Common Curriculum Review Committee
Goals and outcomes of a liberal education at Loyola University
DRAFT
In antiquity, a “liberal” education referred to the training appropriate for a free man (“liber”). Today the term is more often used to refer to an education whose goal is to free the mind from prejudice and unexamined views, more in the sense of “liberating” than “liberal” in the political sense (much less limited to “free men”), an education that is designed to provide tools that allow the student to reflect on personal beliefs and values in a way that creates true understanding, whether or not there is any significant change in those values and beliefs. (A fuller statement on liberal learning from the Association of American Colleges and Universities may be found at http://aacu.org/About/statements/liberal_learning.cfm .)
This kind of liberal education is basic to the Jesuit tradition. Though the specifics may have changed since the sixteenth century, some things remain: a commitment to understanding the world as it is and working to make it better, a focus on the values that shape our lives and an effort to free ourselves from conscious or unconscious bias, the ability both to act and to reflect on our actions. Those are among the qualities we expect a student to develop throughout undergraduate study, in core courses and major courses, in and outside the classroom.
With an eye toward discussing what a liberal education in the Jesuit tradition means at Loyola, and specifically with regard to the core or Common Curriculum, the Common Curriculum Review Task Force has created a list of broad goals we believe should apply to all Loyola graduates, regardless of major or specific courses taken. To these we have added learning outcomes that may be met through the core curriculum, though we acknowledge that some at least may also be met within specific majors and programs, or through co-curricular activities. These goals and outcomes are informed by the SCAP learning outcomes, by other campus documents relating to the mission and goals of the institution, and by other things that individual members have read, heard, or discussed. They are not necessarily comprehensive—for instance, they make no explicit mention of ideas we have discussed such as service learning—but they provide a starting point for consideration of the most basic aspects of a Loyola education.
It may at first glance seem remedial or unnecessary to take the time to discuss such basic issues rather than simply examining our own curriculum, or what other institutions do, but it is clear that there is not agreement across campus regarding such matters, or indeed what it means for a student to receive a Jesuit education at Loyola. Without some consensus regarding the ends of a Loyola education, it is impossible to agree on the means by which those ends can be achieved. Moreover, it has been a very long time since such a focused discussion has taken place on our campus, so many of the current faculty (and all of the students) have not participated in such conversations. The time is therefore ripe for discussion across colleges and disciplines of the qualities we want our graduates to have, the meaning of a Jesuit education for our time and place, and the goals and learning outcomes of a Loyola education.
This draft list represents a work in progress, not a settled conclusion; we offer it as a springboard for campus-wide thought and discussion, which we hope will help us as a community develop the types of experiences and assessment mechanisms that can help students achieve the kind of education we want them to have.
Goals and outcomes of a Loyola undergraduate education (DRAFT, 11 September 2007)
Goal 1: To develop basic skills, including effective written and oral communication, critical and creative thinking, and the ability to use different types of information.
- Demonstrate effective communication skills, both written and oral, including basic competence in at least one language other than English.
- Demonstrate critical thinking skills, including the ability to analyze and create logical arguments.
- Demonstrate creative thinking skills, including a sense of imagination.
- Demonstrate information literacy and its importance in making moral decisions.
- Demonstrate the ability to gather, evaluate, and use quantitative information, including a basic understanding of statistics.
Goal 2: To understand better the world in which we live, through broad study in the humanities, fine arts, and social and natural sciences.
- Demonstrate the ability to employ the scientific method and develop an appreciation of the scientific endeavor and humanity’s dependence on the natural world, including the impact of technology.
- Demonstrate basic understanding of cultural traditions other than our own, and our own from a worldwide perspective.
- Demonstrate comprehension of the great historical, economic, political, social, and technological forces that shape societies.
- Demonstrate basic understanding of other cultural traditions, including an awareness of how politics, religion, economics, science, technology, and media shape worldwide thought.
- Demonstrate basic understanding of the student’s own society, including an awareness of how politics, religion, economics, science, technology, and media shape contemporary thought.
- Demonstrate basic understanding and appreciation of literature and the arts.
- Demonstrate basic understanding of philosophical and religious thought.
- Demonstrate basic understanding of Judeo-Christian thought and its historical, cultural, and global context, and more specifically an understanding of the Catholic and Ignatian traditions.
- Demonstrate the ability to integrate material from several different disciplines.
Goal 3: To gain deep knowledge of at least one discipline or professional field, and to integrate studies in that field with others as appropriate.
- major: no core outcomes
Goal 4: To increase a sense of personal identity, spirituality, and responsibility, including a sense of ethical action and a commitment to helping to create a more just world.
- Demonstrate an understanding of difference, and of past and present inequalities within our world.
- Demonstrate a personal understanding of ethical behavior and social justice.
- Demonstrate an ability to engage in civil discourse with those who hold different beliefs.
- Develop a personal spirituality and set of moral values, and demonstrate the ability to reflect on those values in light of other points of view.
- Develop a commitment to improving the world we live in.
avc/11sep07