Learning Goals for General Education courses

Students should prepare for 21^st century challenges by gaining the following foundations and skills for lifelong learning:

1. Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural Worlds, through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts, focused by engagement with big questions, both contemporary and enduring. 
2. Intellectual and practical skills, that should be practiced extensively, across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance, that include:
   • Inquiry and analysis
   • Critical and creative thinking
   • Written and oral communication
   • Quantitative literacy
   • Information literacy
   • Problem solving
3. Civic engagement and ethics, that should be anchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges, and include:
   • Civic knowledge and engagement—local and global
   • Intercultural knowledge and competence
   • Ethical reasoning and action
   • Academic integrity and social responsibility

(Adapted from the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ project on Liberal Education and America’s Promise, “The Essential Learning Outcomes,”)

These overarching learning goals provide the context for 3 kinds of general education courses:

• Foundations
• Themes and Approaches
• Cross-Cutting

Foundation Courses

• Critical Writing, Reading and Communication | Code CRC | Credits needed: 6

Themes and Categories

• Heritages and Civilizations | Code HAC | Credits needed: 3
• Art, Aesthetics and Theories of Interpretation  | Code AAI  | Credits needed: 3
• Global Communities | Code GCM | Credits needed: 3
• United States in the World | Code USW | Credits needed: 3
• Ethics and Values | Code EAV | Credits needed: 3
• Logical and Quantitative Reasoning | Code LQR | Credits needed: 3
• Physical and Life Sciences | Code PLS | Credits needed: 3
• United States and the World | Code USW | Credits needed: 3

Cross-Cutting Categories*

• Diversity* | Code DIV | Credits needed: 3
• Engaged Civic Learning* | Code ECL | Credits needed: 3
• Experiential Learning* | Code XPL | Credits needed: 3

Writing Intensive Course**

• Writing** | Code WRI | Credits needed: 3

*Only 3 credits from any one of the three Cross-cutting categories is required. May be combined with other courses.

** May be combined with other courses.