Core Curriculum

$15,485

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About

I was in reality the monster that I am.”
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818)

Our Core Curriculum books have been ‘hot hot hot’ this year. We brought students to see Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein (2025) and we have plans to bring them to see The Bride (2026). Everyone is talking about Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey opening in July 2026. The Prime Minister of Canada cited Thucydides in his Davos 2026 speech. And Plato, well, Plato gave us the language for tyranny over two thousand years ago. As you know, readings from the Core Curriculum have never been more important, both for our current students, and for anyone who wants to re-engage with the books that made an impression on our younger selves.

Just as it has been for 37 years, the CAS Core Curriculum translates the tradition of transformative ideas and books into important discussions and conversations that meet the challenge of our present moment. Core students continue to read and reflect on the same books that you read when you were in the program.

This year’s Giving Day campaign for Core invites you to identify your favorite book from the program and help us make it available for current and future students.

Be bold and announce why you love that book when you make an impact and let us know why by posting on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn. “I am donating $XX for this book because…”

Remember, the CAS division that ends the day with the most individual participants will receive bonus funds. When you donate $5 or more, your gift counts towards Core’s challenge.

Every gift helps us build up the lending library shelf of Core books to make sure that all students have a book in hand in the classroom.

$100 will help us buy a semester of first-year humanities books for the shelf!
$56 will buy all the dramas we read in Core (Cherry Orchard, Hamlet, Faust, and more)
$18 for The Odyssey (CC101)
$16 for Plato’s Republic (CC101)
$10 for Frankenstein (1818) (CC202)
$5 will contribute toward a book on the Core shelf such as The Analects, Souls of Black Folk, or Inferno.

Help us introduce a new generation of Core scholars to our program, and to encourage a life-long habit of reading, reflecting, and building community through books.

We’re working with the Core Alumni Council on renewing a dollar-for-dollar match this year, stay tuned for more updates!