Overview
The general education requirements at the University of Jamestown’s College of Graduate and Professional Studies represent the faculty’s best judgment regarding the knowledge and skills that any person educated at the bachelor’s level should have. We believe that a broad general education program including exposure to diverse academic disciplines helps students in many ways. For example, such a program:
- Provides students with information that assists them in choosing a major or minor area of study
- Encourages students to interact with faculty members and students outside their own disciplines
- Stimulates students to think about issues and ideas of which they were previously unaware
- Enables students to make cross- disciplinary connections
- Prepares students to better understand written and oral discussions in which they will participate.
In addition to supporting these wider goals, however, our general education program is designed to help students meet eleven more specific outcomes that we deem important for college-educated people:
- Aesthetic Awareness: Graduates will recognize the role of aesthetic expression in daily life.
- Christian Literacy: Graduates will describe the basic tenets of the historic Christian faith and can explain the implications of those tenets for ethical living.
- Cultural and Social Literacy: Graduates will demonstrate a basic level of knowledge of the social sciences and humanities.
- Ethical Literacy: Graduates will describe and compare several major ethical theories and concepts to explain how these theories apply to particular issues, contexts, and communities.
- Global Awareness: Graduates will develop a broad world view and demonstrate knowledge of global issues and other nations and cultures.
- Information Literacy: Graduates will identify, evaluate, and apply information resources to specific tasks and use the appropriate citation method for their discipline.
- Quantitative Literacy: Graduates will perform mathematical computations and identify and draw inferences from relevant quantitative information.
- Scientific Literacy: Graduates will apply fundamental scientific principles and methods of inquiry and recognize the impact of scientific research and technology on individuals and the world.
- Oral communication: Graduates will communicate effectively orally.
- Written Communication: Graduates will communicate effectively in writing.
- Critical Thinking: Graduates will be able to logically evaluate evidence, analyze and synthesize information from multiple sources, and reflect on varied perspectives.