Mar 19, 2024  
Loyola Marymount University Bulletin 2015-2016 
    
Loyola Marymount University Bulletin 2015-2016 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

University Core Curriculum



 Philosophy and Goals of the Core Curriculum

The University Core reflects the values of its founding and partnering communities - the Society of Jesus (Jesuit), Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (Marymount), and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange (CSJ). Rooted in the traditional Jesuit emphasis on classics, philosophy, theology, the liberal arts, and faith that does justice, the Core also reflects the Marymount commitment to faith, culture, and the arts. Moreover, the CSJ work for unity and reconciliation pervades the Core’s emphasis on integration. The Core encourages students to value learning, and to carry that love of learning into their future lives. Valuing learning has two key components: a distinctively Catholic, humanistic vision of intellectual inquiry as well as the cultivation of particular skills. Both are necessary for students to be thoughtful, critical, and engaged citizens of the world. The Core values and educates the whole person. The LMU University Core therefore emphasizes the formation of students as whole persons, integrated in thinking, feeling, and action. As such, the Core includes intellectual, creative/artistic, and moral development. The Core invites students to analyze their relationship with themselves, others, the world, and God. The Core serves faith by bringing students to a critical and appreciative understanding of religious traditions, and to see the search for God as intrinsic to the human condition. The Core recognizes LMU’s special role in creating men and women who will be discerning and active members of diverse communities, local and global. The Core includes the study of ethical theories and moral development, in which students come to recognize the value of acting rightly and using knowledge mindfully in the promotion of justice.

Core Learning Outcomes

Through the LMU Core, students will know…

  • Ideas concerning the origins and nature of existence - e.g., various accounts of human existence; the existence of God.
  • The dominant arguments concerning what is just.
  • The prevalent methodologies and traditions for approaching human knowledge.
  • Theories and models of the physical world.
  • The formative influences, dynamics, social impacts, and ethical consequences of scientific and technological development.
  • The historical processes that have produced the modern world.
  • The intertwined development of western and other world cultures, ideas, institutions, and religions.
  • The diversity of human experiences, identities, and interpretations of social life within societies.
  • The critical role that power, race, ethnicity, class, religion, gender, and sexuality play in determining social relations.
  • The modes of creative expression used to explore and shape culture.

Through the LMU Core, students will be able to…

  • Engage fundamental questions of faith and justice analytically, critically, and creatively.
  • Identify, reflect upon, integrate, and apply different arguments to form independent judgments.
  • Collect, interpret, evaluate, and use evidence to make arguments and produce knowledge.
  • Apply knowledge and tools from various disciplines in order to identify and address intellectual, ethical, and practical problems of relevance to the contemporary world.
  • Communicate ideas and arguments through clear writing and speech.
  • Use quantitative reasoning skills to make informed, analytical decisions.
  • Identify information needs, locate and access information, and critically evaluate sources.
  • Collaborate intellectually and creatively with diverse people.
  • Engage in the creative process and think critically about that process, its products, and its cultural traditions.
  • Use imagination and informed intuition to ask questions and solve problems.

Through the LMU Core, students will value…

  • Spirituality and intellectually informed service to a local and global community.
  • The experiences, cultures, and traditions of diverse peoples of the world.
  • The role of continuing intellectual and creative experience and growth in leading a full life.
  • Just and ethical behavior in pursuit of a more just world.
  • Contemplation of questions of ultimate reality.

Developmental Pattern of the Core

The Core moves from Foundations, to Explorations, to Integrations, carefully educating mindful women and men for others. Foundations courses introduce students to the intellectual life of LMU; guide them to confront important issues about values, faith, justice, race, gender, sexuality, and culture; and emphasize fundamental communication and reasoning skills. Exploration courses build on the skills and knowledge gained in the Foundations courses, refining them through the different disciplinary methods and perspectives of the humanities, arts, natural sciences, and social sciences. Integrations courses challenge students to take the skills and knowledge from the Foundations and Explorations courses, as well as their majors, and apply them to interdisciplinary consideration of thematic questions. In addition, Flagged courses in writing, oral skills, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, and engaged learning build on and reinforce the skills and critical thinking that students obtain in the Foundations courses.

Summary of the Area Requirements of the University Core Curriculum

Students fulfill One Area Requirement per course. Courses in a student’s major may also satisfy Core requirements, so the total number of courses required outside of a student’s major will typically be fewer than 13 listed below. Flagged courses will typically be courses that also satisfy other Core or major requirements so they do not add to the total course requirements for most students.

Foundations (Years 1-2)
Students fulfill One Area Requirement per course in each of these Areas:
First Year Seminar (Fall)
Rhetorical Arts (Spring)
Quantitative Reasoning
Theological Inquiry
Philosophical Inquiry
Studies in American Diversity

Explorations (Years 2-3)
Students fulfill One Area Requirement per course in each of these Areas:

Creative Experience
Historical Analysis and Perspectives
Nature of Science, Technology, and Mathematics
Understanding Human Behavior

Integrations (Years 3-4)
Students fulfill One Area Requirement per course in each of these Areas*:

Faith and Reason
Ethics and Justice
Interdisciplinary Connections

Flagged Courses  
            Writing 2 Flags
            Oral Skills 1 Flag
            Information Literacy 1 Flag
            Quantitative Reasoning** 1 Flag**
            Engaged Learning 1 Flag


* Students enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Engineering or Engineering Physics program are required to take only two Integrations courses: Faith and Reason and Ethics and Justice. For these students, there are a total of 12 required Areas.

** The Quantitative Reasoning Flag is met by the curriculum of the majors in the Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering.

The University Core Curriculum provides a common foundation for every undergraduate student at LMU. The power to develop additional core requirements will reside with Major and Minor programs rather than Colleges and Schools.