Core Curriculum
Foster your curiosity, inspire your passions, and gain the skills to become a leader and change-maker for a more just and humane world.
Through thirteen courses, you will develop critical skills, knowledge, and literacies; learn about the Jesuit and Catholic context of our educational mission; and develop the ethical reasoning, critical thinking, and effective communication skills across the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences that will prepare you to confront, understand, and engage with a complex world. Our Core also engages you with learning beyond the classroom through meaningful, responsible service work, art, performance, advocacy, or applied research.
You’ll develop the critical skills employers and communities are hungry for:
- Critical thinking, effective public speaking, and exceptional writing skills
- Information, data, and technological literacy
- An ability to make thoughtful, ethical decisions in complex situations
- An ability to apply methods learned from the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences to understand and respond to the pressing challenges of today
Roadmap To Your Journey
Your foundation begins with your “Signature Seminar” introducing you to our vibrant city, our campus, and to the value of a Jesuit education. You then take another three foundational courses where you will hone key skills that will form the basis for your college education and life beyond:
- Critical thinking, writing, and public speaking
- Information literacy
- Quantitative reasoning
- How to ask and answer the big questions, like what does living a purposeful, meaningful life look like for me?
Learn more about your Foundation courses.
Explore artistic, humanistic, social science, and natural science methods for asking the important questions - and answering them. Engage with Seattle U’s Jesuit and Ignatian heritage by studying the role of Jesuits and Catholic institutions in social movements and historical contexts in your Theological Explorations course. In your Ethical Inquiry course, you will explore the ways that you can engage in critical, ethical reasoning as you face and respond to the challenges of today - and tomorrow.
Learn more about your Inquiry courses.
Examine how people around the world find meaning and purpose and devote themselves to answering the challenges we face in our common home. Explore the world through rich cultural studies classes, study abroad, or learning a language. And work alongside faculty, classmates, and community partners to identify and engage with the world as a thoughtful, responsible, and ethical change-maker.
Learn more about your Engagement courses.