Mission
Pacific’s general education program balances the depth of study in a major with a broad introduction to different academic areas and disciplines.
Students are exposed to various ways critical thought is organized, and they develop fundamental skills—such as writing, analytical thinking, critical reading, quantitative analysis, and oral presentation skills—that are transferable to any kind of study.
The exposure to different areas of study and the development of intellectual and practical skills promote the mission of Pacific’s general education: self-understanding, citizenship, and career development.
Self-Understanding
One goal of Pacific’s general education program is fundamentally personal: to enrich students’ self-understanding and expand their interests in preparation for a fulfilling life.
Students are exposed to new intellectual, moral, spiritual, and aesthetic possibilities.
Through the interaction with others from different backgrounds and the study of different disciplines, students come to understand who they are and the sources of their beliefs.
They thus gain the skills to identify, express and analyze their beliefs and to fashion a philosophy of life that can guide them in their future endeavors.
Students may also find life-long pleasure in learning, self-reflection, and conversation.
Citizenship
Another goal is to produce engaged and informed citizens who advance a democratic society by contributing to political and civil life and by committing themselves to the service of others.
General education fosters the skills to evaluate complex social and political issues and teaches the moral and political grounds that inform political action and service in a democracy.
The health of a society depends on informed and active citizens who do what is right and value the public good over narrow self-interest.
Career Development
Finally, the general education program prepares students to enter professional life by developing practical skills that are valuable to employers and essential to civil society.
These skills include the abilities to express oneself clearly and cogently in writing and orally, to be diligent and careful in the preparation of one’s work, to interpret and evaluate information, to think creatively in order to solve problems, to work independently as well as collegially in groups with a sensitivity toward cultural differences, to use technology, and to treat others ethically in their professional interactions.
Outcomes
Pacific’s general education mission of fostering self-understanding, citizenship and career development are produced by the completion of three Pacific Seminars and the breadth program courses, which produce the following base of knowledge and intellectual and practical skills:
Knowledge
- Biological or physical science
- Social science
- Mathematics
- Humanities
- Arts
Intellectual and Practical Skills
- Written communication
- Oral communication
- Critical and creative thinking
- Quantitative literacy
- Research skills
- Cross-cultural Awareness
- Ethical reasoning
- Civic responsibility
- Aesthetic judgment
