Cardinal Core

Program Overview

The Cardinal Core program at the University of Louisville prepares students to do the advanced work needed for their baccalaureate degrees and prepares them to contribute to society throughout their lives through their professional work and civic engagement. The program emphasizes the development of key intellectual skills relevant to any career path: critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, effective communication, and the understanding of historical, social, and cultural diversity. Students will develop skills and acquire knowledge in the following content areas of Arts and Humanities, Historical Perspectives, Oral Communication, Quantitative Reasoning, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Natural Sciences, Written Communication, and the competency area of Diversity in the United States and Globally. Upon completion of the program, students will be prepared to analyze complex problems and evaluate possible courses of action in an environment characterized by diversity and the need for sustainable solutions.

Philosophy and Guiding Principles

Regardless of where we live, our sexual identity, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, language, nationality, social class or any other differences, we share a common humanity. We also face local and global challenges that in one way or another impact all of us. Education has the power to teach us about ourselves and show us our connections to each other. It prepares us to put our knowledge to work on the real problems that face us through promoting ethical intelligence, self-awareness, and the acceptance of diversity.

The General Education Program, known as the Cardinal Core program, promotes the values of the university and provides the knowledge, skills, and collegiate experiences that students will require in their roles as key decision-makers in a democratic society. Through Cardinal Core, students will have a strong foundation of core competencies that they will need to succeed in their degree program. The Cardinal Core program provides multiple viewpoints, as well as the technologies and approaches that are important to solving real-world problems and to breaking down barriers of the past.

Critical thinking skills are the foundation for successful navigation through higher education and beyond. The Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences all have unique methodologies of critical thought yet they all share a common base: self-reflection. Without maintaining awareness of our personal and cultural biases, a student is less likely to seek out new experiences, people, and ideas, unable to practice qualitative research with academic rigor, or honestly participate in the scientific method. Therefore, self-reflection practices such as: “thinking about one’s own learning” and “interrogating one’s own assumptions and prior knowledge” are vital to the Cardinal Core program.

The Cardinal Core program is designed to engage students in their own learning. Through intentional pedagogies and teaching practices, assignments, and activities, students and instructors will aim to foster foundational competencies.