OUR ETHOS
We at Harrison Middleton University believe that education should be creative and liberating.
To this end, HMU offers individualized programs of study, one-to-one online discussions with faculty, and curricular options that foster inter- or multidisciplinary study.
HMU students, in pursuit of their academic interests and personal objectives, design programs of study in collaboration with an Instructional Team. Finalized programs include an outline of subject areas and a sequence of classic texts, ancient to modern, that serve as the student’s guiding curriculum for earning a graduate degree in the humanities.
As active learners, HMU students focus on problems of theory, meaning, and application while they engage with faculty in inquiry-based discussions, a method of learning and teaching that allows for rigorous exploration and shared discovery.
Sustaining the values of student-centered education, HMU provides the means for curricular innovation, for the inclusion of diverse primary sources, and for new directions in graduate study and research.
Harrison Middleton University is a great ideas, great works, great conversations, distance learning university that offers graduate education in the humanities with concentrations in imaginative literature, natural science, philosophy and religion, and social science. Harrison Middleton University promotes student-faculty scholarship through research, discussion, and the development of collaborative publications.
OUR MISSION
OUR MISSION
Start Anytime
Students enroll and begin their studies at any time.
Customized Program of Study
With the guidance of an Instructional Team, students build a program of study and develop courses that meet their academic and personal goals.
Work One-to-One with Faculty
Students interact individually with Tutors throughout their coursework. The principal role of the tutors is not to expound doctrines in their particular areas of knowledge, but rather to promote thoughtful inquiry and the productive exchange of ideas.
Distance Program
Students continue their education while maintaining a healthy and satisfying balance of work, family, and community. Students schedule their coursework on dates and times that are convenient for them.
Study the Classics
Students at Harrison Middleton University design their own programs of study based on classics and modern classics in imaginative literature, natural science, philosophy and religion, and social science.
“My favorite component of the program is the discussions with high-quality tutors who hail from various backgrounds and disciplines — adding to the breadth and diversity of my academic track. The tutors challenge my thoughts and interpretations in a way that lingers with me well beyond the discussion sessions.”
M. Teilhard, Current Doctor of Arts Student
“I chose a liberal arts education at HMU because I was able to design my own course of study based on my own interests and authors in the Great Books of the Western World.”
M. Kubis, Doctor of Arts Graduate
“The interdisciplinary nature of a liberal arts education provides the opportunity to explore ideas across subject matters that will allow me to attain a well-rounded education that will define me as a person and as a professional.”
G. Narvaez, Doctor of Arts Graduate
“I continue to be impressed by all of the important works I am learning in my courses. I am constantly improving my comprehension of the material through the interpretive process. The Socratic method is a fantastic way of studying the great works.”
R. Johnson, Current Doctor of Arts Student
“The student-centric, iterative process inspired me to take risks, engaging in some of the more challenging areas of study. I grew as a teacher-scholar as hoped, and something else magical happened: I rediscovered my own joy of learning.”
T. Skye, Doctor of Arts Graduate
“The course of study is anchored in careful reading of primary sources, the history of ideas, and the authors in the Great Books of the Western World. Working with the highly professional tutors and mentors at HMU, I was able to design a course of study that exceeded my professional and personal goals. ”
R. Woods, Current Doctor of Arts Student
“HMU gave me the opportunity to individualize my program of learning while earning a masters in humanities and doctorate in education. The process has helped me in my career as it gave me many ways to think and problem solve.”
K. Rex, Doctor of Education Graduate
Doctor of Arts Graduate Brandon Harvey
Please join HMU Tutors and staff in congratulating Brandon Harvey, who successfully completed the Doctor of Arts at Harrison Middleton University. In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Arts program, Dr. Harvey submitted the following Capstone: “The Divine Conversation: The Great Books and the Catholic University.”
2024 Fellowship in Ideas
The HMU Fellowship in Ideas is a writing and discussion project in the humanities designed for a recent university graduate from any field who has an interest in the humanities, interdisciplinary dialogue, and intellectual and professional enrichment. Click here to read more about the Fellowship. We are no longer accepting applications for 2024. Shortlisted candidates will be requested to participate in an interview by Zoom.
Academic Calendar
Harrison Middleton University will be closed November 22-25, 2023 for Thanksgiving Day Recess and December 25, 2023-January 6, 2024 for Winter Recess. Click here to access the academic calendar.
HMU Earns Five-Year Renewal of Accreditation
Harrison Middleton University earned a renewal of accreditation through January 2028 from the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (www.deac.org). Accreditation by DEAC is a reliable indicator of the value and quality of the distance education that an institution offers. In receiving this renewal of accreditation, HMU has demonstrated its commitment to educational standards and ethical business practices that assure quality, accountability, and improvement in higher education. Click here to read more about HMU’s renewal of accreditation.
January Quarterly Discussion I
- Thursday, Jan 25 4 p.m. PST via Zoom
January Quarterly Discussion II
- Saturday, Jan 27 9 a.m. PST via Zoom
HMU Community Weekend
- March 1, 2, 3, 2024
Dialogues
DIALOGUES
Blog: join the discussion
November 24, 2023 Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post. Each fall, Great Books San Francisco hosts a Poetry Weekend. And if there’s one thing that I’m grateful for in this world, it’s poetry. I love to attend this event because of its hybrid nature. The first day is filled with reading and …
November 17, 2023 Thanks to Chad Greene, a 2023 Fellowship in Ideas recipient, for today’s blog. Of the classes I teach at my community college, the closest to a Great Books class is a course called “Masterpieces of World Literature” that the English department offers every fall. In this class I ask students to …
Classics and Comics: Ancient Content – and Advice – in a Modern Form Read More »
Thanks to Aaron Ducksworth, a 2023 Fellow in Ideas, for today’s post. November 10, 2023 Many movies of various genres have been made about the relationship between humans and anthropomorphic technology and the complicated relationship between them – think The Terminator franchise (1984-2019), I, Robot (2004), Virtuosity (1995), and The Matrix franchise (1999-2021). M3GAN is …
November 3, 2023 Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post. The October Quarterly Discussion merged two chapters from The Prince by Machiavelli with a chapter from Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Of prime interest was the focus on the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus. Machiavelli presents him as a champion of …
LIBRARY
Library
Log in to the HMU Online Library
Harrison Middleton University offers every student access to the Willis Speight Harrison Athenaeum Online Library. Log in here to access HMU Student Resources, JSTOR, Oxford Very Short Introductions, and other resources.
If you are experiencing difficulty with the Online Library, click here for support.
Audrey Rindlisbacher
Dallas, Texas
“I loved the flexibility and rigor of my studies at Harrison Middleton University! I highly recommend this program to anyone wanting to further their education from home in the great books tradition.”
inquiry-based discussion
Selection from a Syntopical Discussion
Inquiry-based discussion or Socratic method is at the heart of Harrison Middleton University’s teaching methodology. Participants in an inquiry-based discussion search for meaning, for answers to fundamental questions of human existence raised by primary texts. In the course of conversation, students interpret the primary text, employ critical reading skills, and call upon previous knowledge and experiences. Throughout their studies, students will engage in a series of one-to-one discussions (via telephone or Zoom) with tutors over the coursework they designed. Click below to listen to a selection from a syntopical discussion between HMU Tutor Dr. Marcus Conley and HMU Ed.D. student John Reynolds. The discussion as a whole explores the idea of truth as addressed by authors such as Augustine, Barth, Locke, Bacon, Mill, and Descartes. In the following selection, the participants consider the different attitudes toward figurative language by Locke and Augustine, then begin to discuss the notion of discipline according to Descartes and Bacon.
