It would be difficult to find a student at Seattle University who did not appreciate the quality of the professors it employs. They are usually available to meet in person during office hours, and those who are unable to do so usually respond quickly to an e-mail inquiry by a student. Despite this being a Jesuit university, not all professors are members of the Society, but what might be called the “Jesuit Spirit” suffuses everything that is done here. This does not mean every class contains some sort of religious element, but that those who teach at Seattle U feel a responsibility to help produce graduates who will be able to pursue Seattle University’s founding goal of producing “a more Just and Humane world.”
All students, whether they are studying microbiology, advanced software engineering, or the Spanish language, are required to participate in a Core Curriculum of classes meant to expose students to the liberal arts, sciences, philosophy and theology; it need not be Christian theology, as Seattle U offers a number of courses that explore non-Christian religions. There are three main stages, the first being the “Foundations of Wisdom,” in which students are given a chance to develop a better sense of critical judgment and an understanding socially responsible choices through a basic understanding of writing, speaking, mathematics, and the history of world civilizations. After this comes “Person in Society,” in which students take their basic understanding of the sciences, philosophy, and religion and apply that knowledge to topics as varied as economics and psychology. Finally, there comes “Responsibility and Service,” where students study more intensely issues of theology and ethics and draw their time at Seattle U to a close with a senior synthesis class that is meant to bring together everything they have studied over the past four years. Though an education need not end with the four-year program (Seattle U offers 31 graduate degrees), it does produce the kind of well-rounded ‘citizen of Man’ who can affect positive social change in the world.