The Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, have provided high-quality education for generations, incorporating values that they believe lead to a life of service and leadership. Since their formation by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1540, they have been changing lives, and their impact continues to thrive on Rockhurst University’s campus year after year.
At the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, this semester, Rockhurst debuted their new Wisdom Core Curriculum. This a new way the university is implementing the Jesuit mission into higher education. After years of development, the core aims to connect Rockhurst students with themselves, to inspire others and to live the Jesuit ideologies.
The core consists of four requirements: an initial Cornerstone course, Foundation level core courses, Keystone designations and Threshold experiences.
The Cornerstone courses, which are similar to seminars, are encouraged to be taken first semester of freshman year at Rockhurst. They expose students to key topics on modern society and how they relate to Jesuit tradition, preparing them for the courses to follow.
The Foundation courses are lower-division classes that focus on fundamental knowledge of the liberal arts and sciences, like your science, mathematics, art and social science classes. There are 6 categories students must fulfill courses from, which are Natural World, History and Culture, Individuals and Society, Universal Questions, Eloquentia Perfecta and Quantitative Reasoning.
Next, the Keystone designation courses are higher-level classes geared towards sharpening students’ skills in their primary major or minor. They are intended to improve skills of critical thinking, ethical reasoning and social engagement to prepare for future careers.
The Threshold experiences are courses or experiences that help apply what one has learned in the classroom to their career. It is essentially practice in their field of study, while living out the Jesuit values they learned. This can include internships, service, study abroad, research and various other experiences.
Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Brendan Sweetman, has the privilege of teaching one of the initial Cornerstone courses and believes the carefully designed core, specifically the Cornerstone courses, inspire students to live out the Jesuit mission. They are key in forming a solid foundation for students as they enter other courses and start their lives.
“Cornerstone was the idea that we would have a course that was a kind of seminar, like two credits. The course would initially have to introduce the Jesuit mission, the Jesuit approach to education and how it’s different from other schools,” said Sweetman.
In the first week or two of all the Cornerstone classes, they will introduce the topics above. Then, the class should reflect and relate their knowledge to modern society and culture.
The Cornerstone classes discuss a wide variety of topics ranging from courses such as Religion and Consumer Culture, to Environmental (In)Justice. The range of classes allows the students to pick a topic of their interest that their major may not cover, while still incorporating the Jesuit values. This method of forming connections between different subjects is less likely to be found in public universities. It is important that Rockhurst creates a curriculum that exposes its students to different perspectives and how to interact with those points of views.
Additionally, Rockhurst’s 7 Core Values are Finding God in All Things, Cura Personalis, Magis, Reflection and Discernment, Contemplation in Action and Wisdom. The Cornerstone seminars allow Rockhurst to implement these 7 ideologies in an academic setting, specifically focusing on Reflection and Discernment, and Wisdom.
“The emphasis was to try to make ideas become alive for students by forcing them to reflect,” Sweetman said.
The Cornerstone classes allow students to take a step back and understand how the world works and how it fails to work. Jesuit philosophy encourages students to broaden their minds, and this is philosophy that all Cornerstone seminars have at their core.
“Preparing citizens for the modern world is part of thinking behind the core,” said Dr. Sweetman.
Cornerstone is not just about grade or credit, it is about “the whole person; we want to educate the whole person. That means not just in terms of education, but it also means socially, psychologically and spiritually,” said Sweetman.
At the center of Jesuit tradition is creating students that use their knowledge for the good of society. Rockhurst is living out this tradition with the new Wisdom Core. As the core is officially in full swing, the Jesuit mission is alive and working all over the Rockhurst University campus.
“We’re not doing technical education. We’re not just a professional school. We are a school that is trying to do more than that,” said Sweetman.
