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Educational Goals

Through the cultivation of transformative habits of mind and the acquisition of essential knowledge and skills, students will develop the capacity for critical, creative, and civic dispositions toward their worlds. The students’ readiness to act as informed and responsible citizens and to assume leadership and collaborative roles in solving the complex problems of an interconnected and diverse world will be evident through their demonstration of:

  1. A critical knowledge of self and informed understanding of other
    • A historically informed, critical, and self-reflective understanding of religious or spiritual traditions
    • An ability to interpret the way literature expresses different worldviews
    • An ability to interpret cultural norms, social relationships, and political events within specific historical contexts
    • Analysis of the complex interactions between humans and human socio-cultural systems
    • An understanding of world cultures and their relationships to the cultures and societies of the West
    • An understanding of pluralism in the United States
  2. Proficiency in the use of evidence, empirical data, and quantitative analysis
    • An understanding of the scientific process by which concepts, qualitative models, and quantitative models are constructed, modified, and applied
    • Appropriate acquisition, evaluation, and interpretation of scientific evidence
    • Competence in mathematical reasoning
    • Quantitative literacy
    • The ability to find, evaluate, and use information
  3. Skill and discernment in producing and interpreting forms of human expression
    • Effective communication in written and oral modes that incorporates an understanding of purpose, audience, and context
    • The ability to construct a valid argument based on evidence
    • Appropriate use of media and technology for communication
    • Communication in a second language
    • Informed creative reasoning in the visual or performing arts
  4. The judgment and knowledge required for ethical citizenship of nation and world
    • Informed understanding of ethical theory
    • An ability to apply ethical theory to current and emerging questions facing global citizens in the 21st century
    • An understanding of how one can sustainably manage human and natural resources