The Liberal Arts at Wheaton
A liberal arts curriculum prepares students to think critically, analyze issues closely, communicate effectively and assume leadership roles in the communities in which they live and work. Students realize the benefits of the liberal arts at Wheaton through a course of study that spans the broad range of academic disciplines as well as an in-depth major focus on one or more fields of particular interest. And Wheaton is an institution engaged fully with contemporary society and issues; students’ educational experience extends to a wide variety of learning opportunities on campus and around the world.
Students at Wheaton are encouraged to to think, learn, analyze, evaluate, understand and express themselves within and about all aspects of their lives. These goals are accomplished through both the structure of the curriculum and the intellectual process that takes place inside and outside the classroom.
The Wheaton Curriculum encourages students to explore the conceptual and methodological approaches to knowledge inherent in the academic disciplines through connected courses that cover related topics from multiple perspectives. A first-year seminar and foundation courses in writing, quantitative analysis, foreign language and the world beyond the West are followed or accompanied by students’ choosing among established cross-disciplinary Connections or by creating their own. The process of making explicit the connections among courses in different academic areas—painting and mathematics or chemistry, for example—highlight the unique contributions each discipline makes to our understanding and appreciation of the world. This innovative educational program combines the breadth of the liberal arts with the opportunity to develop a fully dimensional view of the world.
From the breadth of vision encouraged by the curriculum’s foundation courses and Connections program, students move to in-depth study of a discipline by choosing a major field of interest. Students may choose to follow the paths outlined in department and interdepartmental programs or forge an independent course of study with guidance from faculty in the relevant areas and academic advisors. Through the major, which culminates with a senior capstone experience, students develop the capacity to apply the tools of scholarship to specific subjects of inquiry.
The intensity of discourse inside the classroom and the active learning promoted by a distinguished faculty are matched by out-of-class learning with one’s peers in a multitude of settings on and off campus. This includes research, internships, service, study abroad and other co-curricular opportunities. In all these spheres, students gain critical understanding of the world and the leadership role they can play in it.