Program Philosophy

The General Education Program “The Human Community” is the core academic program of James Madison University. It is required of all students regardless of their major or professional program. The Human Community seeks to educate students in ways that have been fundamental to higher education and to thinking people for centuries. The philosophy of the program promotes the cultivation of habits of the mind and heart that are essential to informed citizens in a democracy and world community. The program is committed to helping students develop their ability to reason and make ethical choices; to appreciate beauty and understand the natural and social worlds they live in; to recognize the importance of the past and work towards a better future.

By providing a strong foundation of knowledge, skills, and experiences expected of all educated people, The Human Community prepares students to become flexible thinkers and life-long learners. This core of knowledge, skills, and experiences transcends every major and professional program and is essential for successful and rewarding careers and lives.

In a rapidly changing world, it is increasingly important that students learn how to create knowledge out of the vast amounts of available information and place that knowledge in its appropriate contexts. The role of general education is to introduce these concepts, so students understand that knowledge seldom develops in isolation, but rather within larger interactive, often competing contexts.

As students study intensively in their chosen field, they also take general education courses in which they can come to understand how distinct disciplines look at the world from different vantage points, using different methodologies, different tools, and different kinds of answers, reasons, or evidence. Thus, The Human Community and the major or professional program complement and complete each other; together they are integral and essential components of a student’s full and proper education.

PHOTO - Female Student

Mission

The mission of The Human Community is four-fold:

to graduate students who will be informed citizens, well prepared to participate in public life and public decision-making;
to provide students with critical skills in reasoning, communication, and technology that build a strong foundation for course work at JMU as well as for their lives and careers after college;
to introduce students to core areas of knowledge that are central to the history of western civilization, including its interactions with other traditions within the global community; and
to invite students to know themselves intellectually, emotionally, and physically and to consider the connections between values and behavior.

Structure

The Human Community provides fundamental knowledge and skills across the breadth of traditional disciplines so that students learn how to

think and communicate effectively (Cluster One);
appreciate the arts and humanities as an essential component of the human experience (Cluster Two);
recognize the relevance of science and mathematics in the world they inhabit (Cluster Three);
identify ways in which political, social and economic forces shape American and global experiences (Cluster Four); and
understand themselves both as individuals and members of various groups in society (Cluster Five).

In each of these five clusters, students choose and complete a cross-disciplinary set of courses. These courses together challenge students to make connections among disciplines while satisfying all of the learning objectives of each cluster.

Because Cluster One provides the necessary college-level skills of critical thinking, writing, and speech, all students are expected to complete this cluster by the end of their first year. All students should complete Cluster Three: The Natural World by the end of their second year.

The Human Community at James Madison University

Program Philosophy

Mission

Structure