Objectives & Designations

The purpose of the General Education requirement is to stretch students’ minds, broaden their experiences, and prepare them for:

  • Their college experiences and subsequent professional training
  • Their careers and productive lives
  • Community engagement and informed citizenship
  • A diverse and rapidly changing world
  • A lifetime of learning

The General Education curriculum does this by engaging students in:

  • Fundamental questions, ideas, and methods of analysis in the humanities and fine arts, social sciences, mathematics, and natural and physical sciences;
  • The application and integration of these methods of analysis to real world problems and contexts;
  • Creative, analytical, quantitative, and critical thinking through inquiry, problem solving and synthesis;
  • Pluralistic perspective-taking and awareness of the relationship among culture, self, and others;
  • Understanding and evaluating the consequences of one’s choices and the implications of one’s actions.
  • Opportunities to develop and practice the skills of critical thinking, reasoning, communication, and integration of knowledge and perspectives, including:
    • Communicating persuasively and effectively orally and in writing;
    • Working effectively and collaboratively (in groups, across perspectives);
    • Developing information and technological literacy