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The Calvin Core

The Calvin Core is anything but general. It’s education that shows you your place in God’s world.

View the full core course list Advising Information

The Essence of the Calvin Core

The Calvin Core is designed to equip you for a life of significance and service. You will be introduced to the Reformed Christian theological tradition, acquire basic competences and skills, and develop broad knowledge and understanding in the arts, humanities, and natural and social sciences. 

Your studies will culminate in a cross-disciplinary exploration of a contemporary challenge or enduring question.

 

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Core Categories

The classes you will take for the Calvin Core will fall into four general categories.

Foundations

Draws from the wisdom of scripture and thinkers across the disciplines, to help you gain the skills to address contemporary challenges and enduring questions.

Sample classes:

  • CORE 100
  • Religion courses
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Competencies and Skills

Designed to provide you with the academic skills and proficiencies you will need in your academic career and future.

Sample classes

  • Foundational Writing
  • Health and Movement
  • World Languages

Knowledge and Understanding

Designed to introduce you to a variety of disciplines and give you a wider understanding of the world we live in. 

Sample classes

  • Arts and Rhetoric
  • Math
  • Natural Sciences
  • Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Humanities
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Cross-disciplinary Integration

The culmination of your liberal arts exploration through the Calvin Core. A deep dive into a pressing question or challenge that requires an interdisciplinary approach, applying all you have learned along the way.

  • Diversity and Difference: Become a community where all voices are heard and valued, and others are loved in appreciation of their differences.
  • Environmental Sustainability: Become a faithful steward of resources, loving all God's creation—both human and non-human.
  • Global Regions and Cultures: Be formed as a listener, observer, and communicator in all contexts, and love others through appreciation of their cultural contexts.
  • Contemporary Challenges and Enduring Questions: Apply cross-disciplinary perspectives to examine enduring questions and address contemporary challenges. Begin living out your vocation in Christian witness to the world

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