General Education
Philosophy of General Education
Education at USciences is founded on the philosophy that educated persons attain a broad understanding of the human experience through exposure to diverse ideas, perspectives, and modes of thinking; and attain a depth of knowledge, skills and abilities through specialized study in their chosen discipline. Education at USciences fosters development of values important to students as responsible citizens and professionals. The USciences experience enables our students to take responsibility for their continued learning throughout their professional and personal lives.
General education at USciences is a developmental process of intellectual and personal growth. Students work with faculty and other members of the University community towards achieving a set of educational outcomes including:
- Knowledge in and familiarity with varied ways of thinking and scholarship in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
- Fundamental skills and abilities in oral and written communication, mathematics, and technology, and the development of aesthetic sensibility.
- Appreciation and understanding of diversity to promote respect for individual and cultural differences.
- Ability to engage in ethical and moral reasoning, and a capacity for ethical behavior.
- Informed citizenship and the ability to actively participate in a democratic society and to be both engaged locally and aware of the world at large
- Skills for effective leadership, teamwork and group participation.
- Critical thought and inquiry, problem solving and reasoning skills.
- Ability to identify the need for information and to access, evaluate, and use it legally and ethically.
- Intellectual curiosity essential to creative, reflective, self-directed, and purposeful learning.
- Integration of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors through multidisciplinary modes of inquiry.
General Education Curriculum
CURRICULUM
General Education Disciplines
Students must complete a minimum of 41 credits of course work in general education distributed among the following seven areas of the arts and sciences:
General Education Discipline Requirements
Choose courses from appropriate subject codes
| DISCIPLINE | CR | COURSE |
| Natural Science (1 semester of lab required) |
7 | BS
(Biological Sciences) |
| Mathematics | 6 | MA
(Mathematics; excluding MA100) ST (Statistics) |
| Communication* (Written & Oral) |
9 | WR
101 (Writing and Rhetoric I) |
| Social Sciences | 6 | PO
(Political Science) PS (Psychology) SO (Sociology) AN (Anthropology) SS (Social Sciences) EC (Economics) CO (excluding CO 101 and CO 204) |
| Humanities | 6 | AC
(Arabic) AR (Art) CI (Chinese) CA (Classics) EN (excluding EN 101 and EN 102) FR (French) GE (German) LA (Latin) HI (History) HU (Humanities) MU (Music) PL (Philosophy) RS (Religious Studies) SP (Spanish) WC (World Cultures) |
| Multidisciplinary Inquiry | 6 | IH (Intellectual Heritage) |
| Physical Education | 1 | PE (Physical Education) |
*Students in Catalog years 2007 and 2008 EN 101, EN 202 CO 101 and CO 204.
General Education Electives
Students must take 12 credits of General Education Electives in addition to the General Education Disciplines. Of these, at least three credits must be completely unrestricted that is, taken in any department and in no way required for the major, although these courses may be used toward a minor or certification program. The other nine credits must be taken outside the academic discipline of the major and may be used to satisfy prerequisites, a minor field of study, or to fulfill personal interests.
General Education Skills
In addition to the disciplinary and elective coursework, students must demonstrate that they have had contact with a total of 6 skill areas encompassing skills and essential values. This requirement is designed to ensure student exposure to important elements of General Education.
Students are expected to fulfill their Skills requirements within the context of the fifty-three (53) credits taken to meet the Discipline and Elective course requirements.
Oral Communication and Written Communication are particularly important parts of the general experience. Therefore, students are required to augment the Oral Communication and Written Communication Disciplinary courses by completing different courses with Applied Oral Communication Skills and Applied Written Communication Skills.
General Education Skill Requirements, More Info...
General Education Values and Attitudes
Any good educational background includes courses that are not required but that students select to pursue individual interests, increased depth of understanding of an area that informs the career choice, or purely for recreational experiences. We have chosen to call such areas Values and Attitudes. The list of Values and Attitudes is not required, but the listing does indicate the importance that is placed on each of these experiences.
General Education Values and Attitudes Recommendations, More Info...