General Education

Richard M. Riss, Ph.D.
Department Chair

General education at Somerset Christian College seeks to provide an educational and social environment that will affirm and reinforce Christian faith and at the same time strengthen the ability to engage in serious scholarship. The integration of faith and knowledge and the ability to evaluate content in the light of Christian truth are therefore important components of general education at SCC, along with the impartation of 21st century knowledge and skills that will enable students to embody the faith and capably communicate the gospel.

Goals for General Education

Goals for general education at Somerset Christian College are:
  1. Christian Maturity
  2. Content Mastery
  3. Integration of Faith and Knowledge
  4. Global and Cultural Awareness
  5. Oral, Written, and Media Communication Skills
  6. Creative Thinking
  7. Problem Solving
  8. Critical Analysis and Reasoning
  9. Scientific and Quantitative Literacy
  10. Information Literacy
  11. Technological Competence
  12. Collaboration
SCC seeks to introduce students to both the breadth of knowledge and the lifelong project of integrating that knowledge. With the exception of a few electives, all students at Somerset Christian College take the same core courses in general education. This enables members of the faculty to integrate their own work with material common to students’ core courses, facilitating understanding of how all of the course material interrelates.

A solid, coherent general education has many important benefits. It creates a community of academic discourse which flows out beyond the classroom into students’ social lives and equips graduates with the flexibility that they need to adapt to a constantly changing 21st century job market. It prepares students to excel in their major disciplines and provides the skills they need to become lifelong learners. General education inculcates habits of reading and thinking which will continue to be of use for an entire lifetime.