St. Francis of Assisi's impassioned service and sacrifice push you to a deeper understanding of God's call on your life. Nietzsche's rant against the gutless herd's lack of intellectual honesty hits too close to home. A growing awareness of the ethical implications of your worldview presents inconvenient challenges in the grocery checkout line. Welcome to Whitworth University's renowned Core Worldview Studies Program.

Students call Core "the toughest courses you'll ever love." Why? They challenge your worldview as they explore the forces that shape it.

We start with Core 150 and the history of the Judeo-Christian tradition as we ask questions about God's identity and ultimate truth. Core 250 explores Western philosophies from Plato and Aristotle to Nietzsche and Dostoevsky as well as rationalist ways of knowing. Finally, there's Core 350, where you apply the worldview convictions you examined and developed in the first two courses to ethical and political issues relevant to contemporary society.

Core exams and papers are the stuff of Whitworth legends. The pace and breadth of the lectures can be intimidating. Discussion groups may raise more questions than answers. But the most important and demanding work comes in examining the foundations of your most closely held beliefs. Are you up for the challenge?