The three stages of the Ursuline Studies Program parallel the learning and growing patterns that educational theorists recognize as the most beneficial for women in their college years. The authors of the acclaimed book Women's Ways of Knowing discovered that most women grow and develop in progressive stages. These stages correspond with the three stages of the curriculum:
Stage One
From received knowing, in which knowledge is passively accepted from others, to subjective knowing, in which knowledge is personally appropriated as one's own.
Stage Two
From subjective knowing, in which one's own position is considered absolute, to procedural knowing, in which one's own position is seen in relation to those of others.
Stage Three
From procedural knowing, in which one learns to evaluate various perspectives in relation to each other, to constructive knowing, in which one's own knowledge is meaningfully integrated with that of others, and in which value statements and personal commitments are possible.
The Ursuline Studies Program facilitates the movement from one developmental stage to the next. It enhances the personal development that always accompanies intellectual growth.
