In its Statement of Purpose the College pledges to offer curricular programs "cultivate empathy, creativity, self-understanding, rigorous inquiry, informal deliberation, and active learning across the liberal arts, toward the development of the whole person." To meet this pledge, the academic program of Hendrix College comprises diverse elements in a coherent whole, combining design with flexibility.
The undergraduate Academic Program includes two major components that assist students in developing both academic breadth and academic depth in their studies.
One component is the Collegiate Center. The Collegiate Center is the general education curriculum at Hendrix that is required of all students. It consists of four parts:
- The First-Year Experience consists of The Engaged Citizen, a first-year required course, and Explorations, a one-quarter credit weekly seminar.
- Capacities recognize that all students must exhibit basic proficiencies in fundamental skills used across multiple disciplines.
- Learning Domains afford multiple options for acquiring a basic understanding of the content, disciplinary styles, and modes of inquiries of the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences in ways that may cross traditional disciplinary boundaries.
- The Hendrix Odyssey Program is Hendrix's distinctive program of engaged learning. This program expands and formalizes currently available options for undergraduate research, study abroad, artistic development, internships, service experiences, and other hands-on activities. All students are required to complete three Odyssey experiences selected from the six categories of Artistic Creativity, Global Awareness, Professional & Leadership Development, Service to the World, Undergraduate Research, and Special Projects.
In addition to the Collegiate Center, undergraduate students complete a required Major. Although not required, a second Major or a Minor are options for students who wish to pursue a second area of interest inmore depth.
Majors are offered in more than thirty disciplinary fields and include opportunities for interdisciplinary studies. All majors also include a senior capstone experience.
Minors in more than thirty areas complement the majors and allow students opportunities to pursue additional academic interests. The College’s curricular structures are intended to guide students in a coherent process of learning while encouraging all students to exercise responsibility in constructing individual programs of study.
Policies for majors and minors can be found at this Catalog link.
A complete list of all requirements for graduation can be found at this Catalog link.
A Master of Arts in Accounting program is also available. Additional information about that program can be found at this Catalog link.