Ralston College is a private unaccredited

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

college in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

. It describes itself as being dedicated to "freedom of thought and speech", and is associated with prominent conservative figures, with Stephen Blackwood as president, Jordan B. Peterson as Chancellor and funding from conservatives including Paul Marshall. Ralston College started accepting graduate students to its one-year MA in the

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

in the summer of 2022.

History

In 2006, Stephen Blackwood and James Atkins Pritchard began fundraising for the establishment of an institution of higher education. Ralston College was incorporated in the State of Georgia in 2010. Among the members of its Board of Visitors are Vernon Smith, Heather Mac Donald, Harry Lewis, Ruth Wisse,

Roger Kimball Roger Kimball (born 1953) is an American art critic and Conservatism, conservative social commentator. He is the editor and publisher of ''The New Criterion'' and the publisher of Encounter Books. Kimball first gained notice in the early 1990s w ...

Stephen Wolfram Stephen Wolfram ( ; born 29 August 1959) is a British-American computer scientist, physicist, and businessman. He is known for his work in computer algebra and theoretical physics. In 2012, he was named a fellow of the American Mathematical So ...

, and

Jordan Peterson Jordan Bernt Peterson (born 12 June 1962) is a Canadian psychologist, author, and media commentator. He received widespread attention in the late 2010s for his views on cultural and political issues. Often described as Conservatism, conservativ ...

, who was appointed Chancellor (a ceremonial role) in May 2022. Ralston's first cohort of MA students was enrolled on the Greek island of

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

in the fall of 2022, before beginning their studies in Savannah that fall, Classes were held in the education building of St. John's Episcopal Church. The college has since moved into buildings on East Gaston Street and West McDonough Street in the historic Savannah area, which total 50,000 square feet as of April 2024. Ralston College has received criticism for a series of high-level terminations. In March 2023, a member of Ralston's Board of Visitors, Harvey Silverglate, resigned his position and stated that the college was "antithetical to the whole concept of a liberal arts institution".

Academics

Ralston College's curriculum focuses on the

: after a term studying Ancient Greek and Modern Greek in Greece, the following three terms of the MA in the Humanities are based in Savannah, focusing on ancient, medieval and modern literary texts and works of art. Blackwood has stated that Ralston aims “to play a role in the renewal of the conditions for human flourishing”. The one-year MA program revolves around a particular philosophical theme that lasts the entire year: "the self" (2022–2023), "the whole" (2023–2024), "nature" (2024–2025) and (2025–2026) "fellowship". The college also offers two online short-courses, run in conjunction with the

FutureLearn FutureLearn is a British digital education platform founded in December 2012. The company was acquired by Global University Systems in December 2022 and previously jointly owned by The Open University and SEEK Ltd. It is a massive open online c ...

platform, one on

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

's philosophical romance '' Rasselas'', and one on the poetry of

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American Colloquialism, colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New E ...

Accreditation

Ralston College is authorized to grant degrees in Georgia. In April 2025, it obtained Candidate status for accreditation from the

New England Commission of Higher Education The New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evaluation and accreditation of public and private universities and colleges in the United States and othe ...

References

{{Jordan Peterson Universities and colleges in Savannah, Georgia Conservative organizations in the United States Private universities and colleges in Georgia (U.S. state) Unaccredited institutions of higher learning in the United States