Core Curriculum

A New National Core Curriculum Program

The core curriculum at the University of Notre Dame Australia is changing! As of semester 1, 2023 there will be a new national core curriculum program that engages students with the history of Catholic and Western thought. This is in line with the purpose of Catholic universities, for as St. John Henry Newman in his book The Idea of a University, states “the chief and direct object (of the establishment of a Catholic University) is the exercise and growth in certain habits, moral and intellectual.”

The new national core – the basic facts

  1. At the undergraduate level, the new national core curriculum will consist of two (2) courses
  2. The first course will be a compulsory first year level (CORE1000: Foundations of Wisdom) course that integrates faith and reason, theology and philosophy.
  3. The second course will be an elective second year (or above) course. Students will be able to choose from five types of elective courses:
    1. Electives in philosophy and\or theology
    2. Professional embedded electives that integrate studies in a profession with philosophy and\or theology
    3. An option to undertake a pilgrimage embedded in the study of the philosophy and theology of pilgrimage
    4. An option to undertake a course that integrates philosophy & theology with community service and charity work
    5. An option to undertake an elective in philosophy, theology, and the liberal arts contained within an international experience
  4. At the Postgraduate level, the core curriculum program for all students enrolled in a Graduate Diploma or Masters by Coursework will be a single elective course selected from a range of courses the same as those types available to undergraduate students (point 3 above)
  5. We plan to offer a version of the new national core curriculum for undergraduates (including both courses) that students can take as an intensive four week program. Versions of this intensive version of the core curriculum program may involve:
    1. A four week intensive international experience
    2. A four week intensive at Broome
  6. The new national core curriculum will be offered in a variety of delivery modes. The general rule of student enrolment will be that, unless there are exceptional circumstances, students will be required to enrol in a delivery mode consistent with the delivery mode of their program