Academics

Freedom, Wisdom, Responsibility

With the motto “Freedom, wisdom, and responsibility” reflecting a progressive, forward-looking approach to academics, Sierra Nevada College offers more than 30 undergraduate majors, minors, and concentrations. With a liberal arts education, students have the opportunity to experiment in other areas of interest — taking a class in sketching, testing research in a chemistry lab, or exploring their musical talent. The goal of a great liberal arts college is to craft a curriculum that ensures students are exposed to the best of human thought and ideals.

At Sierra Nevada College, we combine this liberal arts education and professional preparedness through an interdisciplinary curriculum which emphasizes environmental, social, economic, and cultural responsibility and sustainability. We prepare our students to think critically and communicate effectively in order to pursue a lifetime of achievement and success.

Core Curriculum

The Sierra Nevada College faculty has recently approved a new mission statement and general education curriculum.

Our graduates will be scholars of and contributors to a sustainable world.  SNC combines the liberal arts and professional preparedness through an interdisciplinary curriculum which emphasizes entrepreneurial thinking and environmental, social, economic, and educational sustainability.

The move towards sustainability was the organizing factor in the development of a cohesive series of interdisciplinary core requirements for the college.  During the first semester, incoming freshman participate in a highly kinesthetic learning experience in a course entitled Ecopsychology.   Concurrently, incoming students will take a Writing and the Environment class. They will also take a Math Class that emphasizes applied math (such as how to assess interest rates and terms when buying a car, or geometry as it applies to half-pipe tricks).

In the second year, the core requirements include a studio art course and a class entitled Creativity, Innovation, and Sustainability.  The Environmental Systems course emphasizes holistic approaches to the natural world with a focus on developing numeracy.  In the third year, the common experience will be in the Civilization course.   Seniors will then take a capstone Ethics Course.  Each of the core requirements are arranged to introduce core competencies, develop core competencies, and finally, to master them.  For example, “active citizenship” will be introduced in the Ecopsychology class, developed during the Environmental Science class, and mastered by the Capstone Ethics course.  All core requirements have a strong emphasis on active learning and courses were developed with full faculty participation, ensuring that the core is both imaginative and rigorous.
 

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