General Education Curriculum

The General Education Curriculum (GEC) is a set of courses taken by all undergraduate students* in addition to their area of concentration or major. Arranged in three parts, or "components," it is designed to guarantee that each student will receive instruction in three areas that the College considers indispensable to a solid liberal education: essential skills in communication and analysis, a broad knowledge of human cultural history, and an understanding of both scientific and values-oriented approaches to problem solving. Also, the Global Studies requirement within the GEC assures that all students will be given an awareness of the international perspectives with which they will live and work.

* For transfer students, courses taken at other institutions are evaluated for application to the General Education Curriculum according to guidelines developed by the faculty and administered by the Office of Admissions.

Component I: General Skills: Communications and Analysis

(12 – 15 Credits)

Students engage in training in English writing and speaking skills, particularly clarity and logic, needed for baccalaureate level course work; and they are expected to achieve familiarity with at least one other mode of communication, verbal or symbolic, in which clarity and logical structure are emphasized.

As a course in GEC-I, each of the courses listed here focuses on providing students with general skills in the areas of communication and analysis needed as a foundation for successfully completing higher states of baccalaureate-level course work.

Writing Sequence (3 – 6 credits)

EN 112/113; placement by skills level; see English curriculum, "College English Requirements."

Speech (3 credits)

SH 111

Two courses from among the following: ( 6 credits)

Foreign Languages
FR 111/112; IT 111/112, SP 111/112, 115, 221/222; placement by skill level.

Logic or Quantitative Methods

PH 112 or 113*, or SS 221

*Students must have EN 112 to take PH 113.

Mathematics

MA 113/114/116/117/119/221/222/225; placement by skills level.

Component II: Roots of Contemporary Life and Culture

(12 Credits)

Significant topics representative of the following broad periods in cultural history are studied with the purpose of conveying a sense of the past and of its relationship to the present. Course offerings vary from year to year.

One course is chosen from each period; no more than two Component II courses may be taken in any one discipline. Students may not enroll in any Component II course before taking EN 113 or the equivalent; students entering as freshmen must also have passed or been exempted from EN 107.

As a course in GEC-II, each of the courses listed here focuses on a significant theme characteristic of both the time period under study and our contemporary world by employing the perspective of at least on other discipline in addition to the principle one of the course.

Classical Period (3 credits)

Medieval Period - the Renaissance (3 credits)

The Enlightenment - mid 20th Century (3 credits)

One additional course in any of the above periods, preferably taken in conjunction with another course in the same period. (3 credits)

Component III: Issues in Contemporary Life and Culture (12 – 15 Credits)

Significant aspects of the contemporary world are approached from two perspectives: (a) that of science and (b) that of values (moral, religious, ethical, aesthetic, etc.). In the former, experimental and quantitative methods of problem solving are explored as they have been developed within the natural and social sciences. In the latter, methods which emphasize inquiry beyond the assembling of factual data are studied with the objective of cultivating in the student a sense of responsibility for including such analysis in decision making. Course offerings vary from year to year.

Normally, students are expected to complete two courses from within each perspective, the distribution requirement being at least one course from each.

Science

As a course in GEC-IIIa, each of the courses listed here focuses on an aspect of the natural world from the perspective of scientific laws and theories. Students will become familiar with the logic and practice of the scientific method of investigation.

Values

As a course in GEC-IIIb, each of the courses listed here focuses explicitly on a present day value issue. The goal is to engage the student in a process that requires some distancing from preconceptions, prejudices, and pre-formed opinions. It requires the development of a reflective stance on one's received culture and its beliefs. It expects the student ultimately to take a position on the issue which is informed and well thought-out as well as cognizant and respectful of other opinions on the issue.

Students may not enroll in any Component III values course before taking EN 113 or the equivalent; students entering as freshmen must also have passed or been exempted from EN 107.

Global Studies Requirement

Several of the courses listed above in Components II and III—those with "G" at the end of their course numbers and marked by asterisks—are particularly designed to broaden students' perspectives across geographical and cultural boundaries. Collectively they offer study of a variety of regions and cultural heritages, exploring commonalities and differences from one to another or discussing influences and interdependencies between them. All students are required to take at least one of these courses (each of which also serves as partial fulfillment of the Component requirement).

In addition to the goals fulfilled as a GEC-II or GEC-III course, each of the courses fulfilling the GEC global requirement focuses on significant topics relating to the interconnectedness and interdependence of the peoples and countries of the world or examines commonalities and differences among various groups in relation to the central theme(s) of the course.