At Siena, you’ll explore and strengthen skills that make you successful at life in addition to skills that make you successful at work—things like regard for diversity, concern for others, moral responsibility and spiritual exploration. Real-life lessons for real lives.
Informed reasoning:
Students will think critically and creatively to make reasoned and informed judgments. Through engagement with contemporary and enduring questions of human concern, students will solve problems in ways that reflect the integration of knowledge across general and specialized studies, and they will demonstrate competence in information literacy and independent research.
Effective communication:
Students will read a variety of texts with comprehension and critical involvement, write effectively for a variety of purposes and audiences, speak knowledgeably, and listen with discernment and empathy.
Reflection on Franciscan Concerns:
Students will reflect on the concerns central to Siena’s Franciscan heritage. More specifically, students will focus on four values: Heritage, Diversity, Social Justice, and Nature.
Heritage: Traditions and Their Texts (CFH). As a tradition born in the 13th Century, the Franciscan Tradition is embedded within Western heritage, and as a living tradition nearly 800 years old, the Franciscan Tradition is constitutive of subsequent Western heritage. The "Heritage" rubric embraces this broad sense of tradition. Courses are welcome that acquaint students with one or more of the major intellectual, cultural, or religious traditions in this history and the texts, figures, events, or movements associated with them. CFH courses elucidate how these traditions address fundamental questions of humanistic or religious concern.
Diversity: American & Global Pluralism (CFD). The Franciscan concern for diversity flows from its affirmation of each individual as worthy of respect and compassion. Individuality implies plurality of perspective, both on the level of differences among persons and on the level of differences among peoples. Appreciating diversity requires that students have the opportunity to see things from perspectives they do not normally occupy. This includes the examination of diverse intellectual perspectives. CFD courses offer students opportunities for shifting perspective to “other” persons, peoples and ideas, in either a domestic or global context.
Social Justice: Principles and Practice (CFJ). This Franciscan Tradition joins with other traditions and movements in placing a premium on social justice. Social justice permeates all levels of human affairs and admits investigation from a variety of perspectives. Broadly speaking, social justice concerns (a) the practical organization of human affairs allowing for maximal human flourishing, (b) the values and principles guiding or that might guide the organization of human affairs, (c) the extent to which such values or principles are practically realized or under-realized. CFJ courses offer opportunities to study the theory or practice of justice from social, moral, political, religious, economic, environmental, aesthetic, or technological points of view.
Nature: Scientific & Normative Approaches to the Natural World (CFN). The Franciscan Tradition affirms the goodness of nature. As an intellectual tradition it supports the scientific investigation of nature, and as a spiritual tradition it cultivates deepened appreciation for the entirety of the created world and heightened commitment to the effective stewardship of the Earth and all living things. CFN courses investigate the natural world from a scientific perspective and also examine the impact and consequences of human involvement in natural systems.
Scientific and Quantitative Inquiry:
Students will demonstrate an understanding of scientific and quantitative methods of analysis