Mission Statement

The mission of the College of Arts and Sciences is to provide a liberal undergraduate education in the humanities, the arts, and the social sciences along with selected graduate and professional programs within a learning community that pursues truth with academic freedom and welcomes the unique contributions of all to the common good. Grounded in the Catholic and Jesuit intellectual traditions and respectful of their vision of the human person, and committed to the service of faith and the promotion of justice, the faculty of the College educate students for leadership, spiritual growth, responsible citizenship, and service through a curriculum that develops the whole person: the intellect, the imagination, the aesthetic sense, the capacity for ethical reflection, and skills of analysis and communication.

Small, Related Classes

The disciplines of the humanities, the arts, and the social sciences provide the heart and foundation of Seattle University's mission to the undergraduate. The College fulfills its mission through its curricula of disciplinary programs and majors, as well as through its service to the university's core curriculum. Small classes, taught primarily by full-time faculty in close pedagogical relation with students, constitute our learning community. The faculty of the College are committed to bringing the methods and insights of one discipline into dialogue with one another. In this way the assumptions, the strengths, and the limits of any one mode of inquiry are tested by those of other disciplines. This discourse is best nurtured within a learning community that is dialogical in discourse and collegial in its governance.

Ethical Reflection

Besides encouraging a liberal diversity of perspectives, the College raises ultimate questions about the nature, value, and responsibilities of the human person, grounding an understanding of these questions in their societal and historical contexts and promoting inquiry that is empirical, reasoned and critical. Distinctive to the curriculum are courses in philosophy and theology whose mission in dialogue with other disciplines is to examine the ethical, spiritual, and religious dimensions of the human person.

Learning Through Service

Further, the College believes that dialogue appropriately calls for action and service as ways of learning. Therefore, programs which include internships and other types of service-learning projects are strongly encouraged. In such programs students develop skills for leadership, test the knowledge they acquire in the classroom, contribute to the community, and gain first-hand experience as data for further reflection. The faculty of the College likewise contribute to the community by engaging in dialogue with other scholars and with the public most importantly through the promotion and presentation of their own scholarship and creative work, and, in addition, through such methods as invited speakers, endowed chairs, and visiting faculty.

Commitment to Jesuit and Catholic Values

To ensure honest and authentic exchanges of thought, the College is committed to academic freedom in the search for what constitutes truth and justice. As a Jesuit institution, it is especially appropriate for this College to examine the grounds of ethical, spiritual, and religious commitments which acknowledge in a special way the claims of the poor, the oppressed, and the powerless and which seek ways of addressing them. In fidelity to its heritage, the faculty of this College are committed to the study and teaching of western and other world cultures with appropriate inclusion of the Catholic intellectual tradition. Moreover, the College is committed to balance approaches to learning consonant with its Catholic heritage: habits of contemplation and service to the community; the promotion of effective teaching and the support for scholarship and creative work; and an understanding of both religious belief and reason as ways of knowing.

International Mission Statement

The College’s commitment to the international dimension of the University mission flows from the Jesuit vision of the world as “a stage on which the destiny of person and society is played out”. The College believes that international education contributes in a unique way to the liberal education and personal growth of its students. The knowledge and experience of another culture provides significant opportunities for our students to look more critically at themselves and the society in which they live. The College’s involvement in international programs also represents an important aspect of the Catholic and Jesuit ideal of preparing our students for service in an increasingly diverse, multicultural world. The College is, as the Seattle University mission states, educating “leaders and decision makers for the twenty-first century.” The incorporation of international perspectives in our curriculum and academic programs, the international expertise of our faculty, and the dynamic teaching and learning environments fostered in the College’s international programs all contribute to making our students more knowledgeable and responsible world citizens. In today’s global world, the College seeks to play a leadership role by serving as a valuable international resource in the Pacific Northwest.