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Undergraduate Catalog Justice Matters
Justice Matters: General Education Program The general education program known as Justice Matters is designed to help students develop the qualities of the liberally educated person listed at the beginning of this Catalog. While the qualities emphasize desirable abilities and skills of Cabrini graduates, the general education requirements emphasize the curriculum content areas through which the faculty strives to help students develop these qualities.
While each student develops in-depth knowledge within a major, each liberally educated student also should share a common core of knowledge. In August 2009, Cabrini College instituted new general education requirements for all students entering the College. These requirements, also known as the “core curriculum” is divided into three parts: Engagements with the Common Good, Explorations, and 21st Century Literacies. During the 19971998 strategic planning process, the phrase “education of the heart,” taken from the writings of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, emerged as a guiding concept to present the mission, goals, and values of the College with clarity. An “education of the heart” refers to an educational experience that asks students to develop their intellectual skills at the same time they grow in concern for others. In order for this to occur, students must learn skills that will advance their careers and that can be used for the benefit of their communities; students must link theory to practice in the world; students must be prepared for professional careers through a rigorous liberal learning experience; and students must perceive their educational environment as extending beyond the classroom so that the entire campus community becomes a living and learning environment. Cabrini College’s “education of the heart” is achieved in practice through the institution’s commitment to providing all students a liberal education. This commitment, combined with the College’s commitment to preserve its Catholic identity, results in a signature educational experience for all Cabrini students, known as the Engagements with the Common Good (ECG). All students take thematic and community engagement coursework within the ECG courses, culminating in a capstone in the major field. The Common Good refers to the longstanding educational tradition at the College of building student knowledge, habits, values, and skills that can be used to benefit others—not in order to forsake the self but in order to create the conditions in which all people can find fulfillment. The outcome of Engagements with the Common Good is that students will be civically engaged: working for peace and justice and against poverty and oppression and increasingly growing in their compassionate concern and ability to advocate for all human beings. More specifically, this core and common curriculum focuses on
achieving the student learning outcome of Responsibility for Social Justice. ECG courses are extended by Explorations courses that provide students a broad exposure to various disciplinary experiences, help students achieve the Qualities of a Liberally Educated Person (QLEPs), and complement the work of the ECG courses. In particular, the Explorations sequence teaches students to understand themselves as products of—and participants in—institutions, creative traditions, the historical process, and value-driven decision making. There are a variety of courses by which students can fulfill the Explorations requirement. Students are expected to discuss their selection of Explorations courses with their advisors and observe the following restrictions: No courses from a first major shall count towards the General Education core requirements. To fulfill the Explorations, students may take no more than two courses with the same prefix (i.e. SOC, ENG, etc.). Students are encouraged to take courses in a variety of disciplines. Students are responsible for completing the appropriate prerequisite for any course selected in the Explorations. Students graduating from Cabrini College must complete a minimum of 123 total college credits. In addition, the general education program has a unique responsibility to provide foundational knowledge, skills, and experiences which prepare students for and move students toward deeper, broader, and more integrated explorations of knowledge, values, and behaviors related to the Common Good and the Qualities of the Liberally Educated Person. 21st Century Literacies (cross-cultural/global, religious, scientific, quantitative, communicative, and information) provide the foundational basis on which students are prepared to achieve the student learning outcomes associated with the College QLEPs. Certain courses in the general education program fulfill the requirements for more than one Exploration/Literacy area. Students may fulfill only one requirement for each course completed.