The heart of an Ursuline Education for all students is the Ursuline Studies Program. By its very nature the Ursuline Studies Program is committed to the incremental development and enrichment of all students. As a competency and outcomes-based program, assessment of student academic progress is an essential part of each course and each stage of development.
The Ursuline Studies Program is a required series of writing-intensive interdisciplinary courses totaling forty-nine credit hours that serves as the liberal arts core of an Ursuline College education. It highlights personal development, the cultivation of academic abilities, and the exploration of a coherent, integrated body of knowledge drawn from a variety of content areas.
The program is the first of its kind in the country to specifically focus on the ways in which women learn. It consists of a coherent, sequential series of fourteen courses that are interdisciplinary and writing-intensive. It is a curriculum that encourages students to relate learning to life, to make connections between their experiences and those of others, and to work collaboratively with faculty and peers throughout their college careers.
Specifically, there are three stages to the Ursuline Studies Program. The first stage focuses on the individual, attempting to enhance identity, self-confidence, and self-esteem of new students as they begin or continue their college experience. The second stage emphasizes an appreciation for diversity as students study a variety of cultures throughout the world. At stage three the focus is on values and social responsibility; here students reflect on their college experience as they consider ways in which they can become more fulfilled, productive, and responsible members of society.
