Philosophy professor Dan Hutto will design and run the degree, which has become the first in Australia to be funded by the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation despite widespread opposition from UOW academics.

Prof Hutto said the course would be philosophically-driven, with some subjects focusing on historical periods, such as the works of ancient Greeks, and others exploring wider, enduring philosophical questions.

In those broader subjects, he said he was looking "absolutely to bring in the non-Western perspective in a number of places, to ensure that marginalised and under-represented voices are captured”.

"My interest there is to make those links, not to avoid them,” he said.

Prof Hutto said course material could even include the public debate around their own degree, in which critics have argued a Western civilisation degree is backward-looking and Eurocentric, while others say it is an important field of study.

"People are saying it's going to be an ideological brain wash," he said.

"It couldn't be further from that.”

The Ramsay board - which includes former conservative prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott - would not be able to influence teaching, even though they would be allowed to observe classes from time to time.

"Nobody is going to tell me what to do in this course," Prof Hutto said.

Sydney Morning Herald