Academic Programs

General Information

This section of the Catalog gives the general objectives, degree requirements and a listing of courses with brief descriptions offered within each program. This listing is a guide students may use in planning their degree program in an area of concentration.

Some courses are cross-listed and offered as applicable to more than one specific area of study.

Key to Course Numbers

The following procedure is followed in establishing course numbers:

0- 99 - College preparatory work, conferring no credits hours.
100-199 - Freshman Courses
200-299 - Sophomore Courses
300-399 - Junior Courses
400-499 - Senior Courses

The prefix indicates the subject area. The first digit indicates the year the course is normally taken. The second digit indicates the division of topics within the subject area. The third digit may indicate a further breakdown within the topic.

Ex. PHI - Philosophy
PHI 100 - Freshman course
PHI 110 - History of Philosophy
PHI 115 - Ancient Philosophy

Roman numerals after the course name indicate the number of courses the particular subject is broken down into, such as Humans in the Biosphere I, II.

Semester Designation

Courses are designated as being offered every semester, once per year, or on a regular two-year cycle. Other courses are not offered on a regularly scheduled basis, but are offered as needed if there is sufficient interest.

After the brief description of each course, the prerequisites for the course are given and also when the course is offered, e.g., Fall.

Associate of Arts Degree in Cross-Cultural Studies

General Objectives

The Associate of Arts in Cross-Cultural Studies degree offers a broad general education as well as a program of studies which fosters an appreciation of the nature, organization and dynamics of culture.

This degree program is primarily designed for brother candidates. Since brothers are trained in many occupations and professions, the Associate of Arts degree provides a foundation for further academic studies or advanced training in technical fields.

Students in the program are classified as freshmen and sophomores. Admission requirements, academic probation regulations and all other policies and procedures not specifically outlined here are identical to the four-year programs. Students are served by an advisor who is appointed by the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Requirements for the A.A. Degree in Cross-Cultural Studies

  • An application for candidacy in the Associate of Arts Degree program must be filed with the Vice President for Academic Affairs at the time of matriculation. A student who applies for the A.A. Degree must be officially accepted to this program, preferably at the beginning of his first semester in the regular College program. Until a student is accepted as an official candidate in this program, he is considered an undeclared degree candidate and is subject to the normal College General Education requirements.
  • Sixty credit hours, as stipulated in the curriculum, must be satisfactorily completed.
  • The candidate must have a cumulative grade point average of 2.00.
  • The candidate must spend at least the last two semesters of instruction in residence at Divine Word College.

Skills and Learning Outcomes: See appropriate sections in the General Education Core Curriculum.

A.A. in Cross-Cultural Studies Curriculum

Language Proficiency   9 credits
ENG 111 Expository Communication 3
ENG 112 Research and Rhetoric 3
COM 112 Speech 3
Quantitative and Critical Thinking   6 credits
MAT 121 Introduction to College Mathematics 3
CSC 111 Introduction to Computers 3
Theology   12 credits
THE 131 Introduction to Theology 3
THE 111 Old Testament 3
THE 212 New Testament 3
  Theology elective 3
Fine Arts   9 credits
ART 110 Elements of Art 1
MUS 110 Elements of Music 1
ENG 110 Approaches to Literature 1
HUM 276 Humanities Survey I 3
HUM 277 Humanities Survey II 3
Social and Behavioral Sciences   18 credits
SSC 161 Introduction to World Politics & Economy 3
SSC 163 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology 3
CCS 275 Culture Area Study 3
CCS 293 World Religions 3
HIS 211 World History I 3
HIS 212 World History II 3
Natural Sciences   4 credits
SCI 211 Physical Sciences 4
OR    
BIO 221 Life Sciences 4
General Electives   2 credits
TOTAL Credits A.A. Degree in Cross-Cultural Studies 60

Bachelor of Arts Degree Programs

Divine Word College Core Curriculum

The primary goal of the Divine Word College general education core curriculum is to provide undergraduate students with a thorough grounding in the liberal arts centered on Catholic traditions and SVD values. Additionally, this program offers students valuable insights into themselves and the world in which they live as they discern whether God is calling them to become SVD missionaries. Finally, the core curriculum teaches and supports habits of creative and critical thinking essential to lifelong learning resting on a foundation in the liberal arts further refined in the college's Philosophy and Cross-Cultural Studies programs.

Outcome Areas of Undergraduate Learning in the Core Curriculum

Language Proficiency:

  • Express ideas logically, clearly and correctly in speaking and writing.
  • Organize, synthesize and summarize ideas from multiple sources

Quantitative and Critical Thinking Skills:

  • Analyze data using radical, quadratic and exponential expressions
  • Understand the basic statistical tools of their limitations
  • Demonstrate multiple applications of information technology
  • Construct and evaluate arguments logically

Social and Behavioral Sciences

  • Analyze behavior which differs from norms familiar to them and explain that behavior in its own cultural context
  • Critique claims and arguments about social and individual behavior
  • Explain past and present social, economic and political trends throughout the world

Fine Arts

  • Develop and support their interpretations of works of art
  • Demonstrate specific skills and concrete applications for artistic concepts
  • Analyze art, literature, or music as a means of expressing the human condition

Natural Sciences

  • Understand scientific method and standards of evidence well enough to read critically scientific data and summaries of scientific data
  • Intelligently and persuasively argue on scientific prominent scientific theories

Theology

  • Describe faith's many cultural expressions
  • Examine faith critically in the context of the principal themes Judeo-Christian scriptures, the basic teachings of the church, and traditional and contemporary theologies.
  • Demonstrate openness to the plurality of belief systems which exit in the world, while developing theological tools necessary for their future roles as missionaries

General Education Core Curriculum

Language Proficiency   9 credits
ENG 111 Expository Communication 3
ENG 112 Research and Rhetoric 3
COM 112 Speech 3
Quantitative and Critical Thinking Skills   9 credits
MAT 121 Introduction to College Mathematics 3
CSC 111 Introduction to Computers 3
PHI 102 Logic 3
Theology   12 credits
THE 131 Introduction to Theology 3
THE 111 Old Testament 3
THE 212 New Testament 3
THE/CCS 293 World Religions 3
Fine Arts   9 credits
ART 110 Elements of Art 1
MUS 110 Elements of Music 1
ENG 110 Approaches to Literature 1
HUM 276 Humanities Survey I 3
HUM 277 Humanities Survey II 3
Social and Behavioral Sciences   12 credits
SSC 161 Introduction to World Politics & Economy 3
SSC 113 Introduction to Psychology 3
HIS 211 World History I 3
HIS 212 World History II 3
Natural Sciences   8 credits
SCI 211 Physical Sciences 4
BIO 221 Life Sciences 4
TOTAL Credits General Education Core Curriculum 59
Foreign Language (if waived, possible electives)     12 credits
French FRE 111,112 (Fundamentals I & II) 6
  FRE 213, 214 (Intermediate I & II) 6
Spanish SPA 121, 122 (Fundamentals I & II) 6
  SPA 223, 224 (Intermediate I & II) 6
Vietnamese VTN 261, 262 (Fundamentals I & II) 6
  VTN 263, 264 (Intermediate I & II) 6

Fulfilling the Language Proficiency Requirement

In order to graduate from Divine Word College, students must be proficient in using one modern language other than English. Students must demonstrate this proficiency in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Acceptable standards for this proficiency are the "intermediate/low" guidelines described in the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines (ACTFL-Proficiency Guidelines: Writing, Reading, Listening, Speaking, 1986). Students are usually assessed for proficiency early in their academic career. If they pass the assessment test in all areas, their proficiency requirement is met. If not, they are placed appropriately in language courses taught at the College. Under normal circumstances, the required proficiency level is reached within four semesters of language study in the following courses taught at the College: Fundamental French I and II, Intermediate French I and II, Fundamental Spanish I and II, Intermediate Spanish I and II, Fundamental Vietnamese I and II, Intermediate Vietnamese I and II.

Special cases:

  • Graduates of a secondary school taught in a language other than English meet the proficiency requirement.
  • For students from Commonwealth systems, having passed an A-level exam in a modern foreign language other than English constitutes acceptable proficiency.
  • Transfer students who have studied language in courses at other United States colleges are required to demonstrate proficiency.
  • If a student grows up in a single language environment in early childhood and continues to make substantial use of the language after that time, he is deemed to be proficient in that language.

A student does not gain academic credit by demonstrating language proficiency, but does gain the opportunity to take elective courses instead of the required language courses.

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

General Objectives

The Philosophy program strives to foster an awareness of philosophical problems basic to understanding the nature of being, knowledge, the human person, the good life and the good society. Students are challenged to read primary works by historically important philosophers and to enter into reflective dialogue with them. The program presents different philosophical views assisting students to discover the underlying principles and methods of these views and to critically assess them. The program seeks to help students, in the course of their studies, to experience the integration of philosophy with life and to begin development of their own Christian philosophy. In the Senior Seminar, the capstone course for the Philosophy program, students are asked to do this integration. See "Assessment in the Major".

Student Learning Outcomes:

Graduates with a major in philosophy should have the requisite knowledge and critical skills to:

  • read and understand, in significant detail, primary works of great philosophers;
  • recognize problems and/or solutions encountered in philosophical works, be able to critically assess the corresponding strengths and weaknesses of these problems and/or solutions and pose alternatives;
  • be able to think and write philosophically by using analytical and research skills;
  • understand both the distinction and interconnection between the basic philosophical areas of human nature, metaphysics, ethics, epistemology and logic;
  • begin to formulate a Christian philosophical view of their own;
  • detect philosophical ideas, arguments, and assumptions in fields such as film, literature, music, art, science and theology;
  • be able to utilize diverse methods of reasoning in recognizing and evaluating good and bad arguments and have the ability to apply these skills to philosophical argumentation.

B.A. in Philosophy Curriculum

History of Philosophy   15 credits
PHI 115 Ancient Philosophy 3
PHI 216 Medieval Philosophy 3
PHI 217 Modern Philosophy 3
PHI 318 Nineteenth Century Philosophy 3
PHI 419 Twentieth Century Philosophy 3
Thematic Courses   12 credits
PHI 122 Ethics 3
PHI/SSC 223 Philosophy of Human Nature 3
PHI 322 Epistemology 3
PHI 332 Metaphysics 3
Capstone Course in the Major   3 credits
PHI 429 Senior Seminar 3
Electives   6 credits
PHI/CCS 219 Asian Philosophy 3
PHI 323 Philosophy of the Arts 3
PHI/CCS 327 Political Philosophy 3
PHI 371 Philosophy of God 3
PHI 414 American Philosophy 3
PHI 423 Existentialism 3
PHI 424 Source Works 1-3
TOTAL Credits for the Philosophy Major 36
Minor in Cross-Cultural Studies 18 credits
SSC 163 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology 3
CCS 275 Culture Area Study 3
CCS 370 Introduction to Missiology 3
Elective from Cross-Cultural Studies major 3
Elective from Cross-Cultural Studies major 3
Elective from Cross-Cultural Studies major 3
GRAND TOTAL Credits for the Philosophy Major and Minor in Cross-Cultural Studies 54

A grade of "D-" or above is required on each of the four parts of the Philosophy Comprehensive Exam, described under "General Requirements for a Degree. Assessment Program". In addition, a grade of "D-" or above is required on the Senior Capstone Philosophy Paper, also described under "General Requirements for a Degree, Assessment Program".

Logic is an essential tool of philosophy. It is a requirement for the General Education Core curriculum and is not an elective in the philosophy major or minor.

Cross-Cultural Studies Minor

The Cross-Cultural Studies minor acquaints students with cultural diversity and develops their ability to understand cultural systems other than their own. Students learn the role of missions in other cultures. They take courses that introduce them to world cultures and focus on specific regions of the world.

All students majoring in Philosophy will earn a minor in Cross-Cultural Studies. The normal Cross-Cultural Studies minor is 18 credit hours. It requires: SSC 163 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, CCS 370 Introduction to Missiology, CCS 275 Culture Area Study. The remaining 9 credit hours may be from any of the other courses required in the Cross-Cultural Studies major (ART 376, CCS 341, ENG 354, ENS 311, MUS 376 and the sequence CCS 281, 282, 2983).

Bachelor of Arts in Cross-Cultural Studies

General Objectives

In accordance with the mission of Divine Word College, the Cross-Cultural Studies Program prepares students as future missionaries to be informed missionaries and citizens of the world. The major involves the study of science, social science and humanities in global perspectives.

Students consider the effects of science, technology, and environmental change on society and the consequences of human action on nature. They examine the philosophical roots of historical and contemporary movements, including colonialism, industrialization and modern global movements in the arts. They study cultural diversity, the linkage of cultures in a single world system, current social trends and cultural aspects of interreligious dialogue. Their study of visual arts, music and literature enriches their understanding and appreciation of the artistic process, its products, and the varied culture and historical contexts that influence it.

Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates with a major in Cross-Cultural Studies:

  • are familiar with popular sources and specialized journals aimed at broad audiences;
  • have sufficient knowledge and understanding of concepts and issues to follow events in science, the environment, politics, world economy, religion, visual arts, literature and music;
  • have developed a holistic understanding of the cultures they confront first hand and through text, drawing upon background knowledge and methods of analysis and criticism acquired in the major;
  • have acquired the openness and the ability to understand cultures in their own context and in relation to one another;
  • discuss and write about environmental issues, demonstrating an understanding of physical and biological processes and the social, economic and political causes and effects of environmental change;
  • have a sufficient understanding of the cultural and social changes resulting from modernization and globalization;
  • speak and write logically, coherently, and persuasively on world affairs.

B.A. in Cross-Cultural Studies Curriculum

Required Courses   27 credits
SSC 163 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology 3
CCS 275 Culture Area Study 3
CCS 370 Introduction to Missiology 3
CCS 341 Language & Culture 3
CCS 281,282,283 Current Affairs Seminar (taken consecutively for 1 credit each) 3
ART 376 World Art 3
ENG 354 Contemporary World Literature 3
MUS 376 World Music 3
ENS 311 Humans in the Biosphere I 3
Electives in the Major (select 9 credits) 9 credits
(CCS 275) A second Culture Area Course 3
ENG 353 Mythology 3
ENS 411 Humans in the Biosphere II 3
SSC 371 Anthropology & Mission 3
SSC 394 Social Psychology in Cross-Cultural Perspectives 3
SSC 445 Theories of Society and Culture 3
*CCS/PHI 219 Asian Philosophy 3
  * May be applied to both the Cross-Cultural Studies major electives and the 30 semester hours of philosophy required by the 2006 PPF.  
TOTAL Credits for the Cross-Cultural Studies Major 36
     
Minor in Philosophy for Priesthood Candidates 18 credits
PHI 115 Ancient Philosophy 3
PHI 217 Modern Philosophy 3
PHI 122 Ethics 3
PHI 322 Epistemology 3
PHI 332 Metaphysics 3
PHI 371 Philosophy of God (recommended) 3
GRAND TOTAL Credits for the Cross-Cultural Studies Major and Minor in Philosophy 54

A grade of "D-" or above is required on the Cross-Cultural Studies Comprehensive Examination, described under "General Requirements for a Degree, Assessment Program".

Philosophy Minor

Unless special arrangements are made, students majoring in Cross-Cultural Studies will earn a minor in Philosophy. For those individuals studying for the brotherhood and seeking a B.A. degree, arrangements can be made to pursue a minor other than philosophy.

The philosophy minor introduces the students to major philosophical questions. It challenges them to read primary works by historically important philosophers and to enter into a reflective dialogue with them. Students in the minor begin to see the integration of philosophy with life. The Philosophy minor is 18 credit hours. It requires PHI 115 Ancient Philosophy, PHI 217 Modern Philosophy, PHI 122 Ethics, PHI 332 Metaphysics and two electives. A recommended elective is PHI 371 Philosophy of God.

Currently, candidates for the priesthood complete 30 semester credits in philosophy and 12 semester credits in theology to fulfill the Program for Priestly Formation (PPF. Article 178, 179) requirements. See also "Special Requirements" in this catalog for further details. There are also prerequisites for the CTU Track II M.Div. degree.

Theology Minor

Along with the Philosophy or Cross-Cultural Studies minors, students have the option of earning a second minor in Theology.

The Theology minor introduces students to the writings and themes of the Sacred Scriptures. It gives a general overview of the major topics of contemporary Christian theology and the major world religions. Students also have the opportunity to take courses in Christian Spirituality, Sexual Ethics, Christology, and other theological fields. The Brotherhood Formation Program requires all Brotherhood candidates to earn the Theology minor.

Part One: Required Courses 12 Credit Hours
THE 131 Introduction to Theology 3 credits
THE 111 Old Testament 3 credits
THE 212 New Testament 3 credits
THE 293 World Religions 3 credits
Part Two: Elective Courses 6 Credit Hours
At least two of the following for three (3) credit hours each.
THE 233 Sacraments 3 credits
THE 315 Special Topics in Sacred Scriptures 3 credits
THE 335 Special Topics in Christian Teaching 3 credits
THE 355 Special Topics in Moral Theology 3 credits
THE 375 Special Topics in Church, Ministry & Liturgy 3 credits

Special Requirements

Candidates for Brotherhood

Requirements will be met by pursuing the associate degree or the baccalaureate degree.

CANDIDATES FOR PRIESTHOOD

  • Philosophy Minor - Currently, candidates for the priesthood must have taken 30 semester credits in philosophy and 12 semester credits in theology (Program for Priestly Formation (PPF), article 178, 179). This includes either the major in philosophy or the 18 semester credit minor in philosophy, plus 12 additional semester credits in philosophy to be composed of Logic (PHI 102) and Epistemology (PHI 322). There are also pre-requisite requirements for the CTU Track II M.Div. degree.
  • Theology - The PPF (article 179) currently requires 12 semester credits in theology. Divine Word College encourages all students to enroll in elective theology courses after completion of the required theology courses of THE 131 Introduction to Theology, THE 111 Old Testament, THE 212 New Testament and THE 293 World Religions.
  • Other - Candidates for the priesthood are required to fulfill the academic entrance requirements of their prospective major seminary. (NOTE: CTU-M.Div. (Track II) -- has an entrance requirement of 30 semester credits in philosophy and 12 semester credits in theology.)