Liberal Arts Core

Purposes and Goals of the Liberal Arts Core

The purpose of the Liberal Arts Core (LAC) is to actively engage students to become self-aware participants in their own personal development through thoughtful and informed decision making, promotion of life-long learning, enlarging the scope of their world to global issues and diverse cultures, and increasing their strategies for solving complex problems they will encounter in the future.

The LAC seeks to attain its purpose through fostering growth in three interrelated areas—skills, knowledge, and perspectives and values.

Skills
Students develop skills in verbal and visual literacy and communication, quantitative and logical reasoning, information and technological literacy, aesthetic discernment, critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and interpersonal and social relationships in diverse linguistic and cultural settings. Courses throughout the LAC enhance these skills, which provide the tools for intellectual growth, career achievement, and civic engagement.

Knowledge
Students acquire knowledge of diverse disciplines and realms of human achievement, their histories, methods, and conceptual frameworks. Thus LAC courses illuminate the range and interconnectedness of knowledge, and encourage multiple ways of viewing and exploring complex issues.

Perspectives and Values
Students explore diverse cultural values and intellectual perspectives with the skills and knowledge learned in their LAC courses. These perspectives guide students in their understanding and respect for different cultures and principles, their engagement in local, national and global communities, and their development of innovative approaches to challenges they will face in their personal, social, and professional lives.