Develop Kingdom Vision

Redeemer offers degrees in a variety of majors and streams that will challenge you to develop a Kingdom vision, wherever you are called.

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In Redeemer’s diverse, faith-filled community, deep connections are made. And they last a lifetime.

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All the information you need to pursue your calling with as little financial pressure as possible. Christ-centred university education is within your reach!

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A Story Worth Telling

For over 41 years, Redeemer has prepared the next generation of Christian leaders whose impact resounds in our culture and across the world.

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Ready
to the
Core

The Core Curriculum provides a foundation for a well-rounded Reformed Christian life and worldview. The Core also provides context for all the other courses you take at Redeemer, complementing your major and ultimately preparing you for your career and your calling. What is the core? The Core is ten inter-disciplinary classes that all students take during their four year degree.

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Why do we have the Core?

The Core gets you to engage beyond the boundaries of your major area of study, teaching you to think broadly and innovatively.

The world is complex and changing rapidly. Redeemer wants to send kingdom-centred, innovative graduates into that world, ready to make a profound impact. Rooted in the Reformed tradition, the local, global, and non-Western elements of the Core help you to think biblically about life, culture, history, science, art, philosophy, politics, economics and more. You’ll love how everything holds together in Christ and be inspired to follow him wherever he calls you.

Core to Career
Doctors
provide better care when they understand the diverse stories of their patients.
Accountants
are more effective when they are aware of historical trends.
Lawyers
represent their clients fairly when they have considered the meaning of justice.
Counsellors
offer better advice when they can read and analyze data.
Writers
communicate deeply when they can identify philosophical concepts within culture.

Foundational

All programs at Redeemer rest on the foundation of the Core curriculum. Every student takes the Core which engages you in the grand narrative of Scripture and the story of the world. See how everything holds together in Christ and be inspired to go forth and follow him wherever he calls you.

Cross-Functional

The Core curriculum is interdisciplinary, stretching you beyond the boundaries of your chosen area of study. Studying other subjects with students and faculty outside your major helps you gain a broader perspective of the world and develop skills like problem-solving, project management, teamwork and communication.

Potential

The deep (major) and broad (core) combined set of knowledge and skills make you versatile, preparing you for a rapidly changing world that may include a variety of careers, callings and future studies. Redeemer's core prepares you for that first job... and the 2nd and the 3rd... equipping you to grow as you glorify God in all you do.

“I have always loved learning and initially had trouble choosing a single subject of study. Many people comment on the strange mixture of courses I am taking: a major in Environmental Science with minors in Visual Art and French. That's one of the wonderful things about a liberal arts education: I have been uniquely equipped with a variety of skills and knowledge and see the interconnectedness between the subjects I am studying.”

LIANE MIEDEMA ’16

Environmental Studies

“Redeemer’s Core Program helps students become difference-makers within God's unfolding story of redemption. Students explore how the need for God's message of shalom for the local and global world impacts their careers and callings.”

Karen Dieleman

Dean of Humanities

What's at the Core?

Liberal Arts & Sciences Degree Map

(Click on a course to view details)

The following is a list of Core courses offered at Redeemer.
DISCOVER YOUR WORLD FIND YOUR CALLING DEEPEN YOUR FAITH TRANSFORM YOUR MIND
CORE COURSES MAJOR COURSES MINOR/ELECTIVE COURSES

*Understanding Our World through the Sciences, Social Sciences, or Arts. Choose two of three courses outside your major. These courses can be taken in year 2 or 3.

**Choose from a list of possible course options or off-campus study opportunities. These courses can be taken in year 3 or 4.

Note: Some core courses can be taken in year 2 or 3 or year 3 or 4. Students will chart their own path of study at Redeemer.

How does the
Core fit into
my program?

Choose your Program

  • Accounting
  • Applied Social Sciences
  • Art
  • Biblical and Theological Studies
  • Biochemistry
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Chemistry
  • Church Music Ministry
  • Coaching
  • Criminal Justice
  • Digital Media and Production
  • Disability Studies
  • Education
  • English Literature
  • English Writing
  • Environmental Science
  • Environmental Studies
  • Geography
  • Health Sciences
  • Health Sciences Professional
  • History
  • International Development
  • International Relations
  • Kinesiology
  • Law and Public Policy
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Mathematics
  • Media and Communication Studies
  • Mission and Ministry
  • Music in Worship
  • Music Performance
  • Not-for-Profit Management
  • Philosophy
  • Physical Education
  • Politics and International Studies
  • Pre-Medicine
  • Psychology
  • Recreation Therapy
  • Social Justice
  • Social Work
  • Sociology
  • Urban Ministry
  • Youth Ministry
Find out how

One of four required Core courses in first year

The Drama of Scripture

(REL-110)

This course is a survey of the progressive unfolding of the biblical story and the main theological tenets that emerge from that story. The students will see how the story of the Bible yields a view of the world from a Reformed Christian perspective. The course will help students to understand their place in this story and to live intentionally out of this story in their personal and public lives, their academic studies, and their engagement with and response to issues and challenges faced by the world in the early 21st century.

One of four required Core courses in first year

Western Culture & Tradition I

(HUM-110)

This course explores the foundational themes in the story of Western culture from its classical origins to the Renaissance through history, philosophy, literature and fine arts.

One of four required Core courses in first year

Introduction to Reformed Worldview: Being and Knowing in Our Age

(CTS-110)

This course explores the meaning and application of a reformed, Christian worldview from an interdisciplinary perspective, including its posture to the major challenges of our time, such as sexuality and identity, consumerism and corporate power, populism and political power, and scientific and technological transformations.

One of four required Core courses in first year

Western Culture & Tradition II

(HUM-120)

This course traces the development of Western culture from 1500 to the present through history, philosophy, literature, science, and the fine arts.

One of three required Core courses in second year

Faith and Philosophy

(PHL-210)

In this course, students will explore how the Christian faith and Scripture shape academic study.Through an examination of the diverse elements that constitute the ecology of academic study, the course will focus in on the foundational role of philosophy. Students will be introduced to key elements in Christian philosophy that will enable them to pursue integrally Christian scholarship in whatever subjects they study.

Two of these three Core courses are required in second year

Understanding Our World Through the Arts

(HUM-210)

This course introduces students in the Sciences and Social Sciences to the modes of inquiry in the Arts and Humanities through an exploration of aesthetic and reflective aspects of being human.


Understanding Our World Through the Sciences

(SCI-210)

This course explores how the human activity of science and mathematics is an important and powerful way of knowing by which we gain understanding of the natural world that God created. The nature of scientific knowledge, its importance and impact on society, as well as its limitations and relationship to other ways of knowing and Christian faith will be examined. The course will explore scientific aspects of contemporary issues such as human health, agriculture, climate change, genetic cloning, and ecosystem degradation.


Understanding Our World Through the Social Sciences

(SSC-210)

This course explores the ways in which social scientists understand how people function individually and collectively, and the influence of communities, institutions, and the social environment in shaping individuals.

One of two required Core courses in third year

Local/Global Issues Elective

This course requirement is designed to engage students in learning about contemporary problems. It seeks to build awareness of the relevancy and applicability of their learning for modern challenges. It will encourage greater discovery of their world and hopefully shape a sense of calling and purposefulness as they begin thinking about post-graduation life.

One of two required Core courses in third year

Non-Western Perspectives Elective

This course requirement gives students an understanding of non-western perspectives and cultures. It promotes an awareness of diversity and engagement with the relationships between western culture and the non-west. It seeks to foster students’ appreciation for the perspectives and experiences of others.

The only required Core courses in fourth year

Core Capstone Experience

CTS-410

This course will place 4th year students in interdisciplinary teams to wrestle with current relevant issues and challenges. Students will utilize the various disciplinary tools acquired during their university education in order to carefully analyze and explore a problem or question and to present an innovative response. The course will be open to final year students and will focus on discussion, project management, teamwork, innovation, and entrepreneurial thinking.

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