General Education

A major goal of the General Education Program is to broaden students' understanding of humanity. As a step toward that goal, the Social World category probably represents the most far reaching change in the curriculum. There is virtually a universal consensus on the scope and meaning of the Natural World--our attempt to understand the phenomena of the natural universe. The Social World category is an attempt to combine in new ways fields which were once separated. The unifying theme of the Social World is the focus on human beings and the fields of knowledge devoted to gaining insight into a world created by human beings with important consequences for their activities as individuals and as members of larger groups.

The classical Aristotelian doctrine that an intellectual activity is scientific when its aim is to ascertain the truth, and aesthetic when its goal is poetic creation, is very difficult to sustain today. Social scientific theories often involve an act of creation and are sometimes described as elegant if not beautiful. The arts, literature, and history are not simple flights of imagination, but derive from life, and are meant to teach us something lasting and profound about human behavior.

The Social World category, then, combines the previous Humanities ("C") and Social Sciences ("D") distribution areas into a new generic category that is inclusive yet coherent. The arts, history, and the social sciences use diverse paradigms and perspectives but share the common aim of understanding the Social World that we have created and which constitutes our own social reality.

Within the Social World category, students will be required to take four 4 credit courses, with one course in each of three areas: (1) The Arts, (2) Historical Studies, (3) Social and Behavioral Sciences. In addition, there is a Diversity component to the Social World requirement. All students must take two courses in the Social World that also have a Diversity designation.

In keeping with the Faculty Senate's commitment to incorporate writing into parts of the undergraduate curriculum other than the Writing Program (Sen. Doc. 82-057), all courses in the Social World area of the General Education program should include a writing requirement because regular practice in writing encourages clear thinking and clear expression.

Preferably, paper assignments will be included in Social World courses, but essay examinations will be considered acceptable if the instructor responds to them with written comments on both content and composition.

The Arts 

The arts do more than imitate life; they interpret and explain it. The arts area of General Education is made up of courses which consider the production, performance, function, and aesthetic evaluation of the arts--visual, aural, verbal, and plastic--in relation to one another and to the societies that have and will produce them. Although departments in Humanities and Fine Arts traditionally teach courses satisfying this definition, so do some other units of the University.

One courses shall be required in the Arts. They must bear either an AL or an AT designations. Courses in the arts area of the General Education curriculum should follow these guidelines:

1. they should be designed to provoke comparison and critical acuity; 
2. they may provide participatory experiences such as projects, performances, and attendance at plays, concerts, galleries, etc., but courses aimed primarily at the learning of a skill or performance do not qualify; 
3. they may treat foreign literatures, either in translation or in the original language; 
4. they should encourage verbal expression through writing exercises.

Historical Studies 

We learn from the past. All aspects of human existence, including our social, political, and economic systems, have evolved from the past and help to illuminate and shape our present and future lives.

Courses in Historical Studies should enable students to learn about significant historical developments and processes and to gain an awareness of and appreciation of an historical perspective. They will necessarily focus on human interaction in specific situations developing through time. Such courses should cover a sufficient breadth of scope and time to consider the development of significant social, political, or economic institutions or ideologies. While a broad, historical survey course would meet this criterion, a course on a particular historical event or a narrow period of time might be included if it had a sufficiently broad perspective. For example, a course on the Civil War might be appropriate if it considered pre-war causes and conditions as well as post-war ramifications; it would not be appropriate if it analyzed only the military strategies of particular battles. Some Historical Studies courses might also encourage students to "do" history by enabling them to consider their personal, family, or community histories as an introduction to broader historical events and processes.

In general, a course shall satisfy the Historical Studies requirement if its primary purpose is to expose students to historically important events, developments, or processes as a way of teaching them to understand the present and direct their futures. The History department, obviously, offers many courses that meet the intent of the Historical Studies requirement. Other departments, however, offer courses that may satisfy the requirement.

Social and Behavioral Sciences 

Scholars and practitioners in the Social and Behavioral Sciences attempt to interpret and understand human behavior and the evolution, structure, and functions of human social organizations, institutions, and cultures. Their work investigates the behavior of individuals, the relationships among individuals, and the larger social environments in which humans live.

The Social and Behavioral Sciences have taught us that people are both creatures and creators of their own societies. Educated individuals should have some understanding of this reciprocity, and they should appreciate the diversity that exists in human societies. When we fail to grasp the variations among human cultures and social arrangements, we often perceive our own social milieu as both "natural" and “fundamentally right." Insights about the explanations for and causes of human behavior, the nature of human societies, the structure of social relationships, and the ways in which people and societies change should help students think more clearly about their own human nature and the social worlds in which they live. These insights may help them plan more effectively for their futures, and may help shape the future of our own society in positive ways.

Courses in the Social and Behavioral Sciences should meet the following guidelines: 

1. they should introduce students to theory, methods, and results of systematic and critical inquiry about individual and social life; 
2. they should demonstrate the dynamic nature of both individuals and societies, leading to an understanding of change as a natural process; 
3. they should stress the systematic quality of individual and social life, leading to an understanding of the complex relationships among individual behaviors, human situations, and social institutions.

Social and Cultural Diversity Component

Within the four courses of the Social World requirement, students must take two courses devoted to specific study of diversity in human cultures and societies. Students will be required to take a diversity course in their first year on campus.

The purpose of the Diversity requirement is to broaden students’ exposure to ways of thinking about how to understand diverse perspectives and more effectively interact with people from different cultures and backgrounds. This requirement is designed to provide students with the experiences needed to meet the following learning outcomes:

• Students will learn disciplinary theories and knowledge necessary to comprehend diverse social, cultural, and political perspectives.
• Students will develop the ability to understand, articulate, and critically analyze diverse social, cultural, and political perspectives including those that are not their own.
• Students will demonstrate critical awareness of how individual perspectives and biases influence ways of seeing the world.
• Students will gain knowledge of structural and cultural forces that shape discrimination based on factors such as race, ethnicity, language, religion, class, ability, nationality, sexuality or gender.
• Students will demonstrate the capacity to listen to and communicate respectfully with others of diverse perspectives.
• Students will explore and construct questions that reflect multiple perspectives to develop a complex understanding of the world.

All diversity courses are expected to meet the learning outcomes listed above. Courses that address DU are primarily (but not exclusively) focused on diversity within the US. Those that address DG are primarily (but not exclusively) focused on diversity outside of a US framework.

Rationale

Another major goal of the General Education Program is to insure that students develop an awareness of the world around them. An important component of such a curriculum is exposure to the world of nature. A well educated person should have some knowledge of the biological and physical sciences and the theories that have been developed to explain and understand in a coherent way the great diversity of nature. With the rapid advances in the sciences profoundly influencing all aspects of our lives, some knowledge of the sciences is advantageous for participation and survival in the modern world. Therefore in order that each student have some awareness of the sciences, a Biological and Physical Sciences requirement shall be of the General Education curriculum.

Within the Biological and Physical Sciences category, students will be required to take two courses, with one in a Biological science and one in a Physical science. The Biological science courses are those dealing with living organisms and their functions and activities; the Physical science courses deal with inanimate materials and processes. In borderline cases, such as some courses in biochemistry and molecular biology, assignment will be made after consultation. Each course will be assigned to one area of the other; no course may be assigned to both.

Since the sciences are based on facts from which theories are constructed and tested, the ideal is for each course to provide students with the opportunity to do experiments, make observations, record facts, and evaluate and interpret data. Therefore, at least one of the three courses taken to satisfy the Biological and Physical World Requirement must have a laboratory component associated with it.

Courses in this category of General Education should meet the following guidelines: 

1. they should not require other courses as prerequisites or require follow-up courses for an adequate grasp of the subject; 
2. they should include some historical material showing the evolution of the science and how its fundamental theories were formulated; 
3. they should illustrate the scientific method, giving some indication of the most fundamental facts and observations and how these are used to build general principles; and 
4. they should address the relevance of the science and its impact on society.

A third major goal of the General Education Program is to provide all students with some enhanced capacity for analytic reasoning. Increasingly, the world is full of numerical information that every educated person must learn to process, evaluate and understand. Without certain basic skills in quantitative or analytical reasoning, full participation in modern society is difficult; indeed, an adequate appreciation of the information content of a daily newspaper often requires certain numeracy skills.

To insure that all students possess these skills, graduation from the University of Massachusetts shall require: 

1. the demonstration of basic competence in college level mathematical reasoning; and 
2. one additional course in mathematical, analytic, quantitative, formal, or numerical reasoning. The basic competence requirement will be designated Tier I and the additional requirement Tier II.

Tier I

The Tier I basic math skills requirement (the “R1 requirement”) can be satisfied in either of two ways:

1. By passing the Tier I Exemption Examination offered by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
2. By passing a course bearing a Tier I (=R1) or Tier I/Tier II (=R1/R2) designation.

A course bearing the Tier I/Tier II designation can be used to satisfy both the Tier I and Tier II requirements simultaneously.

Courses eligible for the Tier I designation (either alone or in combination with the Tier II designation) are those that offer instruction in or presuppose prior knowledge of basic math skills. Advanced courses in mathematics or statistics are usually eligible for Tier I designation upon application to the General Education Council.

Entering students (transfer students included) are encouraged to take the Mathematics Placement Examination or an equivalent examination approved by the General Education Council. On the basis of the examination, students will be assigned to one of five levels of entering mathematical ability, with Level I indicating the highest level of entering mathematical ability and Level V the lowest.

For students who score at level IV or V on the Mathematics Placement Examination, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics recommends that they take either MATH 100 or MATH 101-102. Students who score at level III are ready for MATH 104, the one-semester version of MATH 101-102. Students who score at levels I or II are ready for calculus, and more detailed placement recommendations are available from the Department. Completion of any of these courses will satisfy the Tier I requirement.

The annual design, evaluation, scoring, and minimal competency criteria will be the responsibility of the General Education Council's Standing Subcommittee on the Analytical Reasoning Requirement.

Tier II

In addition to the demonstration of basic competence, as outlined above, graduation from the University requires an additional three-credit course at the 100-level or above in mathematical, quantitative, numerical, analytical, or formal reasoning.

Tier II courses may, but need not, be a 100-or-higher-level course in mathematics per se. Courses in formal logic, formal linguistics, computer programming or applications, statistics, quantitative research methods, data analysis, etc., can also be used to satisfy the Tier II requirement. In general, a course is deemed adequate to satisfy the Analytic Reasoning, Tier II requirement if it is demonstrably useful in: 

1. advancing a student's formal or mathematical reasoning skills beyond the level of basic competence, or 
2. increasing the student's sophistication as a consumer of numerical information, or 
3. providing computer literacy; or, of course, any combination of these. Normally, Tier II courses will also indicate something of the limits of formal, numerical, quantitative, or analytical reasoning, and will also discuss the potential for the abuse of numerical arguments.

In practice, most courses at the 100 level or higher in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, and most courses at the 100 level or higher in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, will satisfy the Tier II requirement. Many course offerings in departments other than MATH and COINS will also satisfy the requirement. Courses whose primary purpose is remediation of High School mathematics will not satisfy the Tier II Analytic Reasoning Requirement.

Transfer Provision: The Analytic Reasoning Requirement may be satisfied by transfer of credits for two or more courses which, if taken at UMass would satisfy the Tier II Requirements, and the Tier I Competency Requirement may be satisfied by transfer of one course which, if taken at UMass would satisfy the Tier II Requirement. In the latter case students must complete one Tier II course at UMass.