The core curriculum provides the foundation of every Samford undergraduate student’s liberal arts education. These courses of 22 credits total require students to read challenging works and place them in conversation with each other, 自信地、有说服力地写作和说话, 认识到圣经学术和传统的深度, 注意整体的健康和健康. 简而言之，核心课程超越任何一个部门或专业. The core grew out of many interdisciplinary discussions and explorations of Great Books programs at Columbia University, University of Chicago, and others, 这也是学生学习关键技能的最佳实践, 由美国学院和大学协会认可. 核心也反映了大学核心的基督教使命. The core has been a significant part of every entering freshman’s academic experience since 1997.

Core Texts

核心文本是所有威廉希尔中文网威廉希尔中文网站英国威廉希尔中文网站学生参加的两个学期的课程序列. 在这里，学生们研究文学、哲学、历史和神学的伟大著作. 学生们还将了解这些作品对21世纪的重要性. Fall semester in University Core Texts I, 学生们被介绍给来自希腊的伟大思想家, Rome, Early Christianity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. 春季学期的《威廉希尔中文网威廉希尔中文网站英国威廉希尔中文网站》将带领学生了解新教改革, the Scientific Revolution, 启蒙运动和19、20世纪的意识形态冲突. The goal is to equip students with an intellectual narrative that illuminates important thinkers from the past so that they are better equipped to navigate the complicated marketplace of ideas today.

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Core Writing

如果学生要在生活中取得成功，他们必须能够有效地写和说. Employers consistently rate good communication skills among the most desirable qualities of their employees. 核心写作课程旨在帮助学生发展和完善这些重要技能.

学生将达到以下课程目标:

Writing

• 以学术风格构思、概述并完成书面作业.
• Research, identify, summarize, 分析和综合学术资源，以实现书面作业.
• 调整书面作业的目的/论点，结构和语言以适应不同的作业目标.
• 展示写作过程的元认知意识.

Speech

• 运用学术语言和修辞风格进行口头陈述.
• 根据不同的任务目标组织和调整报告.
• 在口头报告中创建和使用多媒体演示文稿.

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Biblical Foundations

Biblical Foundations is a one-semester course that reflects the biblical basis of Samford’s core values and provides a foundation for understanding the place of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in human culture. 对圣经的认识是基督徒思想和行动的基础.

教授引导学生在基督教圣经的探索之旅, including their contents, their historical backgrounds, literary genres, and theological and ethical themes. 本课程强调圣经与当代基督教信仰和实践的相关性.

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Concepts of Fitness and Health

健身与健康的概念强调健康生活方式的组成部分. 健身的原则包括心血管健康, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition are discussed and applied through classroom and physical activities. 其他主题，如营养，体重管理和伤害管理的讨论. Individuals registered with Disability Services will meet with the appropriate individuals for activity consideration.

In addition to the core curriculum, 每个威廉希尔中文学生都要学习分布在多个学科领域的课程. These courses sustain the intellectual growth begun in the core by introducing diverse approaches to exploring our shared humanity, 我们彼此之间的关系以及我们的家园. They invite students to learn new ways to understand their places in a complex world while encouraging them to apply the results of their academic inquiries to larger questions of meaning and value. Each course selected for inclusion in these distribution areas is not simply a foundation for further study but an initiation into a way of thinking intrinsic to a discipline.

The standard general education distribution curriculum requires eight credits in the natural and computational sciences, three credits in fine arts, and four credits each in mathematics, humanities, and social sciences. 它还要求通过中级水平学习第二语言和文化. 一些学校、院系、学位和专业可能会对这个标准有不同的要求. The general education requirements for each program may be found in the Samford University catalog.

Natural and Computational Sciences

These courses emphasize the use of scientific methods to solve problems encountered in the natural world through laboratory or other active, investigative work. 这些课程所涵盖的科学方法包括数据收集, 对数据进行组织和分析以揭示模式, 应用统计学来确定得出的结论的显著性, 科学家们用来传达研究结果的方法, 以及与科学研究相关的伦理问题.

Social Sciences

These courses introduce students to the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary to understand human behavior individually and within larger social and cultural contexts. They address both the regularities and variations of human behavior at individual and group levels. 这些课程探讨有关人类行为和社会制度的主要理论和发现, 社会科学和行为科学采用的观点和方法, 以及涉及个人和社会机构的社会和伦理问题.

Mathematics

这些课程培养学生的量化素养. This includes equipping them with a confidence and ease with the applications of quantitative methods; an understanding of the nature and history of mathematics and its importance for comprehending issues in the public domain; the ability to interpret data and mathematical results within a real-world context; the desire and ability to use logical reasoning techniques to analyze arguments, detect fallacies and evaluate risks; the habit of using mathematics in making decisions and solving problems in everyday life; the accurate intuition about the meaning of numbers in measuring things; and an adeptness with algebraic symbols and their proper syntax.

第二语言和文化中的读写能力

These courses enhance the core curriculum by providing a dimension of depth to the breadth of material covered in both Communication Arts and Core Texts. Just as students in UCCA increase their proficiency in their first language by honing their oral and written communication skills, so students in world, 古代和圣经语言课程培养互补性的听力技能, speaking, 用他们选择的第二语言进行阅读和写作. In similar fashion, these students draw on the broad knowledge gained in their Core Texts core classes as they study in depth the civilization and culture of one of the world’s major linguistic zones. Students are encouraged to do at least a portion of their language study at one of our affiliate centers abroad, 在哪里他们可以在日常生活中同时生活在语言和文化中.

Fine Arts

Most students take Arts in Society. This course builds upon Core Texts by providing students with a working knowledge of the meaning and importance of the arts as a product of the creative imagination in a dynamic interaction with society.

Humanities

These courses build upon the foundation of Core Texts by increasing students’ awareness of cultural, historical, literary, 哲学和宗教对文明发展的影响. In these courses students will become more acquainted with works concerned with human culture and experience, 尤其是人类对意义和价值的追求. 这些课程培养阅读的艺术, writing, 说话和批判性思维，并以批判性的理解参与文本及其上下文.