Freedom Within the Disciplines

Freedom Within the Disciplines  —  The faculty at Notre Dame has been discussing the role of theology in its core curriculum and the nature of the academic disciplines:  Are disciplines the building blocks of university education and thus the proper focus for a core curriculum? Or should we recognize that academic disciplines are “artificial” and reorient our thinking around curricular “goals” such as “critical thinking skills,” “effective communication,” “ethical decision-making skills”? Or the capacity to “comprehend the variations of people’s relationship with God and develop respect for the religious beliefs of others?”