The Liberal Arts and Human Flourishing
An education may be put to many valuable purposes. Our courses develop both discipline-specific skills, enabling our graduates to earn livings in fulfilling jobs, and “soft skills,” helping them to be agile in their careers and adept in working well with others, so they can succeed even in adverse conditions. Yet a liberal arts education intends to instill not only skills, but also a love for knowledge and values that are sufficient as ends, not merely as means to ends. Taken this way, our Core Curriculum, rooted in the liberal arts tradition, can help students escape instrumental thinking about their time at NNU. Instead of continually asking, “What can I do with this?” NNU students can approach their educations with the liberating question, “How will this shape me as a person?”
A “Christian” Liberal Arts Education?
The liberal arts lend themselves well to a Christian way of thinking about the world and our place in it because they engage with all domains of life, and God makes claims on all domains of life— “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Submitting all of our abilities to God and cultivating them to their utmost potential let us live into Irenaeus’s recognition that “the glory of God is the human being fully alive.” We glorify God by fulfilling the goal of a liberal arts education, which is to become fully human. The pursuit of Christian habits developed through the liberal arts is a worthy goal for any Christian undergraduate, and is rightly at the heart both of NNU’s mission and of the Core Curriculum.
The NNU Core Curriculum (42 credits)
- Core One and Core Two Courses to be taken in the first two years in residence (24 credits).
- Core Three and Core Elective Courses to be taken at various times in residence (18 credits).
- Mathematics Proficiency (0 credits) *
- Cultural Awareness Program (CAP)
When planning a schedule, students should carefully review the detailed requirements following this summary.
Core One (12 credits)
Core One Courses: must be completed with a C- or above
Core Two (12 credits)
BIBL2200 Bible: Engaging the Story of God: must be completed with a C- or above
Core Three Electives (9 credits)
Writing Course with a "W" Designation: must be completed with a C- or above
Core Electives (9 credits)
Mathematics Proficiency (0 credits)
One of the following minimum test scores. Test scores must have been obtained within the previous five years.
- ACT Math score of 21 or higher
- SAT Math score of 570 or higher
- Accuplacer QRAS Score of 250 or higher
- Completion of an approved college level math course with a grade of C- or higher
Must be completed by the end of the fourth semester in residence.
Cultural Awareness Program (CAP)
The Cultural Awareness Program (CAP) encourages transformation of the student by deepening their understanding of cultural richness and complexity while instilling behaviors of appreciation, curiosity, and consideration of other cultures. As a result of participation, an NNU student should become a culturally informed, open-minded, and responsible person who is attentive to cultural diversity and perspectives in a variety of settings. They should seek to understand how their actions affect both local and global communities and address some of the world's most pressing and enduring issues collaboratively and equitably.
Each undergraduate student must meet the University's General Education Cultural Awareness requirement while attending NNU. A student fulfills the requirement by one of the following options:
1) completion of two CAP1 designated courses,
2) completion of one CAP2 designated course,
3) completion of an approved international study abroad program with prescribed NNU Global Connections requirements,
4) participation in university-sponsored international travel
5) for international students holding F-1 or J-1 visas, completion of prescribed NNU Global Connections requirements.
* Students who transfer to NNU with a minimum of 60 credits will be required to complete only one course (CAP1 or CAP2).
* Concurrent credit or transfer courses will not be considered for CAP credit.
* A faculty-directed research or internship course may receive CAP designation upon approval by the GEC.
CAP1 Outcomes:
Category one Cultural Awareness Program courses (CAP1) must meet the outcomes listed below and incorporate five hours of direct engagement with primary cultural voices.
- Learn components of a different culture—beliefs, values, customs, language, non-verbal communication, domain-specific accomplishments, etc.—as it relates to and is integrated within course content.
- Compare one's own culture to the alternative perceptions of a different cultural group, recognizing the role of ethnocentrism in developing a comprehensive worldview that seeks to understand differing cultural perceptions.
- Demonstrate empathy, humility, or open-mindedness and appreciation toward a different cultural group, propelled by an understanding of the strengths and challenges embedded within their geopolitical, sociological, environmental, governmental, economic, religious, etc. realities.
CAP2 Outcomes:
Category two Cultural Awareness Program courses (CAP2) must meet all outcomes listed below and incorporate fifteen hours of direct engagement from a cultural experience.
- Learn components of a different culture—beliefs, values, customs, language, non-verbal communication, domain-specific accomplishments, etc.—as it relates to and is integrated within course content.
- Compare one's own culture to the alternative perceptions of a different cultural group, recognizing the role of ethnocentrism in developing a comprehensive worldview that seeks to understand differing cultural perceptions.
- Demonstrate empathy, humility, or open-mindedness and appreciation toward a different cultural group, propelled by an understanding of the strengths and challenges embedded within their geopolitical, sociological, environmental, governmental, economic, religious, etc. realities.
- Understand tensions within a culture or between cultures and discuss resolutions that consider the norms and values of the culture being studied.
- Display greater cultural understanding because of direct engagement and/or dialogue with the cultural group of focus to hear their expertise or perspective through their cultural lens.
- Identify evidence of personal transformation of cultural awareness and sensitivity achieved through purposeful experiences with individuals of a different cultural group.