Liberal Arts Studies

Ottawa University’s mission and values are embodied in its LAS program. As that portion of a student’s educational program required of all students, the LAS program at Ottawa University not only ensures all students fulfill basic institutional expectations but also provides the learning community with a strong element of intellectual unity.

In the arena of academic growth, the program is, first of all, concerned with the breadth of the student’s competencies and addresses knowledge from across a rich range of human knowledge and inquiry. The focus in this endeavor is not so much the accumulation of facts as it is the understanding and integration of different ways of understanding the world. In the pursuit of this broad-based knowledge, the program also seeks to help students acquire the competencies of effective communication and critical thinking. Finally, the program makes a particular effort to address the dimensions of value, both ethical and aesthetic, and their relationship to more objective ways of knowing.

Historically, the liberal arts tradition at Ottawa University has expressed itself through a strong LAS program. While there are minor variations in the particulars of the program from campus to campus, the LAS program is defined and unified by the University-wide liberal arts studies learning outcomes.