Taking the Road Less Traveled: From Business to Theology

Union Theological Seminary

As a graduating senior in the Gabelli School of Business, I have to say that one of the aspects of the Fordham experience that I most appreciated was the required Liberal Arts Core. When I first arrived at Fordham, I had some vague ideas about what I wanted to do with my life, but going through the Liberal Arts Core definitely helped me to refine my interests and discover a new path that I am thrilled to say I am following after graduation in May. 

For business students, the Liberal Arts core includes classes in theology, philosophy, history, fine arts, English, math, economics, and statistics. All of these courses have challenged me to think critically, thinking in new ways and taking in different perspectives. Fordham students have very different interests and intended paths, which allows for vibrant discussion in the classroom, especially in these core classes that draw together students from all majors and backgrounds. 

As I went through my major classes and my core classes, I began to realize that the classes that I loved the most and most captured my fascination were my theology classes. Despite having no prior interest in pursuing anything related to theology, my theology core classes led me to declare a theology minor. However, this minor was not enough to satisfy my intellectual curiosity, so I took many courses past my minor requirements and ultimately decided to apply to Graduate programs. 

As I applied to top Graduate programs for theology, I will admit that I was very skeptical that I would be accepted or receive very much scholarship assistance because of my business background in undergrad. However, when I heard back from the schools to which I applied, I was thrilled to discover that I had been accepted to every program and that I received generous scholarships. When I expressed my surprise to one admissions counselor, she told me that it was my strong foundation in the Liberal Arts in conjunction with my business degree which made me such a fascinating and strong candidate for that school’s program. 

Vanderbilt Divinity School

Although I will be going to Grad School in the fall to study the Hebrew Bible, I am excited to use my business background as well. Whether I end up in a classroom or working for a non-profit, I am happy that I chose to study business, but extremely thankful that the Fordham Liberal Arts Core exposed me to courses that I likely would have never considered taking had they not been required.

Fun with the Fordham Core

It's hard to believe that I am already a senior here at Fordham.  With this being my final year, I thought I'd share some of my favorite classes that I have taken so far.  I really enjoyed having the liberal arts core because even though I am a double major in computer science and math, I was able to take classes in a variety of subjects that were interesting to me.  Here's a description of some of the classes I choose to take to fulfill the core requirements:

Latin American History: We studied the history of Latin America starting from about the 16th century with the indigenous, ancient civilizations, and we worked all the way up to the Bolivian Water Wars of the 21st century.  I enjoyed that this class utilized not only text books, but primary sources, documentaries, and films to discuss the material. 

Keating Hall, in addition to being the home of our radio
station (WFUV) and deans' offices, is an academic
building where many of my core classes were held.

New Yorker Tales: I was excited when I saw that the only material required for this class was a subscription to The New Yorker.  Each week we were assigned a short story from the fiction section of an old New Yorker magazine, and then we would discuss, analyze, and critique the selection during class.

Capives, Cannibals, and Rebels: This was another literature class formatted in the seminar style where we would read books related to the topics from the course title and then we would spend the class time discussing the texts.  Some of our readings included: primary sources of Puritans who were taken captive by Indians in the 15th century, Robinson Crusoe, Typee, and Benito Cereno.    

Dealy Hall is another academic building where I had my
literature and sociology courses.

Physics of Light and Color:  I was not looking forward to having to take a physical science class here because the subject had never really interested me, but learning about how our vision works was actually very fascinating for me.  The professor enjoyed teaching and was very good at engaging us in the material.

Religion and Public Life: I am actually enrolled in this course now.  We sit around a large conference table and use readings to drive discussions and debate about the role religion plays in daily life.  I never thought I'd willingly take a religion class in college, but I had a great experience with this professor when I took him before for an "Intro to the New Testament" course that was a part of the core.  In that class we got to go on a field trip to The Cloisters.

  

For one of my religion classes, out class
took a field trip to The Cloisters.

Gender, Class, and Race: This class was the first sociology course I ever took, and I wish I had to take more.  We read academic articles and watched documentaries to explore these social constructs.  My professor also incorporated pop culture into many of our lessons so we could discuss the topics from another perspective.  

Urbanism: My first assignment for this class was to walk three miles in Manhattan, starting from the base of Central Park all the way down to Union Square.  As we walked we had to note how space was being used at particular locations.  In this class it was cool to learn how cities were structured for particular purposes depending on the time periods in which they evolved.

This picture was part of my first assignment
for my Urbanism class.

These are just a few of my favorite classes I have taken as part of the liberal arts core in Fordham College at Rose Hill.  Although I love taking major classes such as Data Mining and Differential Equations, I enjoyed having these other courses that allowed me to explore new and exciting topics.   

Getting Down to Business with Gabelli

While this blog has recently focused a lot on the incredible resources and opportunities Fordham's NYC location offers students pursuing careers in business, this entry will give you an inside look at what it's like to be a Gabelli student inside the classroom.

While core curriculum is often a dreaded topic and subject of debate across America, Fordham has reinvented the core for business students into what Gabelli calls the Integrated Business Core. Completed mostly in your sophomore year, the integrated business core turns seven of your foundation business classes into fourteen split-semester classes that you take in a cohort each semester. While that sounds like a lot, let me simplify it for you. Instead of taking Intro to Management first semester and Intro to Strategy second semester, Gabelli splits up the classes into segmented classes Management 1 and Management 2, and Strategy 1 and Strategy 2. This way it allows you to integrate what you're learning in management with what you're learning in strategy, because in the real world all functions of business co-exist at once, so why shouldn't it be taught that way? And while on paper this sounds academically strenuous, the bulk of these classes only meet once a week as opposed to two or three times a week like a traditional class.

I also just mentioned how everything is taken in a cohort. For those of you that don't know, the cohort is your group of classes that you have in common with about 25 other students. So yes, just like in grade school, you'll have every class with the same 25 students in each and every class. While this sounds a bit boring and overwhelming, many of my friends, and myself included, love it.  The community feeling you get from taking a cohorted schedule doesn't compare to anything else you'll ever experience in college. 

My dysfunctional IP Team trying to take a photo (I'm in the vest)

Lastly, the biggest component of the cohort and the integrated core is the integrated project, or IP. The integrated project first semester sophomore year teaches you to work as a team, which is a prevalent setting in the business world. At the start of the semester, before classes even begin, there's a huge kick-off where everyone in your cohort is assigned and Integrated Project team and a Fortune-500 company. This sets the tone for the following semester, as your IP team will have to work together by integrating everything learned in your business classes to identify and create a solution for a problem or opportunity within the company you're researching. To make this more exciting, it's all a competition and the top teams at the end of the semester compete against each other in the "Core Bowl", and the winners take home $1,000 as a reward for conquering the integrated core. The IP and the cohort really emphasize teamwork and looking at a problem from every perspective of business, all part of what makes Gabelli graduates stand out from the rest of the crowd!

Undeclared

English, Math, Communications, Biology, Psychology, Anthropology…having the option of choosing from 60 liberal arts majors can almost make students feel the desire for less options for once! Freshman year can function as a time to test out different core classes and find your likes and dislikes when it comes to academics. But, sometimes not having a direct path can leave students feeling a bit lost. Here are tips for taking the edge off of the uncertainty of being “undeclared.”

1. The core: While sometimes daunting upon entering Fordham, the core can be an undeclared major’s best friend. The core offers students the chance to take classes they would not have necessarily chosen on their own. This can either help students find a new interest or simply confirm their previously held preferences.

2. You can change you mind…and change it again: Nothing is set in stone. After experiencing a year away from home, in a new environment, with new people, a student is bound to have some changes in opinion or perspective. With these changes, the Gabelli School of Business could become much more appealing then your originally intended pre-health path. In addition, you may have not known a program existed until the end of your freshman or even the beginning of your sophomore year.

3. You have time: Valentine’s day (The unofficial day for major declaration) sophomore year may seem a while away as a first or second semester freshman…because it is! The core allows for you to have plenty of time to test out different subjects that could lead to a possible major before the time to declare a major comes around.

4. You should feel blessed, not cursed: Even if by the time you have taken your second science course the only thing you have learned is that science is not for you, you are actually getting much more out of it than that. Fordham’s liberal arts core allows you to take a variety of classes that fulfill requirements ensuring that credits (and $) are hardly ever wasted. If you felt that you were passionate about Communications and realized the opposite after taking Comm 1010, you would still have fulfilled a Social Science credit without falling behind.

5. Talk it out: Every student on campus either is looking into a major or has already gone through the process. Talking with upper classman and your peers alike can help relieve the stress of figuring out the future by ensuring you that it does eventually work out, and you are not alone. Also, Career Services’ councilors as well as department assistant chairs are readily available to help decide which majors can lead you to your dream job.

I am a former Business Administration major, who decided to think about Sociology instead and is now a thoroughly confident and satisfied Communications major. Looking back on my days of living “undeclared,” I regret feeling like not knowing what I wanted to do at Fordham meant I was lost in life. This time in college is meant exactly for that! Figuring out what you want to do so that one day you can go out do it!

Why Fordham?

Three years ago, I was in the midst of making the big college decision.  I never had my sights set on one dream school or an ideal program.  I had ideas about what I wanted from my college experience, but I had a lot of trouble deciding which school would actually transform those expectations into realities!

Initially in my college search, I had written off Fordham, because my sister had attended, and, being the headstrong youngest sibling, I didn't want to follow the same collegiate path she took .  Once I looked past my silly worries and allowed my mom to convince me to visit Fordham for a tour, I saw that it had all the things I was looking for in a college experience (and more!).  It was right under my nose the whole time once I was ready to see it!

When attending my sister's graduation from Fordham in 2010, I never expected that she'd be doing the same for me in a few years!

City Life AND Campus Life

One of the few things I was sure of in choosing a school was that I wanted to be in (or near) a city, but I still wanted that traditional campus feeling.  Fordham won me over, for I knew that in 20 minutes I could travel on MetroNorth from bustling midtown Manhattan to the shady respite of the Rose Hill campus.  I'm able to easily travel to the city for concerts, Broadway shows, shopping, meals, and simply to embrace The City That Never Sleeps while still knowing that on a nice, sunny day there's plenty of space on the Rose Hill campus to lay out and read or play frisbee.  Plus, there are tons of opportunities to experience some of the city's best offerings for free or for less through Fordham programs!

Recently took the D Train from Fordham Rd to 34th St. to see an Arctic Monkeys concert at Madison Square Garden

Take the 4 train from Fordham Rd to the Upper East Side & the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Or just stay on campus to enjoy the nice weather

Ability to take a wide range of classes

Since I was unsure of what I wanted to major in, I was always a fan of Fordham's core requirements.  I knew this would enable me to take classes in different disciplines without worrying about falling behind in major requirements by entering my studies without a declared major.  The core helped me realize that I wanted to major in Communication and Media Studies, and my enjoyment of my lower level, core English classes led me to pursue a minor in English.

Arthur Avenue

Last but not least: I wouldn't be telling the whole story if I didn't admit that Arthur Avenue played a large role in my decision to come to Fordham.  I would always look forward to a trip to Tino's with my family and knowing that I could have all that delicious Italian food so close all the time definitely pushed Fordham over the edge!

As cheesy as it sounds, you wind up where you're meant to be.  Best of luck to all making their difficult college decisions!

A Glimpse into the FCRH Core

One of the reasons I chose to attend Fordham was because of the core.  Although I am majoring in computer science and math, I still enjoy dabbling in other subjects.  With the core, I am able to take a classes in a variety of subjects, from literature, to history, to science, and everything in between.  Some of my favorite classes have been part of the core curriculum.  Here are a few of my favorites, which may give you a sense of the variety of course you can take:

In Latin American History with Dr. Penry, we studied the history of Central and South America starting from the ancient civilizations of the Mayans, Incans, and Aztecs, and made our way up the modern Bolivian Water Wars.  I enjoyed this class because Dr. Penry presented the material in multiple forms, including lectures, primary source accounts, and even films.

For my Texts and Contexts core requirement, I took Dr. Hassett’s New Yorker Tales course.  My only required texts was a subscription to The New Yorker, and each week we would read and discuss a particular short-story from a previous issue of the magazine.  I loved that this class was discussed-based.  Professor Hassett structured her class so that every student participated, and no one dominated the conversation.

Where I take my theology course

I took Dr.Sanzari’s Physics of Light and Color course for my natural science course.  I was apprehensive about this class because I didn’t particularly enjoy my high school physics course, but Dr. Sanzari’s sense of humor really made the class fun.  We covered topics including lasers, optics, and light, but Dr. Sanzari was also open to explaining any topic we were curious about.

I am currently fulfilling my core requirement for Sacred Texts and Traditions.  I am taking Dr. Peppard’s Intro to the New Testament course.  I went to public school, so I never took a formal religion course before coming to Fordham.  I was apprehensive about not knowing as much as my peers, but Dr. Peppard has taken into account the different backgrounds of all his students.  I find the class interesting because we are comparing the different books of the New Testament, through readings, discussions, lectures, and even debates.  This week for one of our classes, Dr. Peppard arranged for the entire class to take a field trip to the Cloisters Museum.  We are going to be viewing art that pertains to what we have been studying in class.  This field trip is just another perk of going to school in NYC.

Although some might think that “core” and “chore” are synonymous, I am so grateful to be able to explore many different subjects and receive a liberal arts education.  My professors are experts in their respective fields and enjoy sharing their passions with students.  

To learn more about the FCRH core curriculum click here.

A bonus perk of the core is that you experience the true beauty of Fordham’s Rose Hill campus, because your core classes take place in many of the different academic buildings around campus.  One of my favorite buildings is Duane Library, which used to be Fordham’s library, but is now home to the Theology department and undergraduate admissions.  

The Benefits of Liberal Arts: Language Edition

Granada and the Sierra Nevadas

Without Fordham’s liberal arts core, I never would have dared to study abroad in Granada. Sure, I always wanted to go abroad, but Fordham’s emphasis on cura personalis and core curriculum made me realize that I could survive (and possibly thrive!) in a non-English-speaking country.

The core curriculum is a hallmark of Fordham’s liberal arts education. It requires all students to take courses in certain areas to expand their horizons, challenge them, and prepare them for life after Fordham. From speaking with high school juniors and seniors who are thinking about Fordham, I know this can seem intimidating. Heck, it was intimidating for me, too. But not only has my liberal arts education opened my eyes to interests that I never knew I had, a liberal arts education is also one of the most popular with employers.

At the Puente de San Martin in Toledo, just a bus ride away!

If I had not needed to fulfill my language requirement, it is entirely possible that I would never have considered studying Spanish after high school. I certainly wouldn’t be a Spanish major living in the most beautiful city in southern Spain. You may dislike foreign languages. You may be absolutely certain that you do not ever want to major in a foreign language. But how much do you know about urbanism or ethics? Have you ever thought of studying either of those subjects? They are two optional courses in the core curriculum, and you’ll never discover why that park is where it is or answer those burning ethical conundrums unless you try them out. And at some point or another, you are going to need those answers. At Fordham, you’ll find them, te prometo. ¡Hasta luego! 

How I Chose Fordham

While I was in high school, I really did not know what I wanted to do with my life or where I wanted to go to college. However, there were a few things that I knew were absolutely necessary for my future college. Fortunately, Fordham managed to fit all of my requirements and my mom's sole requirement that my college could not be too far from home. 

My first requirement was that the college had to have a beautiful campus. This annoyed my dad to no end, but it was very important to me that I have a pleasant place to live. I grew up in a beautiful rural area, and I had no intentions of moving away from a place that I loved to a place I found hideous. Fortunately, Fordham has an absolutely beautiful campus, and the landscaping crew works very hard to keep it that way! 
 

My best friend and I visited Fordham together at the end of our Senior year of High School!

My second requirement was that I wanted a diverse education. While I was planning on majoring in Business Administration, I wanted to study other things as well. However, I really was not sure what I wanted to study. Fordham's Core Curriculum has definitely helped to clear up that issue! 

Fordham's Core Curriculum exposes students to many subjects that they would otherwise never explore. While some of my core classes have not been my favorite subjects, I have loved others. From taking my Theology core requirements, I have discovered a true passion for the subject, which has led to my minoring in Theology. Theology may be very different from Business in some respects, but values and morality are increasingly becoming topics of interest in the business world! 

My final requirement was that my college needed to be located in a location where I would easily be able to find internships and, eventually, a job. This turned out to be one of the more difficult requirements for my college because cities are often the best location for finding internships and jobs. However, colleges in the city are often not very beautiful, and I absolutely insisted that I had to have a beautiful campus. Thus, this requirement dramatically decreased my list of schools. However, Fordham was not eliminated from my list due to its ideal location in New York City. 

I can see the Empire State Building from my dorm, but I decided to go see it up close one day!

Now that we can see that Fordham fit all of my requirements (i.e. it has a beautiful campus, a diverse education, and ideal location) and my mom's requirement (Fordham is less than two hours away from home for me!). However, there was one other aspect of Fordham that really made it too good for me to pass up. 
 
As an incoming student in Gabelli, I was accepted into the Global Business Honors Program (GBHP), which has been an absolutely amazing experience. It is a rather small group of students (about 20 per year), and we work very closely together through our honors classes, which challenge us academically, but also teach us more about business on a global level. Additionally, we travel together on three Study Tours. Last Spring, the freshmen went on a Study Tour to London and Paris where we met with many different businesspeople to learn more about European business. This Spring, the sophomores and juniors are going to Beijing, and I cannot wait to go! I knew before being accepted into GBHP that Fordham was the college for me, but being a part of the program has only made me love Fordham more.

We could see Tower Bridge from the London office of Ernst & Young

Everyone at Fordham has their own personal reasons for coming to Fordham, but everyone seems to find his or her place at Fordham as part of the Fordham "Ramily." The idea of going away to college was something that really stressed me out after graduating from High School, but the one great thing about Fordham is that all of the students really make you feel at home while you are away from home. 

The day I moved on campus, I was made part of the "Ramily"

New York Is My Campus, Fordham Is My School

The Cloisters Museum and Gardens
is located in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan 

New York is my campus, Fordham is my school. As you complete the core curriculum, you will find this saying to be true. You are likely to have an assignment that requires you to visit a museum or zoo exhibit, attend a musical or theatrical performance, or travel across the street to the New York Botanical Garden. Not only do these experiences enhance the lecture material by applying hands-on learning outside of the classroom, but they propel you to take advantage of the wide variety of opportunities available right in our own backyard!

Medieval architecture at the Cloisters

My freshman year, I ventured to The Juilliard School at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for my Music History class, a fulfillment of my Fine Arts core requirement. I watched and listened to the Julliard Chamber Orchestra perform the music of renowned composers, such as Stravinsky and Mozart. I also visited the Cloisters, the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe - a trip prompted by my Medieval History class, a fulfillment of my Understanding Historical Change core requirement. Other students, from the Gabelli School of Business and Fordham College at Rose Hill, frequently visit The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in midtown Manhattan for core classes such as Art History or Texts and Contexts. During the fall semester of my sophomore year, Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History became a destination for my Astronomy class, a fulfillment of my Physical Science core requirement. During the spring semester of that year, I walked five minutes down the street from campus to the Bronx Zoo (free admission on Wednesdays!) to construct an ethogram of the Coquerel’s Sifaka in the Madagascar exhibit. This was part of a lesson on the study of animal behavior for the lab portion of my Foundations of Biology class, a fulfillment of my Life Science core requirement.

The Coquerel's Sifaka at the Bronx Zoo

Though some of these assignments slightly challenged my comfort zone as an inexperienced city navigator, they encouraged me to make connections with my classmates and ultimately led me to gain a greater understanding of and appreciation for the course material. Each was an interesting learning and cultural experience and another way in which New York is my campus and Fordham is my school.

The Core: Expanding Your Horizons

To prospective students, Fordham’s extensive core may seem intimidating. Compared to other schools, the amount of required courses we have to take in the humanities and sciences looks a little daunting on paper. 

Coming to Fordham, I was a little nervous about this. Little did I know at the time, but Fordham’s core would really help me not only grow as a student and learn things that I never thought I would have the opportunity to learn, but grow as a person as well. The core offers so many varying and unique courses that at other schools you wouldn’t even have the chance to take, let alone have it count towards your GPA. I have taken a variety of really cool classes such as Press, Politics, & Public Policy, Invitation to Theatre, Catholic Social Teaching, and a lot of other really thought provoking courses. Next semester, I’ll be taking Jazz, a History in Sound, which I’m really excited about. 

One of my core classes got to visit the NY Times office building!

If you come into Fordham knowing exactly what it is that you want to do, that’s great. Fordham’s core curriculum will serve and help you in ways that will aid your major; it’s just hard to see the bigger picture at first. The skills that the core gives you, such as learning how to think, write, and read critically on a number of different subjects, will help you no matter what field you go in to. If you come to Fordham not knowing what you want to major in, the core really helps as well. It will open so many doors to so many different options and choices, and all of my friends that came to school not knowing what they wanted, learned a lot not only about what major they would eventually decide on, but learned a lot about themselves as well.  

Don’t be scared of the core! The classes that you will take here are so amazing and inspiring no matter what the subject is, and I promise that you will find at least two different subjects that you will become interested in that you had no idea you ever would be. The core here at Fordham truly gives you a well-rounded education that you can’t receive anywhere else.