Review the outcomes of each of the three emphases of Northwestern’s Biblical Worldview Core Curriculum:

• Foundation Courses

• Exploration Courses

• Immersion Courses
   

Foundation Courses

Establishing the origin, nature, and significance of a biblical worldview; establishing oral and written communication skills  

Foundations of a Biblical Worldview

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Describe the concept of a worldview and the distinctive elements of a biblical worldview
• Discuss issues of character, integrity, spirituality, personal responsibility and Christian disciplines from the perspective of a biblical worldview
• Apply a biblical worldview to the understanding of one’s own and other cultures
• Adopt attitudes and dispositions which reflect a biblical worldview in one’s relationships with others in the home, church, community and world
• Present the gospel with an effective testimony in both life and word
• Describe the overall character, purpose, and activity of the church in missions, at home and abroad
• Demonstrate knowledge of the themes, literary forms, characters, and contexts of the Old and New Testament
• Demonstrate skills in interpreting the various genres of the Bible applying its teachings to their lives

Foundations of Communication

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Understand and apply process writing techniques
• Locate, evaluate, and use multiple resources in libraries and on the Internet while avoiding plagiarism
• Write in multiple genres for various audiences
• Apply critical thinking skills when reading and writing texts
• Edit their own and others’ writing according to specified rules of grammar, punctuation, mechanics and documentation style
• Demonstrate an awareness of how their Christian worldview affects their writing

ORAL COMMUNICATION

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Understand the basic theoretical and ethical principles in public communication
• Demonstrate effective listening skills
• Apply the techniques of audience analysis and adaptation to various audiences
• Organize, prepare and deliver effective speeches
• Demonstrate proficiency in multiple media
• Demonstrate confidence in their oral communication skills

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Exploration Courses

Exploring academic disciplines through a biblical worldview

Examining the Human Condition

HISTORY

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Demonstrate knowledge of social institutions and cultural accomplishments in a range of historical periods from ancient Near East to the modern world
• Demonstrate knowledge of the impact of Christian Church throughout Western history
• Analyze the causes of selected major historical changes throughout Western history
• Demonstrate awareness of assorted historical problems in Western history and how historians think about them

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Demonstrate knowledge of methods and theories used by social scientists to produce the knowledge base of the field
• Demonstrate knowledge of how individual, group and societal structures work and interact
• Demonstrate knowledge of how individual and group choices and behaviors shape social institutions
• Identify contemporary social issues and communicate ways to address them
• Critique the concepts, assumptions and values of social science theories using a Biblical worldview

PHILOSOPHY

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Value the existence of truth revealed in ethical and epistemic standards
• Explain principles of logic, epistemology, metaphysics, and/or ethics
• Employ an appropriate philosophy methodology to reason consistently about a variety of important philosophical problems and topics

FITNESS AND WELLNESS

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the components of fitness and wellness and how they contribute to personal lifelong health and well being
• Construct a personal plan for pursuing wellness over their lifetimes
• Understand the relationship of personal faith to fitness and wellness attitudes and behaviors

Reflecting God’s Image: Fine Arts and Literature

THE FINE ARTS: ART, MUSIC, THEATRE, FILM

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of the fine arts
• Understand the fine arts as expressions of individual and human values within their historical and social context
• Identify formal properties of and aesthetic standards for the fine arts
• Articulate an informed, critical response to works of art by applying a biblical worldview
• Value the fine arts as creative forms reflective of God, our Creator

LITERATURE

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Understand works of literature as expressions of individual and human values within their historical and social contex
• Identify literary conventions of and aesthetic standards for works of literature
• Write about a literary text, using a thesis supported by textual evidence
• Articulate an informed, critical response to works of literature by applying a biblical worldview
• Appreciate the value and beauty of literary texts

Understanding the Natural World: Science and Mathematics

MATHEMATICS

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Model situations from a variety of settings in generalized mathematical forms and draw inferences from them
• Extract quantitative data from a given situation, analyze the information, make logical deductions and arrive at meaningful interpretations
• Express, manipulate, represent and communicate mathematical information, concepts and ideas symbolically, graphically, numerically and verbally
• Solve multiple step problems through various modes of logical reasoning including inductive, deductive, symbolic and computational strategies
• Value mathematics for its interrelatedness with other disciplines and for the way that it helps reveal the order and beauty of God’s creation

SCIENCE

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Understand the nature, scope, propriety and limitations of science
• Demonstrate knowledge of basic scientific principles, theories and laws as they apply to at least one area of the physical or life sciences
• Formulate clear and answerable questions, develop testable hypotheses, plan and conduct experiments, make systematic observations and measurements, interpret and analyze data
• Apply mathematical principles, formulas, or statistics to quantitative data, draw reasonable conclusions and accurately communicate results
• Identify and properly use appropriate laboratory skills, techniques and technologies for collecting and analyzing scientific data
• Apply scientific understanding and reasoning to the process of making informed decisions
• Value scientific inquiry as a means of exploring God’s general revelation in the natural world

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Immersion Courses

Probing the depths of a biblical worldview

BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW: TEXTS & CONTEXTS

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Apply interpretation skills to individual books of the Bible
• Demonstrate knowledge of the historical, geographical and theological framework for the book(s) of the Bible under consideration
• Describe how the teachings of the books of the Bible under consideration are relevant to the Christian faith and life today
• Describe how the fundamental concepts of academic disciplines relate specifically to, and are informed by, the biblical worldview (Biblical Worldview & Academic Disciplines elective category only)

BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW: THEORY & APPLICATION

Graduates of Northwestern College will:

• Identify the key issues and the basic theological terms and concepts associated with the various categories of systematic theology
• Discuss theological distinctions in a gracious manner using Scripture as the standard to both inform and challenge traditions
• Recognize the relevance of theology to contemporary matters and the relevancy of theological study to vital Christian living
• Demonstrate the ability to think critically in the examination and defense of the Christian faith
• Recognize the inadequacy of moral and cognitive relativism and the ascendant power of the Christian worldview to explain reality
• Demonstrate the ability to relate the biblical worldview to their major fields of study

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