Concordia College

Requirements for a Major or Minor in Credo

An Interdisciplinary Honors Program

Program offered

• Honors Program 

The Credo honors program offers a distinctive, challenging way to fulfill the Core distribution courses required for graduation. 

Credo students enter the program by taking a Credo Inquiry Seminar their freshman year and then take three more specially designated exploration courses, one each in the humanities and fine arts, natural sciences and mathematics, and social sciences. For students who do not take a Credo Inquiry Seminar, both a humanities and a fine arts Credo designated exploration course are required. The Credo designated exploration courses are typically team-taught by outstanding faculty who bring a distinctive approach and perspective to the subject. These courses are only open to Credo students and are topics not usually covered in other courses at Concordia. During the junior or senior year, Credo students undertake directed independent research projects typically in the area of their major.

Students are invited to join the Credo program at admission or during the fall semester of their first year. The requirements for graduating with Credo honors are as follows:

1. An overall Concordia grade point average of 3.5 or higher

2. Successful completion of a Credo Inquiry Seminar or an additional humanities or fine arts Credo exploration course

3. Satisfactory completion of a Credo exploration course in each of the three Core areas 

4. Satisfactory completion of a capstone independent study project in the junior or senior year

After completing their Credo Inquiry Seminar, the remaining required Credo courses can be taken in any order. Usually, there are several Credo courses offered each semester. The Credo exploration courses count toward the completion of the exploration course requirements of the Concordia College Core Curriculum.

The Credo honors program also includes an optional, abroad experience located in either Crete or Italy. The location is alternated yearly. In the program, students spend 10 weeks of the semester in Italy or in Crete and other countries in the Mediterranean. Students spend the first three weeks of the spring semester at Concordia taking classes to prepare for the abroad portion of the program. Accompanied by two Concordia professors, students and faculty will live in a residential, off-season resort hotel in Crete and travel to important archaeological sites in Greece and other Mediterranean countries. In Italy, they live in the Italian mountains south of Rome and travel to Rome, Florence, Ravenna and Venice. Students may also travel independently during a seven-day spring break period.