Summer Reading Information

We here at Hillsdale College hope that you are enjoying your summer months. Soon the school term and our work together will begin. We look forward to that very much. I have a point to make about preparation for the term.

During the first few days of your arrival, we will do all in our power to welcome you and to form our partnership with you and with your parents.

One part of that involves some lectures by our professors, and one by me. In preparation for this, we ask you to read two things. The first is a particular biography of George Washington. It is an examination of the character of this man, whose character shone as few have done. Before you are finished at Hillsdale, you will learn much about this conception of character. We hope it will help you to shape your own.

The other book is related. It is the best translation of one of the greatest books ever written, The Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle. You will probably find this book challenging. It requires many years of study to come to know it well. I suggest that you read the Introduction, which is a fine thing, and also Book I before your arrival here.

We look forward very much to having you with us. It will be a fun and rewarding experience for both of us.

Warmest regards,
Larry P. Arnn

SUMMER READING INFORMATION

Aristotle. The Nicomachean Ethics. Trans. Joe Sachs. Newburyport MA: Focus Publishing, 2002. (ISBN 1-58510-035-8)

Brookhiser, Richard. Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington. New York: Free Press Paperbacks, 1996. (ISBN 0-684-83142-2)