School of Arts and Sciences

Philosophy

Guiding Principles

• Study in the Arts and Sciences is both pragmatic and enlightening.
• Engagement in the community and application of knowledge are essential to the development of the capacity for critical inquiry.
• Faculty members and students are jointly responsible for the educational experience, a collaboration guided by the words of William Butler Yeats: “Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.”
• Teaching, scholarship, and learning are enriched in an environment that encourages intellectual curiosity and explores social justice.

The School of Arts and Sciences, in partnership with the other schools that make up St. John Fisher College, provides educational experiences that are rooted in the liberal arts and that prepare students to lead lives of intellectual, professional and civic integrity. This is accomplished by:

• Providing opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to develop proficiency in one or more of the major fields of study housed in the School.
• Providing undergraduate students opportunities to develop in-depth knowledge in a field of study outside of the major through the pursuit of a minor.
• Providing an educational foundation for all undergraduate students through a core curriculum that is intentional and reflective of the breadth of perspectives that characterizes the liberal arts at St. John Fisher College.
• Promoting the engagement of students, faculty members, and professional staff within a learning environment that creates high expectations along with the support for all to achieve their full potential.