Everything Monmouth College invests in is driven by how it can help our students succeed. Our students did not believe you could learn advanced entrepreneurism from a text so we found 21 entrepreneurs to come and speak to our class. Each entrepreneur, student, family, and culture had a different definition of success. To one person the pursuit of financial rewards was synonymous with seeking success. Others may see the development of admirable qualities such as curiosity, honesty, empathy, and ethical behavior to be preeminent in their definition of success. Monmouth developed its own unique approach to higher education and this course was a good example of how education can change lives.

Monmouth’s approach was designed to impact the wellness of each person–intellectually, physically, and socially by challenging them intellectually and helping students develop admirable qualities. It prepares them for successful lives—whatever their definition. Monmouth’s secret ingredient is integrating learning from science, business, international culture, the arts, and classic philosophy. Check out the comments to most of theses posts and you will be impressed with what our students learned from a few guest speakers.

Integrated learning is Monmouth’s philosophical approach to how knowledge is created, disseminated and best understood. My colleague Michael Connell recently said “To understand anything fully one must consider the history and culture that created it, the science it is based upon, its ethical, moral and political implications, its economic and social manifestations, and the changes it will produce. It is the recognition that facts, theories and ideas do not exist in isolation, but in context.

For our faculty, it is a commitment to a pedagogy based on the principle that knowledge is meaningful only in relationship to other knowledge. To impart these broader insights, we require our students to take courses in global perspectives, personal reflection and community citizenship. It is our intention to explore the inter-relationships between different fields of study in each and every course we teach. The integration of knowledge is a life-skill that allows individuals to understand better the world in which they live, to contribute more effectively to society, and to enjoy a more meaningful life.”

I think that sums it up quite nicely.