The General Education Restructuring Project:

History

Reaccreditation Subcommittee: The Common Academic

ExperienceSenior Associate Provost Tom Rocklin and Associate

Dean Helena Dettmer, Co-chairsErin Cavanaugh, student member

Toni Clow, Director, NursingMeredith DeBoom, student member

Peter Hlebowitsh, Education, Chair, Teaching and Learning

Kelly Johnson, student member Len MacGillivray, Chemistry

Dennis Moore, Rhetoric John Nelson, Director, Honors

John Peters, Communication StudiesStephen Wieting, Sociology

The General Education Advisory Committee

Jim Cremer, DEO, Department of Computer SciencePat Folsom, Assistant Provost of Enrollment Services; Director, Academic

AdvisingDavid Gier, School of Music

Thomas Gioielli, student member, Department of PsychologyLisa Heineman, Department of History

Peter Hlebowitsh, College of Education; Chair, Teaching and LearningBeth Ingram, Associate Dean, Henry B. Tippie Undergraduate Program

Brooks Landon, Department of English; Director, General Education Literature Program

Dennis Moore, DEO, Department of RhetoricAlec Scranton, Associate Dean for Academic Programs, College of

Engineering Walter Seaman, Department of Mathematics

Caroline Tolbert, Department of Political ScienceHelena Dettmer, Associate Dean, Chair

Educational Policy CommitteeMary Adamek (Music)

Susan Birrell (Health & Sport Studies) Miriam Gilbert (English)

Anne Kvinge (student member)Mercedes Niño-Murcia (Spanish/Portuguese)

Mark Reagan (Geoscience) David Redlawsk (Political Science)

Alberto Maria Segre (Computer Science) Roumyana Slabakova (Linguistics)

Gary Small (Chemistry) with past members John Menninger (Biology),

Rex Honey (Geography), and Robert Ketterer (Classics)

General Education Curriculum CommitteePaula Kempchinsky, Spanish and Portuguese,

Chair of GECCKatherine Krick, student member

Philip Kutzko, Mathematics (for Fall 2008) Tong Li, Mathematics (on leave Fall 2008)Elizabeth Pelton, Health and Sport StudiesWayne Polyzou, Physics and Astronomy

Sonya Ryang, Anthropology Carol Severino, Rhetoric (for Fall 2008)

Mary Trachsel, Rhetoric (on leave Fall 2008)Pat Folsom, Liaison from Academic Advising Center

Miriam Gilbert, Liaison from EPC, English with Stephen Wieting, Sociology, past member

Current CLAS GE RequirementsRhetoric4-8 s.h. according to placement

Foreign Language Fourth-semester proficiency

Interpretation of LiteratureMinimum of 3 s.h.

Social SciencesMinimum of 3 s.h.

Historical PerspectivesMinimum of 3 s.h.

HumanitiesMinimum of 3 s.h.

Natural SciencesMinimum of 7 s.h. with at least one lab

Quantitative or Formal ReasoningMinimum of 3 s.h.

Distributed AreaMinimum of 6 s.h. with 3 s.h. taken from two different categories:

Cultural DiversityFine ArtsForeign Civilization and CultureHealth and Physical Activity Historical PerspectivesHumanitiesSocial Sciences

I Communication and Literacy Rhetoric

Interpretation of Literature World Languages

II Natural, Quantitative, and Social Sciences Natural Sciences Quantitative or Formal Reasoning Social Sciences

III Culture, Society, and the Arts Historical Perspectives International and Global Issues

Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts Values, Society, and Diversity

Comprehensive CriteriaThe General Education Program is designed to develop a

student's critical thinking, analysis, and communication abilities by the effective use of oral, written, visual, and research skills appropriate to the liberal arts and sciences.

Formal and informal opportunities for improving understanding, interpretation, and use of the various languages of the liberal arts and sciences, including mathematics, natural and social science methods, music and fine arts techniques, and new technologies of communication, are possibilities for satisfying the criteria for critical thinking, analysis, and communication.

General Education courses typically teach research and inquiry skills appropriate to the discipline of the course as an integral part of the course content.

International and Global IssuesCourses examine contemporary international or global issues, introducing students to the perspectives of other nations or cultures.

Outcomes•Students develop knowledge of one or more contemporary global or

international issue.•Students demonstrate a greater awareness of various perspectives

and a deeper appreciation of how differences arise. •Students are better able to adapt to the complexity and diversity of

contemporary life through their understanding of international and global contexts.

•Students know and are able to apply at least one method of analysis and critical inquiry.

Course Approval GuidelinesCourses in this area help students to understand contemporary issues from an international or global perspective by focusing predominately on countries or issues outside of the United States. Courses studying a single country or using a historical perspective must place the subject within a contemporary international or global context.

See report for additional information.

Literary, Visual, and Performing ArtsCourses in literary, visual, and performing arts provide opportunities for students to appreciate art, to analyze art in historical and theoretical context, and in some courses to create works of art or performances.

Outcomes• Students develop the analytic, expressive, and imaginative abilities needed

to understand and/or create art. • Students recognize constituent parts of an artwork and the processes of

artistic production. • Students recognize how aesthetic and critical meanings are attached to

artworks and to understand ways quality can be evaluated. • Students relate art to the broader human context (e.g. historical, social,

ethnic, economic, geographic) in which it is created, including, for example, how an artwork or form is linked to the artist’s culture and identity.

Course Approval GuidelinesLiterary, visual, and performing arts courses may focus on artistic processes or on analysis of finished works, whether created by professionals or by students themselves. Courses emphasizing processes will provide ample opportunity for students to engage actively in producing art; courses emphasizing analysis will give students ample experience applying one or more methods of research and critical inquiry.

See report for additional information

Values, Society, and DiversityCourses explore fundamental questions regarding human experience from a cultural, social, performative, philosophical, or spiritual perspective.

Outcomes• Students gain knowledge of at least one approach to

understanding human experience. • Students demonstrate a greater awareness of various perspectives

and a deeper appreciation of how differences arise. • Students consider and apply their knowledge in relation to their

own values and actions.• Students know and are able to apply at least one method of

analysis and critical inquiry.

Course Approval GuidelinesCourses focus on the ways individuals and cultures have interpreted and understood themselves, others, and the world, exploring value systems and expressions of human aspiration and belief. Courses may also interpret and examine culture, community, identity formation, and the human experience. Courses focusing on U.S. cultural diversity are especially encouraged

See report for additional information.