Mission Statement

The mission of Cornerstone is to share the wisdom and vision of the Liberal Arts with all Purdue students. Cornerstone reinforces and enhances our students’ foundational knowledge while deepening their ability to see unity across disciplines, to appreciate ambiguity, and to love learning.  Cornerstone demonstrates the ongoing significance of the humanities and social sciences and seeks to develop engaged Purdue graduates who can respond creatively and flexibly to the challenges of a diverse world.

The Cornerstone faculty is committed to developing Purdue graduates who can compete in the global job market, who can assimilate and analyze information, think creatively, adapt to change, connect in multi-cultural environments, make sound judgments, and above all, communicate their ideas with precision and eloquence.

Cornerstone faculty excel as teachers and mentors. We strive to create an open, inclusive learning environment in order to fire the imagination of our undergraduate students, inspiring, enriching, and changing their lives through the transformative power of great texts, along with art, film, and music.  Our endeavor is to cultivate in our students a capacity for openness, subtlety, and nuance as well as to nurture a passion for ideas and an appreciation of historical context.

We respect our students, our subject matter, and the classroom experience.  Each time we step into that space, we remember the privilege given to us: to educate all students from across the Purdue campus.