy . He was the first president of the Juilliard School of Music from 1928 to 1937. He was also director of the Metropolitan Opera Association , which runs the Metropolitan Opera , a noted opera company based in New York City. Erskine is also credited with writing the subtitles for a number of films, including Sacha Guitry 's Le Roman d'un tricheur (The Story of

696-579: Was born in New York City , New York, the son of Eliza Jane (née Hollingsworth) and James Morrison Erskine. and raised in Weehawken, New Jersey . He graduated from Columbia University , B.A., 1900, M.A. 1901 and Ph.D., 1903 and D.Litt. 1929, besides D.Litt. degree from Amherst in 1923. Erskine was English professor at Amherst College from 1903 to 1909, and subsequently taught at Columbia University from 1909 to 1937. In 1910, he led foundation of

725-684: Was coined in imitation of the earlier quadrivium . Grammar, logic, and rhetoric were essential to a classical education, as explained in Plato 's dialogues. The three subjects together were denoted by the word trivium during the Middle Ages , but the tradition of first learning those three subjects was established in ancient Greece , by rhetoricians such as Isocrates . Contemporary iterations have taken various forms, including those found in certain British and American universities (some being part of

754-637: Was demand for a full-time option. In 2004, Zaid Shakir and other instructors conducted a four-year pilot seminary project from which five students graduated. With this experience, Zaytuna considered a move to Berkeley to collaborate with established institutions such as the University of California, Berkeley and the Graduate Theological Union . Following the graduation of its seminary class in 2008, Zaytuna Institute changed its name to Zaytuna College in 2009. The successful completion of

783-473: Was discontinued in 1928, though later reconstituted. In 1929, Adler left Columbia to join University of Chicago , where he continued to work on the theme with Robert Hutchins , president of the university. Together they subsequently went on to found the Great Books of the Western World program and the Great Books Foundation . Erskine co-wrote the 1900 Varsity Show at Columbia, writing

812-631: Was founded by Hamza Yusuf and Hesham Alalusi and incorporated in California as a non-profit educational institute. They named it after the olive tree (Ar: زيتونة zaytūnah ), a plant that is mentioned in the Qur'an for its benefit. Based in Hayward , the institute's mandate was to teach courses on Arabic and Islamic Studies as well as to engage in community service and outreach. These part-time courses were popular both locally and in recorded form, but there

841-467: Was requisite preparation for study of the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy). For the medieval student, the trivium was the curricular beginning of the acquisition of the seven liberal arts ; as such, it was the principal undergraduate course of study. The word trivial arose from the contrast between the simpler trivium and the more difficult quadrivium. John Erskine (educator) John Erskine (October 5, 1879 – June 2, 1951)

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