The Concordia Core

The Concordia Core Value

The Concordia Core Curriculum is centered upon the liberal arts, the foundation and hallmark of Lutheran education. At its heart, an education in the liberal arts was designed to prepare citizens for an active life of Christian public service by providing a set of disciplines that work together to educate the whole person, leading to lives of virtue and strong character. A liberal arts education prepares you for citizenship and, when paired with your major, gives you the skills necessary to live your vocation and be successful in today’s dynamic society.

Core Themes Experience

The promise

The Concordia Core Curriculum is a distinctive undergraduate experience that is at the heart of our Christ-centered intellectual community. We talk about values and Truth, beauty and goodness, mercy and justice as we develop mature Christian students who will become responsible citizens, faithful neighbors, and talented employees. This is accomplished through an intentional emphasis on foundational texts in literature and philosophy, an engagement with history and art, an exploration of the possibilities and limitations of science, and a knowledge of the Christian faith. In addition to these key foundations, students will acquire tools of analysis and persuasion, an understanding of the promises and shortcomings of humanity, learn about other cultures, and grapple with the necessities of self-government. Using the liberal arts (which can be loosely translated educating for freedom) as the foundation, Concordia’s Core Curriculum promises to provide students the knowledge, skills, and habits that will empower them to be successful not only in their years at Concordia and in their chosen major, but into their vocations after graduation as well.

This class excels at opening new students up to the act of critical thinking, analyzing information, problem solving, and most importantly how to DISCUSS all of these former points respectfully with the goal of bettering humanity.

/ Concordia Student

The six themes of the Concordia Core

The Concordia Core Curriculum is organized around six Core Themes. In taking this thematic instead of a more departmental approach, the core seeks to stress the connections or bridges across disciplines while valuing the knowledge within the disciplines. The six themes (and their descriptions) are:

Faith

Society and Culture

Students study the human interactions that form the basis of daily life, in order to develop a sense of citizenship in a global society. This should provide context for leading impactful lives in the church and the world through individual vocation. Society and Culture focuses on structures and systems devised by humans to maintain order and provide for the common good, institutions that can be governmental or non-governmental in nature, that bring people together in social relationships.

Human Creativity and Expression

The Natural World

Students study the laws, language, and patterns of the natural world in order to take on the responsibility of its stewardship. Students will utilize the epistemologies of science and math, that is: knowledge about the natural world can be obtained through careful observations of the natural world; the natural world operates in a way that can be understood by the development of theories that are often mathematical in nature; and appropriate manipulation of numbers is essential to gather data, frame questions, and solve logical, algorithmic, empirical, and statistical problems.

Human Beings and Being Human

Students study the interactions among the various aspects of being human. The understanding of human health & wellness, the workings of the human body, human thought, and psychology serves as the foundation for a joyful life of service. Human Beings and Being Human focuses on what it means to be an individual, how humans interact with systems not made by humans including our stewardship of God’s creation. Students here grapple with the role of humans in the physical world and the question of what it means to be human.

Communication and Language

Students develop skills in oral, written, multimedia, and multimodal communication. This includes knowledge of different communication systems, varied rhetorical situations/strategies and foreign languages. Courses in this area equip students to employ cogent, coherent, and effective language for a broad range of audiences, as well as to analyze how others have communicated effectively through language and its presentation.

Experience the Concordia Core

In addressing these interdisciplinary themes, the Concordia Core is divided into two parts: the Concordia Common Core (18 credits) and the Liberal Arts Dimensions (27 credits).

The Concordia Common Core

The Concordia Common Core includes six classes unique to our University; two that focus on our relationship with God; two that focus on our relationship and understanding of the past; and two that focus on our relationship to the present and the future, as expressed to others and our world. The courses are:

REL 100 - The Bible

REL 110 - Christian Faith

CCE 100 - Western Culture & Worldview

This course explores the underpinnings of Western Culture by focusing on crucial historical/cultural moments and the artifacts these civilizations produced. The Classical heritage and Christianity (at least as practiced in Europe and America) have both competed and cooperated for 2000 years, and the work in this class will highlight their interactions that define a Western Christian worldview in the present moment. Through a study of these developments, students will be able to situate themselves culturally and better engage worldviews and cultures other than their own.

CCE 120 - Western Thought & Worldview

This course is a Christ-centered reflection on the great conversation between the leading minds of Western philosophy. Mindful of Paul’s admonition to avoid captivity to ideas contrary to Christ, and equipped with the tools of logic and worldview analysis, students engage the great ideas of ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary philosophy. Along the way, students are trained to give clear definitions, to state worthwhile theses, and to defend them with cogent arguments. There is a particular emphasis on defending the merits of a biblical understanding of the world (apologetics), living a Christian life (ethics) and the relevance of philosophy (evaluating and applying worldviews) to our many vocations. This class is part of the Common Concordia Core required for all traditional students.

CCE 130 - Christian Citizen

This course serves as a Freshman Seminar and provides a common intellectual experience to all students by engaging students in important questions, discussions, and activities on responsible social action and civic engagement as a Christian citizen. The course defines citizenship broadly---wishing to be good neighbors as well as good citizens---while looking at citizenship from both a Christian and secular context. Based on readings and resources students will explore vocation and are encouraged to live out their vocations as student, citizen, neighbor, professional, and Christian in a thoughtful and constructive manner. As service is essential to citizenship, the course creates an opportunity for students to engage in moral discernment, active engagement and service at the local, national, and/or international level(s).

CCE 140 - Science & Humanity

This is an interdisciplinary course promoting scientific literacy by developing student understanding of how the natural sciences, social sciences, and technology are practiced, while at the same time providing a foundation for the required lab sciences and social sciences courses. By focusing on both the natural and social sciences, students will learn the types of questions asked by each, the ways knowledge is acquired in each, and how to evaluate the claims made by each. The increased impact of computer science (modelling, algorithms, big data) on science and society will also be covered. Ethical considerations of the uses of scientific knowledge form a key part of this course.

Liberal Arts Dimensions

The Liberal Arts Dimensions are comprised of three credits from the Theology department that must be completed at Concordia University, while the remaining eight classes are spread among the interdisciplinary core themes: Society and Culture, Human Creativity and Expression, the Natural World, Human Beings and Being Human, and Communication and Language. Students can choose courses relevant to their majors or based on their interests. These classes can potentially be satisfied through transfer credit, AP or CLEP exams, or through high school dual credit courses.

A selection of books read in the Common Core over the last few years:

Evicted
What the Eyes Can’t See
Frankenstein
Structure of Scientific Revolutions – selections
Philosophy of Science – selections
The Apology; The Crito – Plato
Confessions – Book II
City of God – selections
Two Treatises of Government – selections
The Idea of a University – selection
Democracy in America - selections

I liked this class the most because it was able to make a good connection between my faith and worldly scientific concepts. It allowed me to think deeper about how Christians should handle talking about science and what has/hasn’t been proven to be true.

/ Concordia Student

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