The Core Curriculum

Foundation of Undergraduate Education

In an age when many colleges and universities simply offer distribution requirements that reflect the contemporary fragmentation of learning, Ave Maria University is deservedly proud of its Core Curriculum. The Core offers guidance to students by requiring them to take specific courses in the great tradition of the liberal arts. In these carefully selected courses, students share together in the discovery of truth and acquire the indispensable foundation for a lifetime of learning. Moreover, since the Core Curriculum comprises almost half of the overall education, the students not only achieve breadth of knowledge, but also depth of knowledge. Since each discipline views reality from its distinct perspective, students encounter the truth about God and His creation more completely through the dynamic interplay of all of the liberal arts including theology and natural science.

Student Learning Goals and Outcomes for the Core Curriculum of the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Goal 1: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the broad Western and Catholic intellectual traditions.

Outcome 1: Students will demonstrate theological understanding of the Blessed Trinity and the orders of creation and redemption, in particular of the truths about these realities expressed in the articles of the Apostles' Creed as authoritatively interpreted by the Catholic Church.

Outcome 2: Students will demonstrate knowledge of some central philosophers and philosophical traditions that have informed Western Civilization.

Outcome 3: Students will demonstrate knowledge of major events, ideas, and cultures in the formation of Western Civilization.

Outcome 4: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the governmental, political, and societal structures of the United States.

Goal 2: Students will demonstrate the following skills in communication and scientific reasoning.

Outcome 5: Students will demonstrate the ability to translate sentences from a foreign language and analyze their syntactical structure.

Outcome 6: Students will demonstrate skills in written argumentation under the aspects of (1) Invention, (2) Organization, and (3) Style.

Outcome 7: Students will demonstrate skills in oral presentation.

Outcome 8: Students will demonstrate skills in performing mathematical operations and solving equations.

Outcome 9: Students will demonstrate skills of careful scientific observation and experimentation, including (1) Hypothesis formation, (2) Recognition of dependent and independent variables, (3) Development of control experiments, (4) Data recording, (5) Proper experimental design including data analysis, and (6) Ability to build on possible experimental results.

Goal 3: Students will demonstrate the fundamental habits of integrating "religious and moral principles with their academic study and non-academic activities, thus integrating faith with life" (Ex Corde Ecclesiae).

Outcome 10: Students will evidence commitment to the spiritual and moral aims of the Catholic mission of the University including (1) participation in the sacramental life of the Church, and (2) volunteer service.

Outcome 11: Students will demonstrate pursuit of professional excellence and responsible leadership and citizenship.

The Core Curriculum at Ave Maria University

The Core Curriculum includes 15 courses or 60 credits out of the total 128 credits required for the B.A., B.S., and B.S.N. degrees. The Core Curriculum at Ave Maria University is integrated and ordered in the following manner throughout the student's four-year undergraduate program. Note that some majors follow an alternate sequence as described in their Typical Plans. Honors students may fulfill core course requirements by enrolling in core courses at the honors level. Information about the Honors Program can be found on page 78.

First Semester

• MATH 110 College Algebra, or MATH 120 Finite Mathematics, or MATH 150 Functions, or MATH 151 Calculus I
• RETP 101 Rhetoric and Poetics I
• HIST 101 Western Civilization I
• Foreign Language I (at the Elementary level)

Second Semester

• RETP 102 Rhetoric and Poetics II
• THEO 105 Sacred Scripture
• HIST 102 Western Civilization II
• Natural Science with laboratory or Foreign Language II (at the Intermediate level)*

Third Semester

• THEO 205 Sacred Doctrine
• PHIL 205 Nature and Person
• Natural Science with laboratory

Fourth Semester

• POLT 203 American Civilization
• PHIL 206 Ethics

Junior or Senior Year

• PHIL 300 Metaphysics (except Nursing majors)
• THEO 400 Living in Christ: Moral Theology, or THEO 305 Moral Theology (for theology majors), or THEO 390 Catholic Bioethics (for nursing and some science majors). Please consult the four-year plan for each major.

*Students may choose between one semester of a language (at the Elementary level) and two sciences with laboratory, or two semesters of a language (Elementary and Intermediate level) and one science with laboratory.

To ensure the integrity of the Core Curriculum program, students at Ave Maria University must complete all Core requirements with courses offered by Ave Maria University, with the exception of courses taken prior to matriculation at the University. The Dean of Faculty must approve any exceptions to this policy.