"Invitation to Inquiry" is Albertus Magnus College's
General Education Program
Unlock this Invitation to Inquiry through the study of the arts, humanities, and sciences
Help students become lifelong learners in pursuit of truth, inclusion, and upholding
the dignity of others
Provide students with resources to develop their ideas through an integrative approach
Encourage idea creation and develop critical thinking skills, emphasizing experiential
and problem-based learning
Albertus Magnus College is committed to providing a Liberal Arts education in the arts and sciences. This holistic form of education is dynamic and reflective of the contemporary world while empowering students to pursue a path relevant to their personal and professional aspirations. The College recognizes the world is ever changing and in response offers a forward-thinking General Education Program to prepare students to be adaptive.
The goal of the General Education curriculum is to support the development of students into community members who have the capacity to critically examine themselves and the broader society as they strive to make a positive impact as people, professionals, and global citizens.
The objectives of the program are for all graduates of Albertus Magnus College to be persons who embody the values, principles, and characteristics of the four pillars - who practice
- Critical inquiry in habits of study,
- Effective dialogue within and across communities,
- Ethical engagement through lives of service, and
- Purposeful reflection through the awareness that comes from habits of contemplation.
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Composition of the Program
The program consists of 48 credits
- Foundational Core: 15 credits
- Liberal Arts Core: 24 credits
- Pathway: 18 credits (9 of which overlap with the Liberal Arts Core)
- Senior Humanities Seminar: 3 credits
At the heart of Invitation to Inquiry is a student’s “Pathway” consisting of six courses grouped around a particular theme.
- Creation and Destruction: Survival has never been enough. This pathway looks at the human drive to create. For better and worse, humans in the anthropocene are shaping the world and telling its stories, telling our stories and shaping the world. We [also] imagine the end of the world. We imagine the world anew. The chain of creators stretches through human history: every course in the pathway offers students the chance to forge their own link.
- Mission Earth: Health, Prosperity, and Justice: How can we live in balance with the earth in a way that promotes health, prosperity, and justice? This pathway draws on the natural and social sciences, business, and the arts and humanities to focus on climate justice and sustainable economics.
- Politics, Philosophy, and Economics: A study of how the individual finds meaning in the relationship of self to society as a whole from the perspective of Political Science, Philosophy and Economics.
- Power, Equity, and Justice: In this pathway, students will engage in critical analysis of a range of topics that include intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, ability, and religion, understanding how they shape our standpoint. They will learn the complex ways in which power and inequality operate while developing tools to challenge systems of oppression, empowering them to foster equity and inclusion in their work, irrespective of their field of study.
- Trauma Studies: The Phoenix Rising: This pathway will unpack how trauma can and does shape the human experience, traversing its impact on the individual, society, culture, and political arenas. This pathway is interdisciplinary and draws from the social sciences, arts, and humanities.
Contact Information
Invitiation to Inquiry Team
generaleducation@albertus.edu