Mar 28, 2024  
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog

Intercultural Studies, BA


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College Ministry
Academic Award Bachelor of Arts
Credits Required 122 semester credits
Faculty Lead David Hymes
CIP Code 39.0301

The Intercultural Studies major prepares students to effectively live, interact, and communicate the Gospel of Christ in a multicultural environment.

The program has three cores of emphasis: biblical and theological, intercultural skills and knowledge, and an international or domestic intercultural concentration.

  • Students who wish to follow a traditional broad-based missions track for overseas missions without a specific regional focus will be well-served by the International concentration.
  • Students wishing to prepare for intercultural and/or non-profit ministry in the United States should choose the US concentration.

The Intercultural Studies major integrates classroom learning and theory with field experience. Students spend an extended period of time in the region or ministry context of their concentration learning language, studying the culture, art, government, history, and economics of the area as well as learning to communicate the Gospel in a diverse cultural setting. This program exceeds educational requirements for Assemblies of God ministry credentials.

Graduates with a degree in Intercultural Studies will be able to:

  1. Apply a contextualized authentic gospel with cultural sensitivity.  
  2. Articulate a biblical theology of mission.    
  3. Practice cross-cultural competency in an applied setting.  
  4. Develop a culturally sensitive model for holistic cross-cultural ministry.  
  5. Integrate theology, the social sciences, and mission practice. 

Core Curriculum Requirements: 57


Humanities: 9


6 credits in this area must be from Writing Practice courses* (see Course Descriptions    for applicability)

  • ENGL xxx3 Any Literature course 3 credits
  • HIST   xxx3 Any Course in History 3 credits
  • 3 additional credits selected from the following 3 credits
    • Art (ARTE), Bible (BIBL), Drama (DRAM), English (ENGL), History (HIST), Language (LANG), Music (MUSI), or Theology (THEO)

Social Sciences: 9


6 credits in this area must be from Writing Practice courses* (see Course Descriptions  for applicability)

  • Select a minimum of two disciplines from the following: 9 credits
    • Business Administration (BUSM), Communication (except COMM 1213), Economics, Education (EDUC), Exercise Science (EXSC), Geography (GEOG), Information Technology (INTC), Management (BMGT), Marketing (BMKT), Philosophy (PHIL), Political Science (PSCI), Psychology (PSYC), Sociology/Anthropology (SOCI), or User Experience Design (UXDE)

Science and Mathematics: 7


  • MATH xxxx - College-level Mathematics 3 credits
  • SCIE xxxx - Science course with Lab 4 credits

Formation and Calling: 3


Professional Readiness: 2


Two Core Curriculum elective credits are required to be Career Readiness credits. These credits can be earned by taking a combination of Career Readiness Courses and introductory internship and/or job shadowing experiences. 

  • This two-credit requirement is waived for students who transfer 57 or more credits to NU
  • Students with 44-56 transfer credits are required to take one Career Readiness credit

Core Electives: 6


Select any college-level courses

Major Requirements: 48


One of the following based on chosen concentration: 3


Concentrations


(select from one of the following concentrations)

International Concentration: 12

This concentration will be completed during a semester abroad experience, with the site and host predetermined and arranged in consultation with a student’s advisor. The courses listed below will be completed during a student’s semester abroad. 

Domestic Concentration: 12

This concentration, while possibly involving a focused semester of off-campus study, can also be completed while resident on-site at Northwest University. 

General Electives: 17


Any college-level courses

Total: 122 Semester Credits


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