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2023-2024 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Liberal Arts Program
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The Liberal Arts Program is a 47-hour core of basic courses required of all students. The program reflects the principles contained in the University mission statement and provides a foundation for study in major and minor fields.
The mission of the Liberal Arts Program is to develop the whole person through a Christ-honoring community of learning.
The University Learning Outcomes represent the wide variety of skills and perspectives in all undergraduate degrees. The outcomes are introduced and assessed initially through the liberal arts program and then through all major programs as appropriate to their discipline.
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Requirements
The Liberal Arts Program course requirements are listed below. These requirements are adjusted for some majors and for transfer and international students. Students should consult the appropriate sections of the catalog and their academic advisor for program-specific requirements and adjustments. See the Liberal Arts Learning Outcomes for the purpose of each category below.
Scripture, Truth, and Ethics: 8 Hours
A whole person will know, live, and share God’s word and understand, love, and serve God’s world through and beyond the chosen vocation.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will know, live, and share God’s word.
- Students will examine a variety of disciplines from a Christian perspective.
- Students will pursue and advocate for truth.
Literacy and Expression: 9 Hours
A whole person reads, contemplates, writes, speaks, and listens both skillfully and charitably, using critical thinking, persuasive evidence, and wisdom to understand and articulate responses to the ideas of the world one is sure to encounter.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will write and speak English with precision and clarity.
- Students will read and listen with fluency and comprehension.
- Students will use rhetorical principles to articulate their own and others’ views and evaluate them for logic, clarity, credibility, and relevance.
Inquiry, Investigation, and Reasoning: 9 Hours
A whole person has a mature perspective on science as a dynamic process of inquiry, discovery, and reason that addresses real-world uncertainties, regardless of academic discipline. Foundational skills in independent thinking, analytical reason, and effective communication are introduced and developed.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will choose, describe, and defend a path of investigation for a problem with no obvious solution.
- Students will employ scientific, mathematical, and evidence-based processes to direct systematic inquiry, identify problems, and explore solutions.
- Students will use experiences from the natural sciences to construct reasoned arguments that address real-world uncertainties.
Courses for each of the following requirements must be at least 3 hours:
The Historical and Literary Perspective: 9 Hours
A whole person endeavors to understand thoroughly, examine carefully, and participate conscientiously in the long evolution of human history by exploring significant historical texts and literary works of peoples both past and present.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will draw on their understanding of concepts and examples from history and literature to critically evaluate essential questions of the human experience.
- Students will read and analyze significant historical and literary texts across broad perspectives and with depth of detail.
- Students will articulate sensitive and empathetic perspectives on cultural contexts and trajectories of distinctive historical moments, themes, and peoples.
Aesthetics and the Creative Spirit: 3 Hours
A whole person is one who recognizes that we are the creation of a God who made us in His image to be creators. This person sees the world as an opportunity to express their imagination and their own ideas and engage with the opinions of others. They are able to articulate an informed judgment about the aesthetic value of the world around them and to approach individual and collective endeavors creatively.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will articulate how tools, techniques, content, and formal qualities of various works of art can illuminate or express spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical truths.
- Students will contextualize the production, meaning, and impact of works of art from multiple cultures and time periods.
- Students will create work that demonstrates originality and elegance.
Self and Society: 9 Hours
A whole person can read and appreciate cultures, either their own or others’ while demonstrating Christian stewardship in their personal and social wellness at a local and global level.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will engage in critical reflection to pursue a lifestyle of multi-dimensional wellness and stewardship.
- Students will critically examine societal systems and concerns to be responsible citizens in domestic contexts.
- Students will apply cultural skills and knowledge to communicate in internationally diverse contexts.
Choose 3 hours of Global Perspectives from:
Note: International students are not required to enroll in a global perspectives course. Other students who wish to appeal for a waiver of the global perspectives requirement (based on extended residence abroad, for example) may have their appeal considered by the Global Perspectives Appeal Committee. The appropriate form is in Pipeline under Student Services, in the Student Records menu.
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