Cornerstone Core

When reading the Bible, you may wonder how an ancient book connects to our lives today. This course will take the time to explore the various types of writings found in the Bible and explain how those old writings have a lot to say about contemporary society. This course will provide students with the opportunity to engage Scripture and see how it impacts their lives today. An additional course fee maybe applied.

This course utilizes the flow of Christian history to explore both the development of Christian doctrine and the context of the spiritual journeys of Christians from around the world. By tracing the history and theological development of Christianity, it reveals the foundations of the Christian faith. In doing so, it gives students both a broader perspective of the whole Christian movement over two thousand years, and helps them understand their own personal faith tradition.

What are we here for? How should we live? What does a good life look like today? Answering those questions begins with the commandments to love God and neighbor, and this class aims to help students properly order their loves in light of contemporary challenges and vocational goals. The class equips students to reason well about ethics and to think critically about a variety of ethical systems and positions. Students taking the course in person may select from any focus area offered (e.g., Health and Wellness, Technology and Media, or The Good Life).

How do stories redeem the past and shape the future? What stories might make sense of your past and shape your future? “Faith and Story” introduces students to literature as a method of human inquiry, with particular attention to the importance of carefully reading texts from multiple genres, periods, cultures and voices, examining narrative and form through a Christian lens, and cultivating the virtues of imagination and empathy. Topics and texts vary by section.

This interdisciplinary, core curriculum course centers its intellectual and artistic queries around the enduring question, “How do the arts reveal God’s love for beauty, empathy and creativity across global boundaries?” Using the framework of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10), students will explore how global cultures both celebrate and critique their communities through the artistic disciplines of art, music and theatre. Throughout the course, students will cross boundaries of difference to investigate how God’s creative spirit manifests itself in artistic expressions of beauty, dissonance and the celebration of the human spirit.

This interdisciplinary, core curriculum course centers its intellectual and artistic queries around the enduring question, “How do the arts reveal God’s love for beauty, empathy and creativity across global boundaries?” Using the framework of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10), students will explore how global cultures both celebrate and critique their communities through the artistic disciplines of art, music and theatre. Throughout the course, students will cross boundaries of difference to investigate how God’s creative spirit manifests itself in artistic expressions of beauty, dissonance and the celebration of the human spirit.

This lab science course introduces the empirical study of the natural world, and explores the ways in which the patterns and processes of creation reveal and reflect the nature of the Creator. Unit 1 introduces students to the scientific process through an investigation of the origins of the universe. Unit 2 includes the physics of energy, its various forms, how we use and produce it, and the impact of our energy consumption habits. Unit 3 is an investigation into genetics, genetic engineering and the diversity of life on Earth. Throughout each unit students will learn and engage in empirical reasoning through laboratory experiments. This course highlights the roles of curiosity and intellectual humility in generating and responding to scientific knowledge. Emphasis is given to critical evaluation of questions at the nexus of science and faith, such as whether science and Christianity are in conflict, how do Christians think about the big bang theory and the theory of evolution, and how we may use scientific knowledge to make choices that honor God and extend His love to others. Additional course fee is required.

This course examines the history of the United States and Europe from 1750 to the present day. It critically explores the rise of the ideas of freedom, equality, and justice, while asking what role did the Christian faith, and the courage to express it, have in the formation of the modern and postmodern world?

This course will expand students' appreciation for, and abilities in mathematics so that they understand it is present and useful beyond their previous considerations and experiences. As these boundaries are stretched, students will not only connect with the beauty and utility of mathematics but also the opportunity it will afford them to worship and serve God with greater impact. Problem solving, critical thinking and rigorous logical argumentation, implemented both formally and in relevant, faith based applications, will provide a rich soil for the cultivation of knowledge, faith and character. Additionally, various topics in financial mathematics will be covered. From simple and compound interest models to amortized loans, students will calculate and solve for relevant variables, then create spreadsheets to assist them in the empirical problem solving necessary for budgeting and comparative financial applications. The course will conclude by investigating mathematics in design and nature. The Fibonacci series will be used as a platform for these numeric patterns, which will necessitate the ideas of limits and infinite processes, leading into the basic concepts behind differential and integral calculus.

This course introduces students to the professional, personal, and spiritual dimensions of communication. By identifying how to live out one’s faith in interpersonal relationships, through public presentations, and by engaging in mediated communication, students will be encouraged to pursue clarity in communication motivated by the question: how do we better understand others and help them to understand us?

This course explores a variety of influences which shape many of the characteristics of personhood, focusing on critical consideration of the interplay of factors and the complexity of being human. Students will be encouraged to apply the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual lenses of psychology to understand themselves and others, including how and why self-regulation is a key factor in successful healthy living. Additional course fee is required.

In this course, we wrestle with a question that the prophet Micah asks and answers in Micah 6:8, “O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” This question is as relevant in America today as it was in Israel in the 8th century BC. How do we live such a life in a time of injustice, hate, and violence? This course addresses this question by exploring the ways in which justice—or injustice—manifests itself in society, both domestically and globally.

How can the way we write form us morally? How can we, by caring for words, steward the truth in a "post-truth" society? This course concentrates on the writing, arguing, and critical thinking skills necessary to succeed in an academic and professional environment, including research strategies relevant for contemporary writing contexts. By practicing the habits and strategies of successful writing, students learn to listen humbly, draft patiently, and argue lovingly. Enrollment is capped at 20 students per section, and students must enroll in the course by their third semester at George Fox.