The animating vision of the School of Arts and Sciences originates from UST’s undergraduate Core Curriculum. This Core integrates the classical liberal arts within an order of study that aims ultimately at human flourishing in this life and the next. The University--through its Core--seeks to guide students to an integrated vision of reality that is illuminated by Faith and Reason.
The journey that each student undertakes in UST's Core creates an opportunity for students to consider fundamental questions about the meaning and purpose of life, questions that everyone--no matter his or her background--asks at one time or another. These questions are part of what makes us human and how we answer these questions will give shape and purpose to our lives.
Building on the wisdom of the Core, the majors of the School complement and focus students' knowledge and skills through particular perspectives and disciplines. If the Core offers a vista at once broad and deep, the majors of the School give specific shape to each student's vision and prepare him or her for further study or professional service in the world.
There is certainly a practical purpose for integrating these: students who have undertaken this journey through the Core and their major disciplines will be better doctors, engineers, artists, or teachers. They will be the confident candidates for medical or law school that are most attractive to admissions committees and will find that they are hired and promoted just as often for the wisdom they gained through the Core as for the professional expertise they gained through their majors. A course of study that integrates the wisdom of the Core with professional study can become a path to a meaningful life, professional success, and the opportunity to leave the world a better place.