The goal of the BA General Track is to provide students with a four-year curriculum in Lutheran theology and the classical liberal arts, instilling a passion for family life, deepening one’s appreciation for the church, and cultivating a broad skill set appropriate for many careers.
Adam Dobbs
LCC Student
A classical liberal arts degree will strengthen me in three necessary pre-law skills: reading, writing, and reasoning. The quality of an LCC education, rooted in a Christ-centered Lutheran environment, is more important than worldly prestige. LCC’s General Track seems like the obvious choice for someone like me, who loves reading Luther and Aristotle and wants a broad foundation for a future career as a lawyer.
Saint John, IN
Semester Sketches
What each semester in the BA General Track might look like. Bold courses are core classes. Italicized courses are treated as electives in the BA General Track and included here to show how all 120 credits might be fulfilled. This sketch assumes the student is in the “Early Latin Pathway,” fulfills eight credits.
Descriptions of each course can be found in the Academic Catalog.
Year One
Fall Semester
History 121: Ancient Greece
3
Literature 121: Greek Literature
3
Philosophy 100: Philosophical Inquiry kata Christon
3
Rhetoric 170: Progymnasmata and Composition
3
Theology 11: Lutheran Commonplaces and Catechisms
1
Theology 116: New Testament Survey
2
Theology 181: Christian Culture
1
Voice Lessons
1
Spring Semester
History 132: Republican and Imperial Rome
3
Law 100: Principles of Civil Government
3
Literature 132: Roman Literature
3
Mathematics 160: Entrepreneurial Computation and Analysis
3
Theology 115: Old Testament Survey
3
Theology 182: Christian Culture II
1
Voice Lessons
1
Total Cumulative Credits: 34
Year Two
Fall Semester
Humanities 241: Early Medieval Worldviews
3
Music 205: Hymnody and Liturgics
2
Philosophy 200: Logic
3
Rhetoric 270: Oratorical Analysis and Delivery
2
Theology 251: The Lutheran Reformation I
1
Theology 283: Christian Culture III
1
Greek 121: Introductory Greek
4
Spring Semester
Humanities 242: Late Medieval Worldviews
3
Music 200: Music History
3
Natural Science 205: Astronomical Observations and Theories
3
Theology 252: The Lutheran Reformation II
2
Theology 284: Christian Culture IV
1
Total Cumulative Credits: 62
Year Three
Fall Semester
Literature 360: Early Modern English Verse
3
Mathematics 305: Euclidean Geomotry
3
Rhetoric 370: Oratorical Composition and Delivery
3
Theology 310: The Gospels
3
Art 201: History of Western Art I
3
Spring Semester
Humanities 353: Renaissance through Enlightenment Worldviews
3
Law 365: The US Constitution and Landmark Supreme Court Decisions
3
Natural Science 365: Physics and Metaphysics
3
Theology 345: Church Fathers
3
Literature 39: Topics in Literature
3
Total Cumulative Credits: 92
Year Four
Fall Semester
Humanities 464: Modern and Postmodern Worldviews
3
Natural Science 460: Biology and Medical Ethics
3
3
3
Theology 400: Defense of the Faith
3
Spring Semester
Art 400: History and Philosophy of Art
3
Law 460: Modern Economic Theories
3
Theology 465: Post-Reformation Theology
3
Liberal Arts Senior Thesis
3
Total Cumulative Credits: 116 + 8 credits of Early Latin
Program Description
The “General” Tracks is so named because the Latin word genera (plural of genus) refers to broad categories. While a specialist might study just one subject year after year after year, a generalist studies the foundations of several different subjects, emphasizing what they all have in common (their generic properties) as well as appreciating what is unique about each of them (their specific differences). According to the classical view of education—espoused by Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Boëthius, and Melanchthon—a student gains understanding by grasping both the genus and the specific differences (genus et differentia) of various subjects, such as theology, history, literature, philosophy, law, art, music, mathematics, and science.
LCC’s “General Track,” whether pursued as a two-year AA degree or a four-year BA degree, provides a broad foundation of knowledge, a versatile set of skills, and a thorough training in theology that sanctifies both the mind and the hands for God-pleasing service to one’s neighbors in the family, the church, and civic life. Rather than preparing students narrowly for one specific job (which might become obsolete soon anyway), LCC’s General Track plants their feet on a broad and versatile foundation, empowering them to apply timeless wisdom from the past to the ever-changing challenges of the future.
