Institutional Learning Goals
Elizabethtown College engages students in a dynamic, integrated learning process grounded in the liberal arts. Challenged to take responsibility for their education, students at Elizabethtown embark on a journey of self-transformation that involves intellectual, social, and personal growth.
Educational Philosophy
The College is committed to educating the whole person within a relationship-centered learning community where common goals are achieved through engagement in a rigorous academic curriculum and thoughtful co-curricular experiences. Students are encouraged to develop and challenge their own values, while seeking to understand and appreciate alternative perspectives. Embedded in an ever-changing global context, the College promotes the developmental, collaborative and complex nature of learning.
In seeking to "educate for service," Elizabethtown College believes that students can perform no greater service than they do when sharing knowledge and creativity with others. Opportunities to strengthen scholarship and leadership extend beyond the classroom, and students learn actively through practical experiences and civic engagement.
The impact of an Elizabethtown College education is long lasting and far-reaching because it is deeply transformative. Students acquire new habits of mind and heart–some in the course of the undergraduate experience, others as students grow beyond college.
Educational Goals
At Elizabethtown College, students are inspired and challenged to:
- Assume responsibility for their intellectual development, personal growth and well-being. Students will learn to sharpen their curiosity and become aware of the capabilities, strategies and resources needed to learn.
- Reason, analyze and engage in critical thinking. Students will make, systematically evaluate, and, if necessary, refute arguments and claims—both their own and those of others.
- Demonstrate thoughtful and articulate communication by applying knowledge in a variety of contexts, including writing, speaking, listening and interpretation.
- Understand the creative process and its role in human expression, and cultivate the ability to make informed aesthetic judgments.
- Navigate diverse cultural worldviews and perspectives, with the realization that differing frames of reference influence analysis, communication and behavior.
- Make reflective ethical decisions and act with integrity to seek just outcomes with relationships, communities and society.
- Apply and integrate different strands of learning and comprehend interconnections in the process of gaining knowledge and experience.
- Identify and cultivate a sense of purpose that inspires a commitment to meaningful work in service to society.