Core Requirements
The core curriculum is based on the faculty’s belief that a liberal arts education should be broad and inclusive, introducing students to ideas and values of continuing concern and providing them with historical and spiritual perspectives on the complex problems of our society. The core curriculum is also designed to provide Covenant students with common learning experiences, to emphasize the God-ordained unity of knowledge, to provide a global rather than a provincial emphasis in learning, to focus students’ attention not only on the past and the present but also on the future, and to develop students’ capacities to learn not only through ratiocination but experientially. Crucial to the success of the core curriculum is the pervasiveness of a biblical perspective in every course.
All students who are candidates for a baccalaureate degree are required to take courses or demonstrate competency in each area of the core curriculum. Exceptions to these requirements are listed in the sections of the catalog describing particular majors. Normally, one semester of the two course sequence of Christian Doctrine I, II and Cultural Heritage of the West I, II are required to be completed at Covenant. If a core requirement is fulfilled by demonstrating proficiency, no credit hours are awarded. These hours will be replaced with elective hours applied toward the minimum of 126 hours needed to graduate. Some programs will require more than 126 hours.
All students who are candidates for a baccalaureate degree are required to complete an Intercultural Experience. All Intercultural Experiences must be pre-approved by a faculty member of the Intercultural Competencies Committee.
Normally the core foreign language and the core natural science lab requirements must be completed with in-person foreign language instruction and in-person science laboratory component instruction. When extraordinary circumstances arise that make in-person instruction impossible, the Core Oversight Committee may approve the acceptance of online courses to fulfill core natural science laboratory and foreign language course requirements. Students will follow the normal procedure to request approval for a course through the Letter of Good Standing/Transient Student Request Form with the Office of Records noting the circumstance and why they would be unable to take this course in a future term warranting approval of the course.
One component of this broad liberal arts core curriculum is the skill of public speaking. Most departments offer a ‘Speech Intensive’ or “S” course that satisfies this component. Many departments have designated their Capstone Project as the “S” course, which means this will come at the end of a student’s studies at Covenant. Below is a summary definition of what qualifies a course as an “S” course.
“S” course definition: A course in which students are required to make a prepared and organized oral presentation (minimum 12 minutes) to a class of peers and faculty. Instruction about form, content, and assessment will precede the oral presentation, and rubric-based evaluation of content, form, and delivery will follow it. In addition to whole-class instruction, there will be some level of mentoring interaction between professors and individual students.
With each list of major requirements, majors have designated the “S” course for the major or indicated an alternate course which will satisfy this component.
Another core component is writing skills that are grounded in our “W” courses, also taught within our majors as defined below.
“W” course definition: A course in which the conventions of formal writing in the discipline are taught, including adherence to a style manual or other disciplinary parameters. A major writing assignment will incorporate pre-writing instruction about form, content, and assessment, and subsequent rubric-based assessment will address both content and form. In addition to whole-class instruction, there will be some level of mentoring interaction between professors and individual students. The Capstone may not count as a “W” course.
Diversity (DIV) Courses
Diversity courses will explore one or more of the following: genders, ethnicities, races, religions, social classes, disabilities, or cultures other than Anglo-American and white majority European as their primary subject matter. A DIV course offered by a student’s major department may fulfill both the DIV and a major requirement. A DIV course may not fulfill the DIV and another distribution requirement below. A diversity course code (DIV) will appear with the course description. Students who successfully complete this requirement will demonstrate the ability to:
* Identify the role of races, genders, ethnicities, religions, social classes, disabilities, or cultures in shaping human knowledge and cultural production.
* Empathize with perspectives other than their own.
* Connect course knowledge to broader concerns for, and commitment to, the physical and spiritual worth and welfare of all image bearers.
Diversity Approved Courses:
Global Awareness (GA) Courses
Global Awareness (GA) courses seek to accentuate the multilevel interconnectedness of countries and cultures across the globe by carefully examining current events that illustrate the importance and clarify the dynamics relating these connections. A GA course offered by a student’s major department may fulfill both the GA and a major requirement. A GA course may not fulfill both the GA and any other distribution requirement (listed below). A Global Awareness course code (GA) will be associated with all courses that fulfill this requirement. Students who successfully complete this requirement will demonstrate the ability to:
* Identify significant contemporary issues influencing societies in more than one country.
* Recognize the complexity of contemporary global issues in their causes and effects.
* Think carefully about the implications of an interconnected world for faithful living.
Global Awareness Approved Courses
Distribution Requirements
Distribution requirements allow a student to select courses of interest to gain exposure to a variety of disciplines contributing to the broad liberal arts emphasis. Below are the four distribution requirements with the courses that can satisfy these components. Normally, courses from a student’s major department may not fulfill a core distribution requirement. Courses fulfilling a core distribution requirement may also apply toward a second major or minor requirement. See the section below, Courses Satisfying Multiple Requirements, regarding scenarios when a core distribution requirement may also apply toward a major program requirement. A distribution course code (i.e. FAR, HUM, LAB, SSC) also appears with the course description.
Fine Arts (FAR) Distribution Courses
Explore varied elements of human artistic inquiry and/or expression. Students who successfully complete this requirement will have demonstrated the ability to:
* Engage various elements of human creative process as found in the visual, musical or theatrical arts.
* Appreciate the products of human creativity in the visual, musical or theatrical arts.
* Think biblically about the process and products of human creativity in the visual, musical or theatrical arts.
Fine Arts Distribution Requirement Approved Courses:
Humanities (HUM) Distribution Courses
Explore varied elements of human culture, thought, and/or literary expression. Students who successfully complete this requirement will have demonstrated the ability to:
* Engage various elements of human thought, literary expression and cultural development.
* Recognize the interplay between human thought, literary expression and cultural development.
* Think biblically about the process and products of human thought, literary expression and cultural development.
Humanities Distribution Requirement Approved Courses:
Natural Science Lab (LAB) Distribution Courses
Explore elements of scientific investigation and content, including hands-on laboratory experiences, in one or more of the natural sciences. Students who successfully complete this requirement will have demonstrated the ability to:
* Engage various elements of scientific exploration in physical or biological sciences.
* Appreciate the products of scientific study in physical or biological sciences.
* Think biblically about the process and products of scientific endeavor in physical or biological sciences.
Natural Science Lab Distribution Requirement Approved Courses:
Social Science (SSC) Distribution Courses
Explore human behavior at the individual, group, and structural levels, as well as the interplay of these factors. Courses will make use of social and/or behavioral science methods, both quantitative and qualitative. Students who successfully complete this requirement will have demonstrated the ability to:
* Engage various elements of the exploration of human social interactions, institutions and behaviors.
* Appreciate the products of the study of human social interactions, institutions and behaviors.
* Think biblically about the process and products of the study of human social interactions, institutions and behaviors.
Social Science Distribution Requirement Approved Courses:
Courses Satisfying Multiple Requirements:
To encourage breadth in the overall academic programs, normally courses with a prefix from a student’s major department may not fulfill a core distribution requirement. For example, a history major may not use an HIS or POL prefix course from the History, Politics and International Studies Department to fulfill a core distribution requirement. Also, a course fulfilling an Interdisciplinary Studies major requirement may not fulfill a core distribution requirement.
There are some scenarios where a course could fulfill two requirements. Courses fulfilling a core distribution requirement may also apply toward a second major or minor requirement. A course required for a major program with a prefix outside of the major department, may be used to fulfill a major and a core distribution requirement. For example, a Business major requires ECO 202 Principles of Microeconomics, which is offered by the Economics and Community Development Department. ECO 202 may fulfill the core social science distribution requirement as well as the business major requirement. A core diversity (DIV) course offered by a student’s major department may fulfill both the DIV and a major requirement.