Core Curriculum

 As a Catholic university, St. John’s is challeged to embody academic excellence. According to Pope John Paul II in the apostolic constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae and the U.S. bishops in their document Catholic Higher Education and the Pastoral Mission of the Church, Catholic universities must give their students the highest quality liberal education. For undergraduates, we believe this is best achieved through a unified core curriculum. The University core curriculum serves as a platform for excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, professional programs of study, and lifelong learning.

Rationale for a University-Wide Core Curriculum
The rationale for a University-wide core curriculum flows from several key elements of the Mission Statement, which declares that St. John’s is (1) Catholic; (2) Vincentian; and (3) Metropolitan.

Specifically, the University Core Curriculum at St. John’s will reflect the Catholic, Vincentian, and Metropolitan nature of the institution in the following ways:

1. The courses of the core curriculum at St. John’s, in the best of Catholic tradition, will enrich the study of the arts and sciences with the perspectives and traditions of the Catholic faith, and will encourage students of all faiths to seek truth in a universal spirit of openness.
   
   
2. The courses of the core curriculum at St. John’s will reflect the Vincentian tradition of a values-oriented world-view. This means that in its design and execution, the core curriculum will make conscious efforts to promote global harmony and human development, and will, in the spirit of Vincent de Paul, reflect sensitivity to and concern for those who lack advantages.
   
   
3. St. John’s is proud of its role as an institution of higher education in New York City, which is a global center of ideas and cultures. The courses of the core curriculum will draw on the rich resources that the city and its surrounding area have to offer.

Purpose of the Core
The purpose of the core curriculum is to provide a unified educational experience, which characterizes St. John’s students and provides them with the knowledge and skills necessary to become educated members of society. The core consists of 27 common credits that will be taken by every St. John’s student, regardless of college or major field of study, and a minimum of 21 distributed core requirements that will vary by college or program of study.

The core is divided into two groups: “common core requirements” and “distributed core requirements.” The distinction does not imply difference in importance, but reflects the diversity of academic needs and abilities of our students and programs of study.

Courses of the Common Core

1. Discover New York (3 credits)
2. English: Composition: Critical Analysis in Reading and Writing (3 credits)
3. English: Literature in a Global Context (3 credits)
4. History: The Emergence of Global Society (3 credits)
5. Philosophy: Philosophy of the Human Person (3 credits)
6. Philosophy: Metaphysics (3 credits)
7. Scientific Inquiry (3 credits)
8. Speech: Public Speaking for the College Student (3 credits)
9. Theology: Catholic Perspectives on Christianity (3 credits)

Courses of the Distributed Core

1. Either 2 courses in a second language or Creativity in the Fine Arts and Language and Culture (6 credits)
2. Mathematics (3 credits)
3. Philosophy (Ethics) (3 credits)
4. Theology (6 credits) (including one course in Moral Theology)
5. Social Sciences (3 credits)

Individual colleges may require additional distributed core courses. Students should see their academic advisors for assistance in choosing courses of the distributed core.