The Liberal Arts
The curriculum and the academic experiences at Rockford University are founded on the liberal arts and extend into professional and experiential opportunities so that all majors are expansive, integrative and inclusive. We know that the liberal arts are the most practical form of education one can acquire, because it creates the power to learn, grow, and make choices throughout life. The liberal arts prepare students for their first and subsequent careers. We define liberal arts learning not by naming specific traditional disciplines, but by the breadth of knowledge, skills and values that is available to all students. Whatever one’s major, from accounting to the social sciences, students at Rockford University learn to connect different forms of learning to each other and to ask questions from both within and outside individual disciplines. At Rockford University we provide the resources to develop academic, social, civic and personal educational experiences in the liberal arts and academic disciplines of the University. Our liberal arts education gives students the knowledge and skills as well as values to be ethical; knowledge and values require skills to be effective; and values and skills without knowledge are at best empty, and at worst, destructive.
General Education
General education structures the development of knowledge, values, and skills on which higher learning in all disciplines depends and that mark the achievement of higher learning no matter the discipline. These experiences combine with several others to form the general education program for all students: a First-Year Seminar, common first-year experiences, required participation in the Forum Series of public lectures and performances, opportunities for applied or community-based learning experiences, and a set of course requirements distributed across academic disciplines. Taken together, the Rockford University general education program provides students the foundation for fulfilling lives and effective participation in their professions and the civic life of their communities.
An essential, but supportive component to our general education program is a universal, upper-division graduation requirement in rhetoric, argumentative writing, and oral communication. This experience builds on earlier work in basic communication skills, raises the standard expected of all Rockford University students, and prepares them for the senior seminar required in all majors.
Learning Expectations of Rockford University Graduates
Rockford University graduates contribute to the world as knowledgeable, ethical and productive citizens with the necessary resources to be active, effective and reflective: knowledge for understanding the world, values for envisioning the world, and skills for shaping the world.
Knowledge for Understanding the World
Knowledge is foundational for developing skills and values. A rigorous liberal arts education provides opportunities for acquiring both general and discipline-specific knowledge. Such knowledge enables graduates to understand the world as it exists and how it came to be, and to envision how it might be. Graduates acquire knowledge of individuals, the social world, and the natural world.
- Knowledge of individuals. Understand the strengths, aspirations, aptitudes and limitations of self and other individuals; the explicit and implicit aspects of identity; and the functioning of individuals in context. Develop self-knowledge to set and achieve life goals.
- Knowledge of the social world. Understand the history, culture, structure and function of U.S. and other world societies, and how societies affect individuals and groups through their institutions, principles, traditions and values.
- Knowledge of the natural world. Understand the structures and principles of the natural world recognizing its beauty, complexity, richness and value.
Values for Envisioning the World
Values are explored, debated and formed at Rockford University. Graduates are educated to make ethically informed choices as individuals and citizens within a democratic society and the world community. Values for ethical decision-making are learned throughout the University experience, which emphasizes creative and experiential learning. Values for a better world include those relating to self, others, society and nature.
- Valuing individuals. Discern the consequences of personal behavior for one's self and on others; practice civility, courage, curiosity, honesty, independence, integrity, objectivity, open-mindedness and perseverance. Develop the aesthetic, intellectual, professional and social realms of one’s life.
- Valuing society. Value and exercise one’s civic rights and obligations in the community, nation and world. Critically and creatively assess one’s own and others’ cultures and societies; strive to shape public policies and work for justice.
- Valuing nature. Acknowledge humanity as a part of nature, understanding the value of scientific and aesthetic inquiry for the quality of the natural world.
Skills for Shaping the World
The liberal arts at Rockford University embody a set of skills and habits of mind. These skills and habits include thoughtful analysis, precise communication and creative and effective application. Living in complex and diverse situations requires making connections among knowledge, values and behavior.
- Individual skills. Listen, read, speak, and write effectively and professionally; use basic mathematical concepts and operations; think creatively and logically, analytically and synthetically; and evaluate appropriately. Applying these skills for decision-making may involve using technology.
- Social skills. Creatively use information from multiple disciplines, perspectives and technologies; work collaboratively; and communicate effectively in groups to understand, manage and solve complex issues, situations, and problems.
- Scientific skills. Devise, test, and verify hypotheses and evaluate results for their effects; gather data and evidence systematically using appropriate technology; and correctly apply scientific methods to problems in the natural and social worlds.
In summary, the Rockford University experience leads to a life of active learning, personal development, professional growth, and informed citizenship.