TWINS SARAH AND ALISON STACKHOUSE TAETZSCH ’20 weren’t used to professors interweaving Christianity into the classroom. “But it’s been enlightening and refreshing,” Sarah says of their freshman year. In the new Christ at the Core curriculum, classes are centered around one question. For Dr. Jay Wood’s Core philosophy class, Sarah had to ask, “Who do I want to be?”

“The goal was to become closer to God, maturing our faith by using Christian philosophies to practice virtues and overcome vices,” Sarah says. “It was eye-opening.”

In a Core art class with Dr. Matthew Milliner, Alison explored the question “What is an image?” by studying the imago dei through the perspectives of Augustine, Dorothy Sayers, and Frederick Douglass. “We reaffirmed our humanity and our worth in God,” Alison says.

For Sarah, seeing her studies interact with her faith was extremely special. “That’s never happened before,” she says. Alison agrees, also noting how hard the professors work to engage students, provide challenging work, and produce honest and thoughtful discussion. “I think that’s pretty rare,” says Alison. “We’re looking forward to having more thought-provoking discussions in lots of different disciplines next year.”