last updated: 08/07/2008

FOR STUDENTS MATRICULATING IN FALL 2007 AND LATER

• View Page 66, of the 2008-2010 Course Catalog.

FOR STUDENTS MATRICULATING PRIOR TO FALL 2007

Eastern Connecticut State University's General Education Requirements (GER) provide experiences that enlighten and deepen appreciation of all areas of inquiry. As such, their ultimate goal is to prepare students for a lifetime of self-education, while, in the short-term, providing the foundation for all programs of study leading to the baccalaureate degree. In accord with the University's commitment to offering a quality undergraduate education, the GER stresses study in the arts and sciences, which enables the students to integrate knowledge from different disciplines. The liberal studies focus of the GER prepares students for the challenges of an examined life, and instills a capacity to adapt to change and to make informed and responsible choices. Programs of study within the majors, in turn, are designed to provide opportunities for in-depth, sequential learning that will cultivate more sophisticated levels of understanding and encourage creativity and synthesis.

As a whole, courses in the GER aim to help students gain an awareness of the various methods of inquiring and knowing; enhance their abilities to research and to communicate; learn ways to think critically, imaginatively, and analytically; develop an understanding of diverse cultures and societies; appreciate the sense in which the past illuminates the present; and respond sensitively to human achievement and creativity. While all courses offered at Eastern should share at least some of the above characteristics, the specific courses which satisfy the GER have been so identified because their primary objective is to promote the development of some or all of the above.

The more specific goals for each area of GER study and the courses that fulfill those areas are provided below.

I. INTERDISCIPLINARY

The interdisciplinary courses help students acquire the ability to think logically, to respond sensitively to the finest creative achievements of the human imagination, and to comprehend traditions of many cultures. This category is distinctive in its emphasis on integration and the development of perspectives that are not constrained by disciplinary/subdisciplinary boundaries.

A. Inquiry and Analysis: 3 credits

The courses in this category help students understand how knowledge is acquired and evaluated in a variety of disciplines. Courses address one or several of the following: informed decision-making in the face of conflicting evidence; the recognition of personal and methodological bias; and the collection and analysis of qualitative and/or quantitative data. The courses emphasize the process of inquiry rather than the memorization of material and computational techniques.

B. Aesthetic Awareness: 3 credits

This area of study develops an appreciation of diverse forms of artistic expression, an understanding of relationships among those forms, and a recognition that art forms reflect specific cultures, societies, and individuals.

C. Cultural Traditions

This category reflects respect for the diversity and complexity of human communities. The courses within this category provide a broad understanding of the evolution, values, and expressions of world cultures. Courses in Section 1 focus on the history, society, art, and ideas of European cultures without emphasizing any narrow ethnic or national group; those in Section 2 focus on the history, society, art, and ideas of other cultures including those of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

II. HUMANITIES

These courses encourage students to appreciate and value human creativity; they encourage resourcefulness, imagination, and tolerance in understanding creative expression.

A. Literature: 3 credits

The courses fulfilling this requirement teach students how to read literary works closely, analytically, and imaginatively, yet with skepticism. Further, they help students understand how diverse human values, experiences, and perception are explored in the literary arts.

B. Fine Arts: 3 credits

The arts are a two-sided endeavor. As such, the courses in this category focus either on the artist and the skills, techniques, and perceptions which he or she must hone in order to create art, or on the role of the audience as an active participant in artistic expression. An informed audience is as necessary to good art as talented practitioners of the disciplines themselves. Students satisfy this category by selecting a course from one of these perspectives, either the artist's or that of the audience.

Artist Perspective: These courses require the student to DO art in order to appreciate how an artist approaches the task of creation. No prior experience is required for any of the following courses.

Audience Perspective: The courses listed below seek to help students understand their role as audience members: what are they expected to see or look for, what kind of responses are legitimate, and why are some opinions more valued than others. These courses will also heighten student awareness of the important contribution that active audience response makes to the discourse.

III. SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

These courses help students understand scientific thought or quantitative reasoning as a process and as a perspective through which the world is viewed.

A. Mathematics: 3 credits

Courses designed to satisfy the mathematics requirements emphasize problem-solving and the application of quantitative reasoning in diverse contexts. The mathematics requirement may be met by passing one of the following courses:

B. Natural Sciences: 7 credits

These courses are designed to increase the student's capacity to approach scientific material intelligently, to understand the interrelation of science and human affairs, to appreciate the basic principles underlying the physical and the biological world, and to consider how scientists have developed and validated these principles. At least one of the two courses must include a laboratory experience. The science laboratory provides students with hands-on experience in making observations and collecting, analyzing, and interpreting scientific data.

IV. SOCIAL SCIENCES

These courses inform students of the methods of various social sciences, reveal the diversity of human experience, and encourage examination of social structures and social forces.

A. Society and the Individual: 6 credits

Students are to take two courses to fulfill this category. The courses, while introducing the techniques of the particular social science, instill an understanding of the dynamic and complex relationships of individuals and their communities.

B. Economics, Political Science, Geography: 3 credits

The courses fulfilling this category provide an awareness of methodology of a particular social science. The emphasis in such courses is on examination of those systems and forces that help shape human affairs: economic, political, geographic or demographic.

V. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

A. Writing Competency Requirements: 3 credits

1. All students are required to earn three credits in an introductory college writing course.

2. Writing Competency (WRT 050) (See University Writing Program)

3. Writing Intensive Course appropriate for major (WRT 075) (See University Writing Program)

B. Health and Physical Education Requirements: 3 credits

In fulfilling this requirement, students are encouraged to develop a physically active way of life. Students will develop positive attitudes regarding vigorous physical activity to enrich the quality of their lives. Students must choose one of the following options:

For course descriptions of the HPE Activity Courses that meet the GER, see pages 264-266 of the Course catalog 2006-2008

C. Computer Competency Requirements 3 credits

The courses fulfilling this requirement help students utilize computers effectively. Those demonstrating computer competency may be exempted from this requirement.

ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES

1. Deadline for General Education Requirements in Writing and Mathematics for Full-Time Matriculated Students

All developmental mathematics courses, the mathematics general education requirement, and the freshman level writing requirement must be completed within the student's first 30 credits. Students must satisfy any prerequisite before proceeding with subsequent requirements. Students failing in any of these courses in any given semester, must take the course again the following semester. If a student fails to complete such courses within the first 30 credits and has completed 12 credits in residence, the student will not be allowed to register for additional courses unless his/her registration includes the required mathematics and/or freshman writing course.

2. GER Course Used in Major, Minor

Any GER listed course can be used to meet both the GER requirements and a department's major or minor requirements, as long as it does not carry the same disciplinary designation as the student's major or minor. Also, majors and minors have exemptions from specific GER areas. See individual majors and minors for details.

3. Transfer Students

For transfer students entering Eastern with 60 or more credits, the following requirements are waived:

4. HPE Requirements

Students who are 25 years or older at the time of their admission to the University or who present evidence to Health Services of an appropriate medical reason are exempt from the Health and Physical Education Requirement.

University Writing Program

Rita Malenczyk, Director

Eastern Connecticut State University's writing-across-the-curriculum program is designed to help students 1) learn how writing shapes and aids thinking; 2) understand the cultures and conventions of their disciplines; and 3) become better, more confident writers.

University Writing Requirements

After writing an initial placement essay, students entering Eastern with fewer than 75 transfer credits must complete the following requirements:

Stage 1. ENG 100, College Writing (3 credits), or ENG 100P, College Writing Plus (5 credits). Your placement essay will determine which of these courses you need to take.

Stage 2. After you pass ENG 100 or ENG 100P, you are required to demonstrate your continuing competency in writing (WRT 050 on your degree evaluation) in one of three ways:

a. Submitting a portfolio of papers written for 200- or 300-level courses

b. Passing the Writing Competency exam

c. Passing ART 225, ENG 200, ENG 203, HIS 200, HON 200 or PSC 210 with a "B" or better, or receiving Writing Competency credit in BIO 221 or BIO 234

More details about these options are available in the English Department office, Webb Hall, Room 225.

Passing Stage 2 is a pre-requisite for Stage 3.

Stage 3. A Writing-Intensive Course in Your Major (WRT 075 on your degree evaluation) The final writing requirement for graduation is a 300- or 400-level writing-intensive course designated for your major. To learn which courses are designated for your major, check the list in the registration booklet each semester.