We wonder about many things -- a face, an experience of the world of nature, a work of art, words in an old book, a dialogue -- but whatever inspires our wonder also invites us to question. Such questioning is the beginning of conversation.
If education is the development and refinement of conversations founded in wonder, then the liberal arts are both the tools for its practice and the activity of learning itself. In the Integral Program students begin to assemble these skills and then engage in the activity of education. Learning to think mathematically, scientifically, poetically, philosophically, they study ways of thinking, wondering about thinking itself and the mysterious unity of these seemingly disparate fields. They learn to come together, to converse on different levels, making their question more precise, their response more intuitive.
The Curriculum
Classes in the Integral Program are discussions in small groups. The books are not textbooks about an idea; the books are the great originals themselves. Guided only by their fellows and the tutor, without the mediation of critics and authorities, students in the Program encounter Euclid, or Sappho, Einstein, or Freud, sometimes in the original, sometimes in translation.
The curriculum is divided into seminars, tutorials, and laboratories. The seminar is the heart of the curriculum, engaging the student in careful reading and probing discussion of texts chosen from the seminal works of literature, history, economics, politics, philosophy and theology. The tutorials are in three sequences and they require active participation in translating and analyzing texts, in demonstrating mathematical propositions, in observing and explaining natural phenomena. Laboratories offer hands-on experience in the physical sciences such as Biology and Physics. In all, students start with common experiences and go as far toward excellence as four years of hard work allow.
A College-within-the-College
The Program has been a part of Saint Mary’s College since 1956. It is a special community with its own curriculum and its own requirements, its own faculty and its own degree. The Program is not a "department" or a "major"; its demands differ significantly from those of the more usual courses and majors. At the same time the courses of the Program fulfill in their own ways the breadth and area requirements of the general College. Because of the unique nature of its curriculum, beginning at the beginning and proceeding integrally, chronologically and logically, to transfer into the Program after the first semester is very nearly impossible. Thus an early decision is necessary. The Program does allow at least six elective courses over the four years and these may be devoted to the study of another field of interest. While attracting talented and committed students from diverse backgrounds, the Integral Program is not and has never been an honors course.
After Graduation
Integral students are usually able to think clearly, incisively and creatively, to work independently, to read carefully and analytically, and to express themselves coherently, with confidence in their own powers. They have examined a wide range of literary and technical topics, and are at home with language and a number of crucial fields including mathematics and science. Such a background serves as a firm foundation for a career and for graduate work. The graduates of the Program may be found in the most remarkably diverse occupations, vocations and walks of life. In particular, many are devoted to education or to the law.
[ Printer-friendly format ] [ E-mail this page to a friend ] |
