General Education
All students at Taylor University share certain common educational requirements. Known as general education, this program grows out of the purpose of the University as expressed in its Christian beliefs, mission statement and academic objectives.
In seeking to integrate faith and learning in the Christian university environment, the general education program recognizes that all truth is God's truth in the special revelation of the inspired Scriptures and in the accumulated knowledge of human experience. The Christian faith permeates all learning. This idea means that: (1) faith is the foundation for our learning in the academic disciplines; and (2) the academic disciplines are important for informing our faith and transforming our world.
Christian worldview assumptions provide the foundation for the learning process and infuse the liberal arts and the academic majors with direction, meaning and motive for application. Such interaction of faith and learning transforms general education courses in terms of subject selection, interpretation of information, the search for meaning in information, the application of knowledge, a model for living and learning and an enthusiastic appreciation for knowledge. The liberal arts enhance the study of the student's major and support preparation for the world of work as well as civic, social and personal responsibilities.
Representing nearly half of the baccalaureate programs, general education is liberating education in that it frees Christians to think and deal with the entire range of knowledge. The faculty of Taylor University affirms that general education is intended to develop students who evidence the following characteristics of mature and intellectual Christians:
- Spiritual Activity
Students who are spiritually active have developed an intellectual and experiential understanding of the Christian heritage enacted in a consistent lifestyle of study, worship, service, stewardship and world outreach.
- Critical Thinking
Students who are critical thinkers have learned the intellectually disciplined process of conceptualizing, quantifying, analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating information gathered from or generated by observation, experience, reflection, reason or communication as a guide for action or belief.
- Competent Communication
Students who are competent communicators have developed understanding and skill in the nature and practice of private and public discourse as instruments for creating, interpreting and evaluating beliefs, attitudes, policies and values in the context of various communities.
- Scientific Literacy
Students who are scientifically literate have understood and employed the scientific method as a means of inquiry, are familiar with basic subject matter in representative areas of the natural sciences, understand foundational connections among the various areas of science and mathematics, and are able to relate scientific principles to human affairs.
- Aesthetic Literacy
Students who are aesthetically literate have developed knowledge of the unique epistemology represented by the arts including a discerning awareness of the language and literature of diverse art forms.
- Civic Mindedness
Students who are civic-minded have attained systematic knowledge of the structure and processes of domestic and international cultural, economic, political and social systems and value participation in those structures and processes.
- Responsible Stewardship
Students who are responsible stewards have developed an understanding of God's command to be good caretakers of His creation and practice individual accountability in managing spiritual, intellectual, personal, physical and economic resources.
- Lifelong Learning
Students who are lifelong learners are committed to learning as a means of continuous growth and development, expressing itself in ministry and reverence toward God in an ever-changing world.
