Curriculum

The Philosophy of the Curiculum

Any Catholic institution of higher learning ought to be committed to searching for truth and, as far as possible, to finding it. Moreover, it is obliged to pass on the great deposit of truth previously discovered and confirmed by succeeding generations. This principle of the unity of knowledge shapes the curriculum at Newman College Ireland as it introduces our students to the main areas of knowledge.  Students study theology as faith seeking understanding, which includes Revelation, dogmatics, morals, and Church history.

Students study philosophy, confident in the capacity of reason to come to the truth about absolute and contingent being. They read great literature, which embodies truth about man’s life within God’s creation through incarnate forms true to the variety of human experience. Through the study of history, students are freed from the narrow lens of the present and come to see the meaning of past events in the light of the Incarnation. 

The study of classical languages embodies contemporary unity with the Church Fathers and the fundamental sources of the Faith; through all language study students become aware of the principles of the structure and function of language. NCI students are introduced to the rigors of the scientific method and quantitative analysis which delineate the physical structures of creation, with due attention to the ethical implications of scientific research. Their artistic sensibilities are refined so that they may appreciate beauty in all its forms as a hallmark of the transcendent and of a truly human life and Among the fine arts, music has pride of place at Newman College Ireland because it is most intimately joined to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

Social sciences are conducted in the light of the truths of philosophy, theology, and the natural sciences, for they teach much about man’s temporal development and the importance of social justice as set forth in such crucial Church teachings as the Encyclical Rerum Novarum.  Our Catholic liberal arts curriculum therefore presents these disciplines, not in isolation, but in such a way that each throws new light on the other

Academic Calendar