College Doesn't Have to Be a Detour From Reality
Now you can take college with you--wherever
--Ralph Winter
Would you be interested in learning the absolutely essential knowledge for every World Christian and still graduate from the college of your choice?
Would you like to study either on our campus or some other U.S. or overseas setting without interrupting your academic progress?
The World Christian Foundations course--already available as an accredited M.A. and a B.A. degree completion program--is piloting a transferable B.A. degree lower-division program in the fall of 2001 for a few select students.
A New Approach
This approach gives you two years of college, at the lower division level, upper division level (or even an M.A. degree), combining most of the basic content of both college and seminary.
It is designed in part for missionary kids already living overseas in a missionary family--they can stay home (overseas) any four semesters of college. Or, if you live in the U.S., you can go to live overseas any four semesters out of the four years. Or just stay home wherever you live.
Also, this "World Christian Foundations" program provides phenomenal integration knitting back together all the commonly fragmented courses of college and seminary into a single gigantic story of human life on this planet, all from a global, Biblical point of view.
Don't worry. It can be broken out into traditional credit packages for transfer to a regular college.
Why go to college?
You may not believe this: our founding fathers did not go to college as we know it. Back then the word college meant grade school (as it still does in French and Spanish). Kids--I mean kids--went to college at 13 and got out in three years. Thomas Jefferson was quite the exception, getting out at the late age of 17.
This fact is a well-kept secret within the prison walls of our school system. From the founding of Harvard in 1640, the main purpose of "college" was to learn enough Latin so you could go on for rest of your life reading your way into law, medicine or the ministry. You were expected to learn mostly after college, on the job.
No kidding. It took 300 years until after the Second World War for the idea to get around that everyone ought to go to a "college," which by 1945 was four years on top of a previous 13 years!
It is no longer possible to grow up fast like our Founding Fathers--even if it really is quite a good idea. Why? Our society no longer permits young people to enter the work force that early.
Tough bananas! But here's the reality: depending upon what kind of co-workers you expect to have for the rest of your life, having the "college experience" behind you will probably be quite important.
All you are really free to do, sorry, is to grin and bear it and make the best of it. Okay. So, pull out all the stops. Take advantage of the latest flexibilities, which are quite remarkable. Mix work and study.
These two pages sketch the highlights of the new, World Christian Foundations curriculum. And, there is a whole lot more excitement than you can see here.
Representative Lesson Titles
Module 1: Ancient World
The Christian and the Old Testament
A Missiological View of Civilization
Module 2: Classical World
The Effect of Hellenistic Culture on Jewish Life
Missiological Perspectives on the Book of Acts
Module 3: Expanding World
The Devastation of Slavery in Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Pacific
Peoples and Ethnic Groups: The Third Era of Missions
Module 4: Modern World
The Christian Tradition and Islam
Liberation Theology and the Latin American Church
The Gospel in Today's Religious and Secular Worlds
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For information on the pilot year of our general ed. equivalency program and transferable course value at a Christian or non-Christian university go to: <www.wciu.edu/geprogram>
Dr. Ralph Winter is Editor of Mission Frontiers, General Director of Frontier Mission Fellowship and President of William Carey International University.
Key Attributes of a New CurriculumMentored Distance Education
Four Integrated Modules WCF integrates many disciplines, including Bible, theology, missions, history, anthropology, arts, comparative religion, science, linguistics, and intercultural studies.
Global Perspective
For World Christians
Available and Affordable
_______________ Offered by accredited Christian institutions together with the U.S. Center for World Mission. |
What people are saying about World Christian Foundations (WCF)Feedback from students and mentors "Great course!" --Student, United States "I like the integrated structure of WCF. Multiple disciplines running concurrently in a chronological sequence--great idea. Requiring students to teach at least one other person helps them solidify what they are learning."--Mentor, United States "WCF was excellent. It was exactly what I was looking for. I have learned much which is useful to me as a foreign missionary and Bible school teacher." --Student, Brazil "WCF's flexibility has really been a blessing. Neil has been able to pace himself in his studies with the flexibility to carry on a full-time intense ministry as a national mission head. The mentor style of learning is a real plus and has helped me to learn as well. I have found this very stimulating." "WCF has been a growing and stretching experience. I have enjoyed my work so far enormously." --Student, United States "I continue to enjoy and benefit from this tremendous curriculum. It's a joy to watch my students do the same. Thank you for your overwhelming investment of time and energy and thought into this 'one of a kind' curriculum." --Mentor for a group of students, United States "Overall I am very excited about this course. Thank you so much for putting all this together." --Student, Pohnpei "I have found this course to be very helpful. I went to Africa this year and fell in love with the people. Part of this was due to WCF and learning how to ask the right questions." |
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Currently Participating Institutions |
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Hope International University 500 E. Nutwood Avenue |
Northwestern College 3003 Snelling Avenue N. Phone: 651-631-5494; |
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Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary 40 A-D, Mukim 17, Batu Feringh Phone: 04-8811245 (M.A. level) |
William Carey International University 1539 E. Howard Street Phone: 626-398-2141 (B.A. and M.A. levels) |
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