Aquinas' University

In 13th Century Paris, St. Thomas Aquinas proposed a curriculum for the university which offered a hierarchical view of studies. The newer students would study the liberal arts, including language, history, logic and geometry. After completing this, those students who wished to continue their studies would learn philosophy, including Aristotle. Finally, students would be taught theology. Theology was saved for last because, in Aquinas' mind, it was the highest discipline and therefore should not be taught to those who were not willing to learn all the other disciplines they needed to. Of course, this system sets up a highly educated caste of theologians, such that their intellect and knowledge would surpass the philosophers of the day.
Today's university has discarded of the practice of hierarchically ranking studies. Accounting is as valuable as philosophy and English as worthwhile as theology in our schools. This practice does not make for well-versed students. I do not say this because I think that theology is the best subject, but rather because we do not emphasize how all of these subjects can be connected to form a comprehensive understanding of the world. That being said, I will propose that theology does a great job out of all subjects for doing this.
Consider the following: a history class' objective is merely to report the facts of the past. The ramifications of these actions is not within the realm of history to determine, but rather for philosophers, politicians and strategists. A literature class seeks to understand specific literary works, which sometimes requires an understanding of time, and consequently history. However, rarely does this, unless it is a philosophical work, require an understanding of philosophy to understand the work. Rather, language devices and literary nuances are required.
If we follow this trend we can observe several other things. In sciences, for example, it is necessary to have an understanding of mathematical concepts, but math does not necessitate the understanding of science. Linguistics requires an understanding of at least one language. Engineering requires an understanding of physics and advanced math is only understood after simple math is learned.
As we follow this line of thinking, we discover philosophy incorporates several of these studies. As a philosopher, one has to understand a history that dates back to Pythagoras. Literary devices, including allegory, allusion and equivocation are important parts in philosophical discourse. As Socrates demonstrates in the Crito, even mathematics is important. In short, learning more and more about the world can only help one in the philosophical field.
Theology, then goes one step beyond this. Theology often incorporates philosophy and engages every other field of study. Evolutionary biology is constantly in direct dialogue with theology. Neuropsychology has implications for the nature of the soul and what it means to be human that theology must also engage. Even Quantum Mechanics, with its focus on elementary particles, has something to say about the universe that God created and the way that we understand the matter therein.
As we realize this, we discover something shocking and unsettling. We cannot intelligently engage in theological discussion without understanding a large amount of what is going on in the world. If we idly spout out uninformed opinions about God and the universe, we are little more than babbling fools. For how can we expect the world to take us seriously as believers when we respond to challenges to our faith in the most uninformed and baseless manner? If we want to enter into real discussion with the world, then we necessarily need to be aware of the matters in which we engage others in conversation. Laying baseless claims against the charges of unbelievers does not increase our credibility, but rather it makes us look like fools and yuppies in the eyes of our critics.