Mission Statement

From the Curriculum II Assessment Plan:

General Education at Gustavus Adolphus College is one expression of our commitment to helping students develop their potential as persons, establish habits of life-long learning, and cultivate capacities for reasoned and responsible citizenship. In our tradition as a church-related liberal arts college, students study a broad spectrum of disciplines to develop their whole persons: body, mind, and spirit.

In CII students will develop knowledge and demonstrate understanding of the artistic, literary, religious, philosophical, and scientific heritage of the Western tradition. CII encourages the appreciation of interdisciplinary connections and the relationship between past and present. Study of foreign languages encourages students to see themselves as part of a global community. CII encourages students to identify and develop values, to realize that those values are related to social and cultural norms, and to relate these insights to their fields of study and the roles they will play as citizens of the world. CII also encourages personal health and fitness, and competence in quantitative and analytical reasoning, writing, and speaking.

Mission Statement explanation, CII's relation to college's mission, and CII's special contribution to the totality of the college:

Like Curriculum I, Curriculum II introduces students to different ways of knowing, providing a breath of knowledge and understanding which complements the more specialized study represented by the student's major. Curriculum II, however, provides an integrated approached to general education, focussing on the development of Western intellectual and cultural traditions, the exploration of values, and especially the relationship of the individual and community. Non-western comparisons are also integrated into the program.

Curriculum II is, as one alumnus put it, "liberal arts education at its best." Students are encouraged to see connections between various fields and to think critically about themselves and their traditions and beliefs. They are challenged to address such questions as "What has brought us to think as we do? Who am I and what do I value? What is "the good life"?

Curriculum II is one of the best embodiments of the college's mission, nurturing almost all of the elements enunciated in the college's Mission Statement. It helps promote an international perspective by requiring language study and encouraging study abroad. It is designed to be interdisciplinary. Like Curriculum I, it requires a course to help foster "a mature understanding of the Christian faith." But Biblical Tradition, taken in the students' first semester, is reinforced by an examination of values, ethics, and faith throughout the program, especially in Individual and Morality and culminating in the Senior Seminar, where students discuss ethical issues in the contemporary world and write a final paper on the development of their own values and their impact on what they see of their future. Curriculum II classes are discussion-based, and because the students go through the program together, it is especially effective in promoting the open exchange of ideas and the individual pursuit of learning since the students have a common base of knowledge and an unusual level of knowledge and trust of each other as well as the different perspectives provided by their majors and experiences beyond CII, which makes for deeper and more candid discussions. Some students and faculty have suggested making Curriculum II an honors program because the courses are challenging and the program attracts some of our best students. But because of its combination of challenge and the support provided by being a small community, the program both pushes and supports all of its students "to attain their full potential as persons" and intellects. Because of the values emphasis, we feel it also prepares them for "fulfilling lives of leadership and service." Alumni attest to CII's effectiveness in developing in them a passion for life-long learning.

Curriculum II's special contributions to the totality of the college are numerous. In addition to being a particularly good embodiment of liberal arts education and the college's mission statement, Curriculum II makes Gustavus unusual. Almost no other college offers its students the choice of two general education programs, and most of the colleges offering a core curriculum program do not have such extensive four-year programs, especially if they are not an honors program. Although Curriculum II is not an honors program, it still attracts some of our best students, as indicated by the number of Curriculum II students elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In a poll of this year's National Merit first-year students, Curriculum II tied with Music for the highest number of mentions as an influence on the student's decision to enroll at Gustavus. Curriculum II students also are particularly active in leadership and service at Gustavus, being elected to the Guild of St. Answer and the Guild of St. Lucia in disproportionate numbers compared to their percentage of the student population.