A unique, one-of-a-kind curriculum that aims to deeply prepare young adult students for an independent, productive, and well-lived life.
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“Our mission is to deeply prepare you for an independent, productive, and well-lived life, including fostering strong social relationships and active civic engagement.
All selections and activities are designed to support your self-development, discovery of purpose, and independence of spirit and practice.
Each reading is carefully chosen to integrate seamlessly with the others. Throughout all units, our goal is to relate the material to your life, experiences, and future aspirations.
In our rigorous program, you will engage annually with major questions crafted to provide key insights from some of the greatest thinkers. These questions are designed to help you understand the world and navigate both your professional and personal life effectively.”
At Reliance College, the curriculum is designed to provide a comprehensive and immersive educational experience. Here’s a detailed look at how our program is structured:
Of these sessions will focus on content,
will be oriented toward skill development.
Additionally, you will have one 90-minute Individualized Tutorial session on Fridays.
Each Fall and Spring Quarters students will:
Read and discuss themed texts. |
Participate in skills tutorials. |
Participate in an individualized reading tutorial with their tutor. |
Monthly review of their goals and progress with their tutor. |
Each Winter Quarter students will:
Work on a research project for a solution to a real-world problem in an area of professional interest (business, science, art, politics, charity or help organizations, whatever their area of interest). This work can be in-town, out-of-town, or overseas! |
Be paired with accomplished mentors in the professional field. |
Be required to journal about their experience, with goal-directed questions in mind. |
Confer once a week about their progress with their tutor in person or by Zoom. |
Be expected to read works related to their project. |
Implement their solutions by end of quarter and give a presentation about their problem and solutions, plus create a write-up, video, etc. to add to their portfolio. A description of what they did is crucial. |
Prospective students interested in joining Reliance College are required to participate in our summer seminar.
This serves both as a prerequisite for enrollment and as an opportunity for us to determine if the student aligns with our institution’s values and goals.
| Through our Great Connections Summer Seminar, we’ve spent 12 years formulating and testing our program. You’ll try it to get a taste of your experience at Reliance College. | A week-long program of collaborative study, fun and informative activities, and outings to learn more about the city, architecture, commerce, and how we got here. |
The theme is: Philosophy for Living; Self and Society.
Core concepts include: Philosophical Foundations, enlightenment, self-development, individual, society, ethics, morality, knowledge, justification, belief, and value.
1.1 What is Enlightenment? |
1.2 How Do We Develop Ourselves? |
1.3 How Do We Live?: What Are Different Conceptions of the Good? |
1.4 How Do We Live Together? Texts key to understanding the competing theories of social organization |
1.5 What Is the Experience of Living in a Market Society? Economics, Business, Entrepreneurship |
1.6 What Is the Experience of Living in a Society of Science & Technology? |
1.7 What Is the Role of Art in a Successful Life? |
The themes are: Origins, Purpose, Meaning
Core concepts include: Origins, cosmology, evolution, religion, love, friendship, language (words and meaning), “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Santayana, solitude, community, individual goals and meaning, planning, issues of testimony, literature.
2.1 What Is the Origin of the Universe and Life? |
2.2 How and Why Did Language Develop? |
2.3 What Is the Meaning of Life? |
2.4 What Is the Relationship between Individual and Social Purpose? |
2.5 What Is History and How Does it Differ from Archeology? |
2.6 How and Why Did Writing Develop? |
2.7 What Is the Nature, Purpose, and Limits of Human Memory? |
The themes are: Characteristics of Emerging Civilizations, Making the Modern World, Loyalty & conflict.
Core concepts include: Space and Movement, World Civilizations, cities, empires, migration, navigation, trade, outer space, astronomy, motion, states, patriotism, immigration, war, peace, adjudication, finance, banking, and insurance.
3.1 What Is a Civilization? |
3.2 How Did Math, Science, and Medicine Arise? |
3.3 What Destroys Civilizations? |
3.4 How Did the Modern State System Develop? |
3.5 Why Is There Conflict Between and Within States? |
3.6 How Can Human Conflict Be Resolved? |
3.7 What Gave Rise to Law? |
The themes are: Freedom and responsibility, Freedom and Your Future, Tolerance & limits in political and personal realms.
Core concepts include: Western Civilization, revolution, sovereignty, democracy, free will vs. determinism, liberty vs. license, natural law, autonomy, independence, and finance. Economics and history, developments in science, math, technology, culture revolution & change, U.S. Civilization, rights, constitutionalism, state, negative vs. positive liberty, free speech, speech vs. action, boundary.
4.1 What Is the Nature and Purpose of Political Freedom? |
4.2 Are Humans Free or Determined? |
4.3 How Are Economics and Technology Related to Freedom? |
4.4 What Is the Nature and Purpose of Tolerance? |
4.5 What Are Rights? |
4.6 How Have Freedom and Rights Developed in Different Societies? |
4.7 What Are the Proper Boundaries Between Individuals? |
“Achievement and success require the vision of the possible and the ability to weather the actual.”
Learn more by claiming your free Reliance College Guide.
