Bringing faith back to Life
Advanced Diploma in Liberal Arts and Sciences
Sterling Campus has ceased to conduct this course, as we are now focusing on short courses, seminars, workshops, and customised programmes.
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For graduates of this course, should you require assistance with your records from the period prior to our discontinuation of this course, please feel free to contact us as follows:
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Contact Person: Ms Pei Lee
Email: admin@sterling-campus.com
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To educational institutes seeking further information on this course for purposes of coursework evaluation and credit transfer for graduates of this programme, please feel free to contact us as follows:
Contact Person: Ms Pei Lee
Email: admin@sterling-campus.com
Emphasis on mentorship and community
We took a leaf out of the book of the Greatest Teacher who ever lived. Jesus led his small group of men – He lived with them, walked and talked with them, ate with them, shared stories with them, did life with them. He loved them in their failures and in their victories. Following this model, small groups, or cohorts, of students are led by one to two faculty who will serve as the cohort’s guide, mentor, coach, and friend throughout the 18 months. In this safe environment, students will live life together. In the classroom, they will read, share, question, imagine, laugh, and work together. And over the 18 months they will read and study the Bible together from cover to cover.
God revealed in every subject
The Sterling Campus Liberal Arts and Sciences programme is rooted in the fundamental belief that each field of human enquiry and academic investigation finds its source (and ultimate significance) in the Trinitarian God, and therefore, enjoys a real and recognisable relationship to every other branch of learning. Thus, each of the liberal arts and sciences is best studied in a way where each and every discipline is connected to one another.
Consequently, the course is designed in a sequenced-modular format (i.e. a pre-determined order of 11 modules) that enables students to see these intrinsic connections between the branches of knowledge, as well as their relation to the grand narrative of the Creator’s dealings with His creation.
Students will begin to lay a strong intellectual foundation, as well as understand the importance of holistic living – spiritual formation, holy and healthy living, and community living and service – in their Foundations module. They will then journey through the following modules: students seek God and His wisdom through revelation and reason (Theology and Philosophy), and then marvel at His created world (Math, Physical Science, Biology), explore the depths of humanity (Psychology, the Arts, Sociology), and find His heart for the nations (Government and Law, Economics). Each module is learnt in a fixed sequence, and builds upon the assumptions of the previous module. The result? Learning is no longer a hodge-podge of random subjects, but begins to come alive and make sense. And more importantly, students will begin to see the significance of all these areas in the Kingdom, and come to a much clearer vision for the particular vocation they may be called to.
Education of the whole person, education for life
Because we believe that a person is much more than just an intellectual being, we are committed to educating with the whole person in mind. Therefore, our course is not merely an academic (i.e., theoretical) endeavor. It is the journey of a lifetime in which students are discipled in the fundamentals of both learning and living. In contrast to the trend in higher education to specialize or prepare students for a job, we seek to prepare students for life.
This is accomplished through a variety of ways. Faculty stay with their cohort throughout the entire duration of their time at Sterling Campus, modelling for their students what it means to learn well and live well. Along with nurturing an active and vibrant life of the mind, students are encouraged to grow in the other significant areas of their lives. Living and studying in community provides the opportunity to cultivate selfless and honoring relationships through serving one another and the larger community. We also seek to foster a rich and dynamic spiritual life in our students, enabling the cultivation of a Christ-like character. Finally, attention is paid to the healthy and holistic nurturing of both body and soul alike.
Classes as conversations
Classes are mainly dialogue and discussion-based, allowing students to bring their own questions and insights to the table. “Teachers” act as facilitators to students’ learning, rather than dispensers of information. Through all this, students learn to think charitably yet critically about any information they encounter, thereby sharpening their thinking and communication skills. They also broaden their knowledge of God's creation, and deepen their understanding and love for God and neighbour.
As students bring their questions and ideas to the table, faculty guide them to have the mind of Christ in all subjects, thus establishing a standard for wise living for all of life. Readings are extensive, but the intellectual discipline and rigour that is required of them builds not only character, but good intellectual habits that will serve them for all of life. Indeed, if we are Christians who are called to live as image bearers in God’s Kingdom, the transformation begins with understanding the kingdom by first seeing it afresh with new eyes.