New England College offers a robust array of undergraduate online and hybrid programs. Faculty work together to promote integration of coursework and to build foundations for continued study and professional success. All disciplines and programs of New England College prepare undergraduate students for graduate study or for immediate entry into professional or pre‐professional positions and prepare graduate students for professions or advancement within professions. New England College’s departments, majors, minors, and other academic programs are housed in the following divisions: Art and Design, Humanities, Management, and the Science, Health and Education Division. New England College’s Liberal Arts and Sciences Core crosses all divisions to create a cohesive general education experience for all students.
Art and Design Division
The mission of the Division of Art and Design is to advance knowledge, to encourage intellectual inquiry, and to cultivate creativity through research, scholarship, artistry, and public performance through programs centered around discipline-specific studies and inter-disciplinary collaboration toward preparing students for careers in the visual and performing arts. Programs within the Division engage in creative research and discovery, promote ethical and moral decision-making and leadership, and contribute to the cultural enrichment of our communities.
Program outcomes within the division educate students to:
- Articulate the formal and conceptual qualities of the various fine, media and performing arts.
- Create a cohesive body of work and articulate concepts and methods of production
- Write creatively and critically about the arts
- Interpret art and theatre based historical texts and art criticism.
- Articulate the interrelationship between the arts.
- Describe the relationship of the visual and performing arts to history and culture.
- Evaluate their own and others art works.
- Apply the principles and concepts of the field(s) to new situations.
- Implement relevant research methods and principles.
Humanities Division
The mission of the Humanities Division is to promote the understanding of what it is to be human and explore the ways humans interact with each other and the environment. To those ends we seek to develop in our students.
- Critical and creative thought, communication skills, imagination and curiosity;
- Ethical and humane values that reflect respect for all the members of our species and for the natural environment in which we live;
- An understanding of the rule of law, morality and ethics and how they inform a commitment to social justice;
- An appreciation for beauty and elegance in all human endeavors including the search for meaning and truth;
- Knowledge of the variety of human cultures, the civic environment in which in which we engage one another and the memory of the cumulative thoughts and acts of all humankind;
Majors
- Criminal Justice (Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Arts, and minor)
- Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Arts)
- Humanities (Bachelor of Arts)
- International Relations and Diplomacy (Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Arts)
- Liberal Studies (Associate of Arts)
Management Division
The programs in the Division of Management provide opportunities to develop ethical and responsible citizens who appreciate the economic and political landscape of a changing global environment. The curriculum brings several traditional fields of study, including business, economics, and marketing together in new and exciting ways to help students prepare for further studies or careers in business, communication, government, and not‐for-profit organizations. Whether graduates find their niche in starting a business or working in an established community or corporate setting, they will have developed the critical thinking and analytical skills necessary for managing resources, information, and ideas.
Majors
- Accounting (Associate of Science, Bachelor of Science, and minor)
- Business Administration (Computer Information Systems, Human Resource Management, and Management concentrations)
- Cybersecurity
- Forensic Accounting
- Healthcare Administration (Associate of Science, Bachelor of Science, and minor)
- Business Administration (Associate of Arts and minor)
Science, Health and Education Division
The programs in the Science, Health and Education Division are important disciplines for understanding the world. As such, they are firmly embedded in the liberal arts and natural and social science traditions. In our mission, we seek to:
- Enable students to understand the forces that shape individual, societal dynamics and change in the natural world;
- Empower students to be lifelong learners and agents of change;
- Promote a concern in students for enhancing the quality of individual lives in all environments;
- Provide a supportive context in which students are encouraged to develop their own ethical world views;
- Develop students’ critical thinking skills to be able to analyze reliable knowledge and make rational and logical decisions;
- Use scientific methods as universal problem‐solving techniques and to integrate these techniques into everyday life.
- Foster creativity and qualities of effective leadership;
- Foster sensitivity to and the appreciation of cultural, ethnic, gender, and generational differences;
- Prepare students for graduate study or immediate entry into professional or pre-professional careers.
Majors
- Human Services (Associate of Science, Bachelor of Science, and minor)
- Nursing (RN to BSN)
- Psychology (Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Arts, and minor)
- Social Sciences (Bachelor of Science)
- Sociology (Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Arts)
The Liberal Arts and Sciences Core Curriculum
Education for the Common Good
The New England College General Education Program reflects the values and commitments of a liberal arts education as reflected in a humanizing curriculum that supports engaged and responsible learning and teaching.
By placing the Common Good at the center of our Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Core Curriculum, New England College recognizes the importance of understanding and strengthening the interdependencies that form the basis of community and promote life, and human flourishing. As the nucleus of our general education program, the LAS Core Curriculum provides a course of study that demonstrates how each of the disciplines of knowledge contributes to this understanding. Through the application of ideas to real world challenges, LAS seminars encourage responsible, ethical action in service to preserving and maintaining our natural and civic environments as the foundations of our collective well‐being.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completing the Liberal Arts & Sciences Core Curriculum students will be able to:
- Describe the interdependence between human culture and the natural world;
- Explain how concepts of sustainability are connected to issues of social justice, the environment, and the economy;
- Explain the relationship between freedom of inquiry in the pursuit of knowledge and democratic/free societies;
- Discuss the inter‐relationships among the disciplines;
- Apply critical and creative thinking, quantitative reasoning, and information literacy skills in the pursuit of knowledge;
- Apply course content (theory) to the world beyond the classroom (practice);
- Articulate an understanding of the ethical dimensions of knowledge and action.
New England College proudly embraces its role as a Liberal Arts college. Each degree program has a Liberal Arts Core Curriculum. Certain programs may follow a variation of the core curriculum. Those that do are noted in the individual program pages. Information about the requirements for each degree can be found here.
Core Curriculum by Degree
LAS Writing
WR 1015 - Writing in the Liberal Arts and Sciences I
The goals of this course are, first, to develop the students’ critical and analytical thinking skills in the context of a sound rhetorical approach to written communication; and, second, to instill a fundamental sensitivity to and facility with language. Areas of study include the nature of the writing process, situation and audience, problem definition, invention techniques, thesis statements, organization, drafting, revisions, and the fundamentals of editing. Assignments follow thematic sequences leading students from experience‐based, issue-oriented arguments to the essentials of formal academic research. This course is offered every semester and is required of all students to meet institutional graduation requirements. 4 credits
WR 1020 - Writing in the Liberal Arts and Sciences II
The goal of this course is to teach academic research as a tool for critical thinking that provides the basis for well-developed arguments. This course requires synthesis, analysis, and application of information through writing in a variety of rhetorical forms for a variety of audiences. Students are asked to research and discuss a variety of social issues through the use of selected readings from modern essayists and the available library resources. This course is offered every semester and is required of all students to meet institutional graduation requirements. 4 credits
In these courses, students will learn to:
- Read, discern, and evaluate texts critically
- Reflect upon, analyze, and respond to a variety of texts pertaining to the civic and the natural world
- Identify a target audience
- Apply the compositional process (observe, reflect, investigate, brainstorm, outline, write, revise, edit, and proofread) to a variety of writing forms
- Understand the importance of and the process for proper documentation
- Plan, draft, revise, and edit their texts according to the conventions of composition;
- Utilize different rhetorical strategies in writing: narrative, descriptive, expository, argumentative, and persuasive;
- Compile a comprehensive portfolio that demonstrates competency in compositional skill and process.
Quantitative Literacy
Students will be expected to demonstrate competency in quantitative literacy. This can be accomplished by successful completion of a course approved as satisfying the Quantitative Literacy Requirement. Math courses numbered 1020 or higher meet this requirement. 4 credits
Learning Outcomes
- Number sense and estimation;
- Statistical interpretation and basic probability;
- Interpretation of graphs and models;
- Logic, critical thinking, and problem solving.
LAS 1 - On Being Human
This seminar is designed to introduce students to the meaning and purpose of an education rooted in the liberal arts and sciences by presenting the fundamental question that reverberates throughout the program’s curriculum, “What does it mean to be human?” LAS 1 seminars represent a variety of disciplines and topics related to the seminar theme. Regardless of instructor or disciplinary focus, each LAS 1 seminar prompts students to think about what it means to be human, individually and collectively. Students will consider what our shared obligations and responsibilities are as human beings, despite differences in race, class, gender, ethnicity, or other factors. 4 credits
LAS 2 - Communities in America
This course grows out of the foundation provided in LAS 1110. LAS 2 seminars will address human nature in context. Students will ask, what constitutes community and how can diverse communities coexist in a pluralistic world? In addition, the seminar allows for consideration of the role of the ‘outsider’ or ‘other’ within communities and society as a whole. With a focus on American culture these seminars will explore how different communities can both succeed within and challenge the principles of democratic society.
From the meaning of social identity and difference to the significance of political, professional and religious affiliations, to the facts of disability, discrimination, and prejudice, these seminars will look at the social construction of difference and the challenges and opportunities of diversity. 4 credits
LAS 3 - The Creative Arts
LAS 3 covers the Creative Arts, exposing students to the innovative, imaginative side of human experience; these seminars are experientially based, promoting individual creativity, aesthetic awareness, and artistic appreciation. These courses embrace the process of conception, execution, and analysis. Students will leave having created and presented a portfolio of related works. 4 credits
Students will demonstrate ability to:
- Develop and practice skills needed to produce a specific artistic form;
- Craft a portfolio of artworks/series of performances/texts or their equivalents;
- Apply the vocabulary of analysis in peer evaluation in the creative arts as well as the vocabulary of the discipline to self and peer evaluation;
- Demonstrate conceptual competency in the discipline.
LAS 4 - Social Sciences
The social sciences are concerned with relationships among individuals in, and to, a broader societal structure. Born of the Age of Enlightenment, the social sciences seek truth, through critical thinking and the use of scientific methodology, to gain a deeper understanding of the human experience. Social scientists in the disciplines of criminal justice, economics, history, political science, psychology, and sociology strive to explain the human experience with the goal of improving the social condition. 4 credits
Students will demonstrate ability to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of how developments in social and intellectual history shape and affect human values and institutions;
- Articulate foundational theories specific to the social science under consideration;
- Explain the significance of policies and regulations in the social sciences;
- Identify ethical considerations and dilemmas that arise in the social sciences;
- Demonstrate an understanding of basic social science research methods; acquire and use appropriate professional social science terminology.
LAS 5 - Lab Science
This course covers a broad range of current environmental problems including population growth, global climate change, famine and food resources, global warming, and the loss of biodiversity. The laboratory portion of the course provides students with hands-on field and laboratory experiences that introduce a variety of methods and techniques used to examine natural communities and air and water quality. 4 credits
Students will demonstrate ability to:
- Apply scientific methods to develop and test hypotheses in the laboratory or the field;
- Apply qualitative/quantitative reasoning to the scientific process.
LAS 6 - Humanities
These courses develop the student’s ability to appreciate beauty and elegance in the search for truth and encourage the ability of the student to connect discrete fields of study by analyzing context and connections. Exposure to the interrelated nature in the fine arts, as well as the performing arts, literature, philosophy, art history, and history enhances the student’s understanding of our shared humanity as ethical and creative beings. 4 credits
Students will:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the historical and cultural contexts of the humanities;
- Produce work that exhibits a multi-disciplinary approach to knowledge;
- Articulate how the humanities informs our understanding of what it means to be human.
LAS 7 - Global Perspectives
By addressing global issues that impact the human race and the biotic community of which we are a part, student awareness and critical skills will be heightened in the interest of finding answers to global challenges, and inspiring further inquiry. Ultimately, the purpose of LAS 7, in combination with all previously taken LAS seminars, is for students to engage multiple perspectives in their quest to understand and define what it means to be human, both individually and collectively, in order that they may demonstrate, in whatever field they pursue, an open‐minded, well‐informed critical, creative, and ethical perspective - one capable of transforming themselves and others for the greater good as they go on to become citizens of the world. 4 credits
Students will:
- Apply multi-disciplinary approaches to analyze course topics;
- Articulate the relationship and interdependencies between the local and global community relevant to course content.
|
