Geneva College Core Curriculum

The Core ensures a comprehensive education that is...

Christ-centered

The core curriculum helps you discover the breadth and complexity of creation and seeks to help you integrate faith and life.

Practical

The diverse nature of the core equips you with the skills needed for today’s ever-changing work environment.

Purposeful

Our core is not a smattering of random courses. The core is purposeful and bold and will help you think constructively and creatively in all your learning.

Geneva's Core Curriculum Textbooks

Encountering the Old Testament - Bill Arnold
Encountering the New Testament - Walter Elwell & Robert Yarbrough
Creation Regained - Albert Wolters
Delighting in the Trinity - Michael Reeves
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus - Nabeel Qureshi
Hidden Worldviews - Steve Wilkens & Mark Sanford
The Screwtape Letters - CS Lewis
Alone Together Sherry - Turkle
Rhetoric & Poetics - Aristotle
They Say, I Say - Gerald Graff
The Silver Chair - CS Lewis
The Last Battle - CS Lewis
A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Leo Tolstoy
A Good Man is Hard to Find - Flannery O’Connor
The Inferno - Dante
The Odyssey - Homer
Much Ado About Nothing - Shakespeare
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
The Sunflower - Simon Wiesenthal
Remembering - Wendell Berry
Concise Guide to Critical Thinking - Vaughn
The City of God St. - Augustine
Great Political Theories, Vols. 1 & 2 - Michael Curtis
The Virtuous Minds - Philip Dow
Here I Am (Now What on Earth Should I Be Doing?) - Quentin Schultze

What Courses Will I Be Taking?

GodThe Triune God reveals himself in the created world. The Bible Core at Geneva College seeks to give students confidence in the Bible as God’s written, inerrant, inspired and authoritative special revelation, and ultimately in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 3 Courses

HumanityHumanity courses explore the purpose of human life which is to glorify and enjoy God as humans in Coram Deo. This requires a knowledge of self in light of one’s knowledge of God building upon the Christian intellectual tradition. 2 Courses

Community of LearnersStudents will gain an understanding of who they are within an institution of higher learning oriented by the Christian faith and structured around the liberal arts ideal. 1 Course

CosmosCosmos courses explore the nature of the physical and biological universe–from galaxies to oceans to human beings. As the creation of God, the universe serves to reveal God’s glory and attributes and is meant to be understood, appreciated, and stewarded by humankind. 3 Courses

SocietyBy nature, humans, made in the image of the Triune God, are social beings. Society courses explore the purpose and contours of human society, enabling students to understand and evaluate its varying forms. 2-3 Courses

Reason & RhetoricRhetoric and Reason courses prepare students for prudent and thoughtful engagement of culture and require facility with languages, written and oral. As individuals created in the image of God, students must learn to listen, speak, read, write and reason with wisdom, care, and integrity. 2 Courses

Cultural EngagementCultural engagement courses build on the other core areas to prepare students to engage in prudent care and responsible participation in culture and civic life. In keeping with the love of Christ and growth in wisdom, students develop an informed, thoughtful, caring, understanding of and approach to culture. 3 Courses

The Geneva College core provides the framework to promote growth in the student’s knowledge, skills, biblical understanding and attitude.

The Core and Your Degree

Every student takes between 43-49 credits in Geneva’s core curriculum this is paired with 48-72 credits in your major area of study and can be combined with additional majors, minors, or elective courses of study.

Key Themes of The Core

Bible Knowledge and Christian Life

Articulate the essential Biblical truths of the Christian faith and discover your calling to participate biblically in relationships, vocation, family, and church

Worldview

Understand the nature, strengths, weaknesses, and uses of worldviews and apply worldview analyses critically and thoughtfully to every area of life

Communication

Learn to communicate clearly, responsibly, and with integrity in written and oral forms, and evaluate the written, oral and artistic communications of others based on the same criteria

Liberal Arts & Critical Thinking

Demonstrate value in developing the lifelong learning skills necessary to critically respond to world-shaping intellectual and artistic works, and complement those skills with lifelong habits that nurture physical, mental and emotional well-being

Cultural Engagement

Develop discernment of both historic and current causes and effects of contemporary cultural issues and participate in civic life with cross-cultural awareness as shaped by the Biblical principles of humility and justice

Explore Geneva's Core Curriculum

Discover the synergy between Geneva’s Core Curriculum and your Major Area of Study

Explore how Ideas are interconnected – you are not one-dimensional – your education shouldn’t be either.
The unity of the core curriculum helps you understand the discord and conflict in society
As part of a diverse community of learners studying everything from engineering to communication you are challenged to constructively engage the world’s promise and seek God’s design in all things.

God (9 Credits)

BIB 112: Biblical Introduction I (3)
BIB 113: Biblical Introduction II (3)

And either of the following courses

BIB 300: Foundations of Christian Thought (3) (must be taken at Geneva; see catalog for exception)
PHI 310: Christian Understanding of Life (3)

Humanity (6 Credits)

HUM 103: Invitation to the Humanities (3) (must be taken at Geneva)
HUM 203: Making the West (3)

Community of Learners (3 Credits)

SSC 101: Learning and Transition (1)
Or
EGR 100: Engineering: Calling and Vocation (1)
Or
HON 101: Freshman Honors–College (1)
Or
NUR 100: Pre-Nursing Seminar (1)

Cosmos (9 Credits)

Required

PED 103: Physical Fitness (1)
- Note that the PED 103-V sections are for varsity student-athletes only. In order to take PED 103-V, the student-athlete must have entered Geneva College in the fall of 2016 or later and be in their second season of varsity sport participation. Student-athletes should take PED 103-V in the semester in which their sport is in season.

And either of the following options

SCS 110: Introduction to the Natural Sciences (4)
Minimum of 3 credits from Cosmos options
Or
3 lab courses in two different areas
( Biology/Chemistry/Environmental Science/Physics)

View Cosmos Courses

Society (6-9 Credits)

Required

Group A course and Group C course (3) (from 2 different disciplines)

Group A Course and 2 Group B Courses (3) (from 2 different disciplines)
or
Engineering Majors: ECO 270 Principles of Microeconomics (Group A) and plus one course from either Group B or Group C

or
Chemical Engineering Majors: ECO 270 only (not required to take a Group B or C course)

View All Course Options

Reason & Rhetoric (6 Credits)

Six Credits:

ENG 101: English Composition (3)

Must be taken unless proficiency is met as defined by a minimum SAT score of 640 on the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Section or a minimum score of 29 on the ACT English Test. This requirement is met only with a grade of C- or better.

Plus one of the following courses (if a student’s SAT/ACT scores exempts them from taking ENG 101, then both of the following courses must be completed):

COM 101: Principles of Communication (3)
PHI 100: Critical Thinking (3)

Cultural Engagement (7-9 Credits)

Required

POL 352: Great Issues in Politics (3) (must be taken at Geneva)
HUM 303: Perspectives: Modernity, Post-Modernity, & Virtual Culture (3)
Major Capstone Experience (1-3 credits)
(an internship, senior paper, senior project or senior seminar course as determined by the department for each program.)

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