The Trinity Curriculum

To succeed in today's rapidly changing world you must become a self-directed, independent learner. You must be able to communicate clearly, think analytically, and solve problems creatively. These skills are some of the tangible results of Trinity's curriculum. Trinity's curriculum consists of two components: the Foundation for Leadership Curriculum and Major Programs in the weekday program, and the Core Curriculum and Major Programs in the Weekend College (see the Weekend College section for information on the Core). This structure offers flexibility and professional focus to meet each student's interests and aspirations.

Foundation for Leadership Curriculum (FLC)

Trinity College's Foundation for Leadership Curriculum (FLC) is an interdisciplinary, liberal arts program offering a coherent approach to education by linking the liberal arts with practical experience and a professional focus. Central to this curriculum is an appreciation for the interdependence of the liberal arts and the development of leadership skills.

This curriculum is goal directed rather than discipline based and includes two components, a Seminar Sequence and Curricular Areas. Designed to provide a coherent support structure and enrichment for each individual, the Foundation for Leadership Curriculum is completed over four years and becomes an integral part of the student's total curricular experience.

Goal Statement

The curricular goals guide the development of all courses selected for this curriculum. All goals are equally important, yet each is emphasized at different points throughout the curriculum. This goal-based structure gives each student a unique opportunity to build an integrated and coherent curriculum, with an emphasis on individual aspirations and life goals.

Preamble

From its foundation and through its historic mission as a Catholic college for women, Trinity's identity has been grounded in the Judeo-Christian faith and in the tradition of liberal education. Trinity welcomes students of all faiths and calls on them to grow in their understanding of ultimate meanings and values. Trinity's curriculum is designed to engage students in the search for truth in all its complexity, and to enable them to discover the power of integrated learning to transform themselves and to enlarge their perspective of the world. Trinity seeks especially to prepare women for leadership rooted in the ethic of mutuality and shared responsibility. The College strives, therefore, to educate students to articulate their visions and so to equip them to become leaders who empower and facilitate the varied communities in which they participate. This vision informs the goals of the curriculum:

1. Quest for Ultimate Meaning

To enable all students to explore freely and in depth questions of ultimate meaning and values and to provide the intellectual discipline for this exploration through philosophical and theological reflection.

2. Ethical Insight for Personal, Professional, and Social Life

To require students to examine ethical values and theories with intellectual clarity and critical rigor, and to confront the ethical issues that arise in every dimension of human activity.

3. Liberal Arts Foundation

To provide students with a strong foundation in the liberal arts, to enable them to appreciate the interconnectedness of the liberal arts disciplines, and to use their liberal learning for the application and practice of critical and analytical habits of thought.

4. Focus on Gender

To focus on the historical, political, and social realities that have shaped and continue to shape the gender roles of women and men, in order to encourage the development of knowledgeable action, as well as knowledge of the issues, therefore providing students with the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to meet the challenge of leadership in personal, community, and professional spheres.

5. Diversity, Pluralism, Citizenship

To challenge students to see the world as a global community and to develop those cross-cultural perspectives and skills that will prepare them to live in an international and interdependent society.

6. Self-directed Learning

To develop active learners who are able to form effective problem-solving strategies, while shaping and selecting the systems and skills necessary for the challenges of the future.

Structure and Requirements

The Foundation for Leadership Curriculum consists of two components: the Seminar Sequence and the Curricular Areas.

The Seminar Sequence

Trinity's curriculum engages students in a demanding and directed search for meaning and truth, beginning with a series of interdisciplinary seminars to be completed throughout the undergraduate program. The sequence provides an interactive learning experience for students and faculty that fosters intellectual inquiry and analysis. All students complete three seminars. The required First-Year Seminar focuses on a faculty selected theme and challenges the student to confront contemporary issues. The second seminar, which is selected during the second or third year, emphasizes shared learning. The third and final seminar, focuses on major issues, emphasizing experiential learning, integration, and synthesis. A summary follows:

Seminar I (INT 115 First-Year Seminar) 3 cr

Emphasizes active and cooperative learning and challenges students to question and confront. Required for all first-year students.

Seminar II 3 cr

Students select an approved seminar to fulfill this requirement during their second or third year. This seminar engages the student in active shared learning and in a comparative, interdisciplinary analysis of special topics.

Seminar III 3 cr

Students, with their advisors, determine the appropriate seminar which requires expertise in a major and the readiness for a combination of experiential learning, integrative analysis, and synthesis. This seminar is completed during the students' final semesters.

Curricular Areas

This component of the curriculum introduces the student to a diversity of academic disciplines and increases her understanding of the connections between different areas of study. Students investigate and analyze such topics as: the physics of music; theological perspectives of economics; the ethics of corporate life; and/or the interdependence of biology, chemistry, and political science.

Curricular Areas represent six distinct fields of knowledge. Courses are divided into two segments: Level I courses (usually listed as 100-200 in the catalog) introduce the student to the content and methodology of the liberal arts; Level II courses (often listed as 300-400 in the catalog) expand upon the student's experience and offer an opportunity for in-depth, interdisciplinary explorations.

Each student completes requirements in the six areas at two different levels. A student may count a course for only one level area at Level 1 and Level 2. Although some courses are approved at more than one area, a course may only be counted once to fulfill an area requirement. Students select a minimum of 12 courses from Level I and four courses from Level II. The six curricular areas are:

Area Descriptions (See course listings for approved FLC courses)

AREA I: COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Area Objectives: Courses enable students to develop critical communication skills, which allow them to listen, write, and speak effectively in both academic and professional settings, to conduct and organize research, to manage technology, and to write and speak a second language.

Course Goals:

Goal 3 - Liberal Arts Foundation
Goal 4 - Focus on Gender
Goal 6 - Self-directed Learning

Required: Level I - Three to six hours of a second language at elementary level (may be waived)

Three hours communication/writing course
Three hours mathematics (may be waived)
Three hours elective

Level II - Student preference

AREA II: CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Area Objectives: Courses in this area enable students to acquire an understanding of multicultural content and contact, to develop an appreciation of diverse cultures, and to develop an understanding of the role of cultures in the various disciplines.

Course Goals:

Goal 2 - Ethical Insight for Personal, Professional, and Social Life
Goal 3 - Liberal Arts Foundation
Goal 4 - Focus on Gender
Goal 5 - Diversity, Pluralism, Citizenship

Required: Level I - Six hours

Level II - Student preference

AREA III: TRADITIONS AND LEGACIES

Area Objectives: Courses enable students to develop a historical understanding of the humanistic and artistic traditions and to appreciate the legacies of Western and United States culture.

Course Goals:

Goal 3 - Liberal Arts Foundation
Goal 4 - Focus on Gender
Goal 5 - Diversity, Pluralism, Citizenship

Required: Level I - Six hours

Level II - Student Preference

AREA IV: KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEFS

Area Objectives: Courses strongly encourage students to develop an appreciation for intellectual and religious traditions, and to acquire an in-depth understanding of the ways of knowing.

Course Goals:

Goal 1 - Quest for Ultimate Meaning
Goal 2 - Ethical Insight for Personal, Professional, and Social Life
Goal 6 - Self-directed Learning

Required: Level I - Six hours

Level II - Student preference

AREA V: SCIENTIFIC AND MATHEMATICAL INQUIRY

Area Objectives: Courses invite and challenge students to acquire an understanding of the modes of scientific and mathematical inquiry, and to develop an appreciation for the role of science in society.

Course Goals:

Goal 2 - Ethical Insight for Personal, Professional, and Social Life
Goal 3 - Liberal Arts Foundation
Goal 6 - Self-directed Learning

Required: Level I - Seven hours, including one laboratory science course

Level II - Student preference

AREA VI: INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY

Area Objectives: Courses call upon students to understand individual and group behavior as it influences the person and the institutions that shape human communities through the modes of social science inquiry, and to develop an appreciation for citizenship and service to others.

Course Goals:

Goal 2 - Ethical Insight for Personal, Professional, and Social Life
Goal 4 - Focus on Gender
Goal 5 - Diversity, Pluralism, Citizenship

Required: Level I - Six hours

Level II - Student preference

Because the Foundation for Leadership Curriculum is designed to provide coherent support and enrichment for each student's major program and selected life focus, students complete the FLC over a four-year period. The order and selection of courses should be determined in consultation with the student's academic advisor. Course selection is directed by the student's choice of major, focus area, and life-long goals. Each course helps build the liberal arts foundation that supports the individual student's program.