It is our goal to prepare you to be both successful and reflective citizens of a global community. It’s not just a matter of engaging you in the classroom but also supporting you in your passions and personal discovery outside your degree. That’s why the core curriculum at William Jewell prioritizes the development of your critical thinking and leadership skills.
The ability to think critically about the challenges you face in your life, be it academically, professionally or personally, is an invaluable skill. You deserve a college experience that equips you to engage actively in the world and remain a conscientious member of society—an experience that is insufficiently prioritized at most undergraduate institutions. But providing the structure to support your intellectual and personal development remains a priority at Jewell.
As you pursue your degree, our university curriculum will assist you in mastering your academic material while developing a deeper and more complex understanding of your subject of study. We don’t just teach to the test—we teach to you. Our focus is our students, and that’s why your Jewell education will center around creating the learning environment you need to thrive in college and continue to develop as an individual and an engaged citizen.
Core Curriculum: Three Levels, One End Goal
Our academic core curriculum moves through three levels and roughly 35 credit hours, seeking to equip you with the vast critical thinking skills necessary to make a difference. Essential questions are embedded in our courses and provide a series of unifying themes: What is real? What can we know? How should we live?
These underpinning questions are integral to your growth at Jewell, regardless of your field of study. They remain so critical because they encourage not only authentic engagement but also courageous citizenship and innovative thought. By actively engaging with our values, our college curriculum works to provide the building blocks of a more holistic collegiate experience. These are tools necessary to involve yourself as a dynamic global citizen both in and outside of college.
Our Critical Thought and Inquiry Core Curriculum provides students with a learning experience that builds through three stages. Each of these stages is designed to emphasize different skills and then provide you with the resources necessary to excel in that area.
This student-focused approach first sets you up for success and then progressively equips you to become a more driven world citizen and leader. The challenges of the 21st century require novel, dynamic and considered solutions.
Introductory Level
The introductory level, beginning with a humanities, written communication and mathematics course, will help you transition from high school to college.
Many students exit high school lacking the fundamental skills necessary to succeed in a high-pressure academic and creative environment. Our introductory courses will help lay the groundwork for academic fundamentals but also introduce you to the subject material itself. That way, all students enter their journey at Jewell with the same necessary skills, building blocks and informational resources.
Beyond this, it introduces the philosophical subtext of the personal exploration we encourage at William Jewell. We want you to think about answers to these questions as you begin your journey with us. Your thoughts, feelings and perspective will change with exposure to new concepts and world views and help develop a deeper appreciation for your growth’s spiritual and philosophical underpinning at Jewell.
The Responsible Self
This is a humanities-based, introductory course required of all students in their first year of study at the College. The organizing questions of the course are those of epistemology, ontology and ethics: What can we know? What is real? How should we live? Students will wrestle with these questions from several distinct cultural and ideological perspectives.
Written Communication
This course develops student skills in academic writing, including research skills and critical use of sources in argumentation. Through writing and revising, you will explore the role of audience and context in shaping written communication and learn to demonstrate logical reasoning, adequate factual support, clarity and appropriate language choices.
Math for the Liberal Arts
This course helps you apply fundamental mathematical techniques (including algebraic and statistical techniques) and abstract concepts to practical, real-life situations. The course will include finite mathematics, statistics and other selected topics that may involve the following: voting theory; apportionment; graph theory; circuits and networking; population models; geometry and fractals; and probability theory.
Identity and Society
Identity and Society is an introductory course on interacting with others through creating and perceiving personal identities. You will reflect on how you enact your own ideological, cultural and contextual assumptions regarding their relational perceptions of self and others while learning how to engage in constructive, authentic communication.
Second Level
The courses at Level II are interdisciplinary and encourage learning about relevant questions that transcend disciplinary boundaries. No matter the subject of study, broader existential questions about the nature of humanity and their role within our global society prove a valuable vehicle for critical analysis.
Posing these questions provides young critical thinkers at William Jewell College with tools vital for active citizenship within our society. This provides you with the platform to meaningfully learn and grow as a thinker and engaged observer of the world around you. To be engaged, to be committed, to be leaders of thought all require looking at various subjects from numerous different perspectives.
The second level offers a variety of interdisciplinary courses grouped around four topic areas that teach you how to fill in the gaps between academic disciplines, a necessary practice in our ever-changing world:
Culture and Traditions
Culture and Traditions courses explore unique and dynamic worldly perspectives, introducing you to topics and philosophies that differ from your own. While there is an emphasis on critical thinking and analysis of these perspectives and traditions, the goal is to provide you with the opportunity to explore a world outside your own. By engaging with societies whose opinions and developments are distinct from your traditions and culture, Jewell works to provide you with a comprehensive exploration of how to engage with others.
Power and Justice
Power and Justice will provide a vehicle for you to analyze the social and political landscape of cultural dynamics. As society has changed, so, too, has there been nuanced development in the place people find for themselves within our culture and political discourse. This category of courses provides an analytical forum for you to explore concepts of power and the moral imperative that exists alongside changing social dynamics. What is justice? What is right and wrong? Who decides who has power? These questions are more pertinent than ever and serve as core pillars of exploration for level two within our college curriculum.
Sacred and Secular
Courses that touch upon the Sacred and Secular discuss themes of religious exploration, spirituality and the cultural divisions that naturally form around faith and interpersonal or political engagement. You will explore the meaning of religion in your life and how religious philosophies and institutions have shaped our society, media, cultural dialogue and the world. Beyond that, you will explore how you as an individual interface in a world divided along the lines of secularity and faith.
Science, Technology and the Human Experience
You will explore the evolution of scientific practice and theory and its impact on the world and human experience. From conversations about the advancement of medicine to the discussion of social media and technological development, these courses touch upon hot-button topics that shape the current social landscape. You will have the opportunity to analyze how being a person and an engaged citizen is different now due to changing technology and what that means for the future of human civilization and philosophy.
Capstone Level
Finally, the capstone course addresses complex, real-world issues through a four-hour course.
Take the First Step Towards Your Future
At every step of your undergraduate experience, William Jewell is here to facilitate your growth as a critical thinker and a global citizen. Interested in the curriculum here at William Jewell College? You can further explore our website or contact the Office of Admission to learn more.