Core Curriculum at CUI

Concordia’s Core Curriculum fosters common, sequential, and interdisciplinary learning that provides students with a broad intellectual foundation to prepare them for life. Core courses in biology, history, literature, math, philosophy, and theology are paired each semester to facilitate interdisciplinary learning.

Each Core course engages students in dialogue about life’s enduring questions and ideas, the close reading of great works from around the globe and across time, critical and creative thinking, effective writing, connecting the Christian faith to academics, and cultivating excellent academic habits and skills. All of this occurs in small, challenging, and supportive learning communities.

All Concordia students take Core courses as part of Concordia’s General Education curriculum. Students entering as freshmen take eight Core courses over their first four semesters at Concordia. Students entering as sophomores take four Core courses, ordinarily over their first two semesters. Students entering as juniors or seniors take two Core courses, ordinarily in their first semester.

Through the Core, all students receive a common, yet broad, identity-shaping “Concordia experience.” This experience gives students a rich supply of questions, ideas, habits, and skills that can be drawn on and developed in their distribution courses, majors, minors, and (pre-) professional programs.

In this process, students mature as “wise, honorable, and cultivated citizens” who can think critically and creatively, communicate clearly and persuasively, and act ethically and faithfully in service to society and the church.