• Academics at Bryn Athyn
• Core Program
  • Goals
  • Requirements
  • Associate in Arts Degree
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Core Program Requirements

The Core Program ensures that, by the time of graduation, all students have developed a set of specific skills and been exposed to crucial topics, ideas, and issues.

Core Program requirements fall into two primary areas: skills and perspectives.

Skills

Skills are concrete abilities we require all our students to master before leaving Bryn Athyn. Development of those skill areas are woven throughout the curriculum in a variety of courses. Skill requirements include the ability to:

• Information Literacy—locate, evaluate, and use information effectively and responsibly.
• Language, Mathematics, or Programming—communicate outside one's native spoken language.
• Public Presentation—communicate effectively in the context of formal presentations.
• Quantitative Reasoning—apply mathematical concepts and skills to solve real-world problems.
• Service Learning and Internships—explore skills learned in the curriculum beyond the classroom.
• Writing—communicate clearly and effectively in written form.

Perspectives

Perspectives expand your ability to think broadly and deepen your understanding of how different disciplines are interrelated and contribute to a comprehensive, well-developed world view. Perspectives fall into what we call disciplinary and elective perspectives.

Spiritual, Moral, and Civil Areas include:

• Spiritual—anchoring the Core Program, and supporting development in spiritual practice, content proficiency, and communication. Religious instruction is the heart of our academic experience.
• Moral—fostering personal ethics and encouraging responsibility for the well-being of others.
• Civil—preparing students to be responsive to local, national, and international contexts.

Distribution Areas include:

• Aesthetic—focusing on human creativity in the arts.
• History and Social Sciences—addressing issues of human society.
• Physical—encouraging physical fitness, skill development, sportsmanship, and health.
• Scientific—focusing on the study of nature and scientific investigation.
• World Views—surveys of human experience and values.