John Bremer (1927–2015) was an educator and Socratic philosopher. In 2008 he retired as a senior scholar teaching at

Cambridge College Cambridge College is a private college based in Boston, Massachusetts. It also operates regional centers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and Rancho Cucamonga, California. History Founding Cambrid ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

where he was Professor of Humanities and Director of the college's Humanities and Freedom Institute. Professor Bremer founded Cambridge College in 1971 when it was then known as the "Institute of Open Education" at

Newton College of the Sacred Heart Newton College of the Sacred Heart was a small women's liberal arts college in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. It opened in 1946 and merged with Boston College in June 1974. The college was highly regarded during its time, and in 1971 founded the ...

. After retirement he lived full-time in Vermont, where he continued his research and writing. He died on November 30, 2015. John Bremer was born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, living in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

during

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

, and served in the

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during

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building airfields in England. He holds advanced degrees from the

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, England, the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

and St. John's College, U.S. Professor Bremer came to the US in 1951 on a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Fellowship. JohnBremerJune2009.jpg In the 1960s Professor Bremer gained international recognition for creating the Parkway Program, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, the first School Without Walls as documented in a book by the same name. The school was featured in

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in its March 23, 1970 edition. He was Killam Senior Fellow at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

in Halifax and later Commissioner of Education for

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada in 1973. In 1975, when a professor of Education at Western Washington University he founded the Institute of Socratic Study where Professor Bremer was its director until he moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1980 to found the Education Supplement for ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' newspaper.

Bibliography

*''The School Without Walls: Philadelphia's Parkway Program'', by John Bremer and Michael von Moschzisker, Holt, New York 1971 (trade) Also in translations as: Das Parkway-Program in Philadelphia: Schule ohne Mauern; as A Revolucao Pedagogica: Escola Sem Muros: a Program Parkway de Filadelfia; as La Escuela sin Paredos; and in a Japanese version *''Open Education - A Beginning'', by John Bremer and Anne Bremer, Holt, New York, 1972 (Trade) (translated as Educacion Abierta: Un Principio; as L'Ecole en Liberte: Guide du Maitre.) *''On Educational Change'', National Association of Elementary School Principals, Arlington 1973 *''A Matrix for Modern Education'', McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, 1975 *''On Plato's Polity'', Institute of Philosophy, Houston USA and Kalamunda WA, Australia, 1984 *''Plato and the Founding of the Academy'', University Press of America, 2002 *''Plato's Ion: Philosophy as Performance'', Bibal Press, Texas USA, January 2005, *''Thomas Taylor the Platonist and James Mill, Utilitarian'' *''C.S. Lewis, Poetry, and the Great War 1914-1918 (fin press)'' *''Homer's ILIAD (forthcoming)'' *''Plato and the Founding of the Academy: Based on a Letter from Plato, newly discovered'', University Press of America (November 8, 2002),

Notes and references

External links

The official site of John Bremer
(Wayback Link - current site has no relation to Prof. Bremer)
Cambridge College websiteEric (US government web site) on Parkway Program
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bremer, John Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Leicester Classics educators Dalhousie University faculty St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) alumni Western Washington University faculty 1927 births 2015 deaths