The Integral Program

Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Brother Raphael Patton teaches math in the great books program at St. Mary's in Moraga. Chronicle photo by Christina Koci Hernandez.

One Mediterranean-hot day this summer, John Zabala, 22, stood before an auditorium of incoming freshmen at St. Mary's College in Moraga and pitched one of the tougher sells -- four years sequestered with nothing but the classics.

Using a slide projector, he baited the audience with movie posters of Brad Pitt in "Troy" and Angelina Jolie in "Alexander," then quickly switched to the book covers of "The Iliad" by Homer and "Alexander" by Plutarch.

"We learn ancient Greek together," Zabala announced with all the passion he could muster, "so we can decide what Homer and Plato really meant." If that weren't enough, he followed bravely with "all of our classes are seminars." He forgot to mention that there are no tests or textbooks. 

Zabala is among the 20 out of 700 St. Mary's graduates who came away in June with a bachelor of arts in what is unimaginatively called integral liberal arts. "It takes a good 20 minutes to explain my major to people," he says after his pitch, "but I don't care."

To start, integral studies is not a major at all. It isn't a minor, either. It is a way of college life that you must commit to as a freshman. The word Integral does not mean integrated into the general student body. The 40 or so freshmen who start "The Program," as they call it, are separated out and will go all the way through with their own kind, divided into seminar groups of 15 or so, just like a jury.