Currently, the core comprises 16 of the 24 courses required for graduation. Every student takes these courses, and every faculty member teaches them. The core consists of nearly every recognized great author in the Western canon. The 16 required courses are distributed equally in Interpretive Studies, the Humanities, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences. The aim of the core is to give every Shimer graduate a thorough grounding in the basic texts of the Western tradition.
Horizontal integration is found in the interdisciplinary use of authors, works, and themes.
For instance, various works of Descartes are read in Integrative Studies 2, Natural Sciences 1, and Humanities 3, while works of Aristotle are read in Integrative studies 2, Natural Sciences 1, Social Sciences 2, Natural Sciences 2, Humanities 3 and Integrative Studies 5. . . . Homer's Odyssey is viewed as a work of literature in Humanities 2, whereas his Iliad is viewed as an historical document in Integrative Studies 5. . . . T his integrative, interdisciplinary curriculum creates a common background for students. At the same time, it provides a conscious force encouraging the faculty to continue their education in order to expand their acquaintance with and understanding of unfamiliar academic as. . . . The four humanities courses attempt to acquaint students with the imaginative representation and the more systematic explorations of the conditions of human existence . . .