Examples of - Saint Mary's College



Examples of

General Education Programs

With

Unique Structures.

Antioch College

Evergreen State College

Grinnell College

Warren Wilson College

Antioch College General Education Requirements

derived from

The Connected Curriculum Overview

The Antioch educational model includes terms of both work and study. Each student will be required to complete 112 academic credits and three 12-credit co-op terms consisting of at least 15 weeks each. Co-op credits will be earned between the first and fourth year.

Antioch’s CONNECTED CURRICULUM is a system characterized by dynamic stages.

First-year Core Program – Immersion

Second-year – Exploration

Consisting of course offerings characterized by collaborative teaching and learning and two co-op experiences (Antioch’s academic year is composed of three 15-week trimesters)

Third-year – Individualized Focus

Finalizing individually guided major with faculty mentors and completing a third co-op experience.

Fourth-year – Application and Integration: Senior Capstone.

General Requirements

1. Two semesters in the Core program and/or coverage of the areas of inquiry within General Education (30 credits total – for sample Core courses, see below.

Students will be required to successfully complete two semesters of team-taught interdisciplinary courses that comprise the Core program. Within the Core, students need to be exposed to all four areas of inquiry: Arts, Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities. In the Core program, students will also develop competencies and be assessed for writing, critical thinking, and quantitative analysis.

2. Completion of 8 credits of “Place as Text” within the Co-op Communities

This course is designed to teach students how to engage with the world of work as “participant observers,” how to analyze and articulate their experience, and how to reflect. The seminar is tailored to the specific co-op community site, which enables students to learn about the local history, culture(s), environment and current issues. A professional seminar to teach students about conflict resolution and problem solving in the workplace may also be provided.

3. Completion of the individually guided major (all Antioch majors are self-designed as of the class entering in 2005)

4. Summer of Choice

After completing the fall semester of study in the third year and the third co-op during the following spring, students will have the opportunity to shape and carry out an individualized course of study called the Summer of Choice. This experience is developed under the guidance of the faculty mentor and may include the following options: 1) up to eight credits of on-line courses offered by faculty from Antioch College/University; 2) a self-designed co-op in the field related to the theme of the students’ individually guided major; 3) up to 16 semester credits of course work at Colleges and universities within the Eco-League consortium; 4) an immersion language program offered through programs sponsored by Antioch Education Abroad.

5. Senior seminar and Senior Project

In the fall of their final year, students are required to take a two- to four-credit interdisciplinary Senior Seminar. Within the seminar, students will engage with current topics relevant to their areas of focused study, learn skills that will enable them to pursue the demands of their senior project and write a senior project proposal.

In the spring of their final year, students must complete a four- to six-credit senior project that demonstrates and culminates their learning in the individually guided major. No more than eight total credits can be awarded to the Senior Seminar and Senior Project.

6. Cross-Cultural Experience

Each student will be required to complete one cross-cultural experience through either a co-op or study term. The cross-cultural experience is a planned and evaluated learning experience that places the student in an environment where learning is accomplished through active interaction with a different culture, either within the U. S. or abroad.

7. 4 credits Physical Education.

Sample Core Program Descriptions.

CORE 151: Embodied Mind/Thinking Body (16 credits)

This Core Program will explore the interconnectedness of the body and mind. Students will explore the workings of the senses through readings, discussions, labs, and movement/sensory-awareness exercises. We will investigate the ways in which the structures of the body and mind work together to shape our experience. How are the body and mind related? Is the mind something that is “in the head” or might it be possible to “think with the whole body”? How have different philosophical accounts of the body and mind shaped our understanding of ourselves? We will engage in various movement exercises that sharpen the senses, including our kinesthetic and propriaceptive senses. Through both lectures and laboratory experiments we will investigate the biological, chemical, and physiological bases of the human organism. Students will be expected to read material from a variety of related disciplines; and attend lectures, labs, and studio time. Study will culminate in individual and/or group projects and presentations.

CORE 173: Revolutions: Theory and Practice (16 credits)

Many events and “happenings” have been called revolutions or revolutionary over the millennia of human existence. Why? What common qualities do they possess that earn them that nomenclature? What is the relationship between theories of revolution and practices of revolution? Why refer to a paradigm shift in science or philosophy with similar language used to describe the Russian revolution or a cultural revolution or a revolution in communication? We’re going to address these questions, among others, as we explore the theory and practice of revolutions.

Evergreen State College General Education Requirements

derived from various parts of Evergreen’s website:

[Ed. note – Evergreen has no specific general education requirements, no set majors, and no grades, so the only requirements are those necessary to earn a B.A. or a B.S. The college provides structure for education through advising, the design of the individual offerings in the curriculum, and the prerequisites for those offerings that create a sequence for learning]

Graduation Requirements

Evergreen offers two undergraduate degrees: the bachelor of arts and the bachelor of science. Both degrees require a minimum of 180 quarter-hour college credits. Of the 180, 45 of the last 90 credits must be earned at Evergreen. The bachelor of science requires that 72 of the 180 credits must be credit equivalencies in the subject areas of science, computer science, or mathematics. Furthermore, 48 of those 72 credits must be upper-division work. Students pursuing either degree plan their own course of study in consultation with faculty and advisors. They may design their own area of academic concentration, proceed on an established academic pathway or explore a diverse array of liberal arts offerings.

Information on the Curriculum Structure

Modes [Contexts] of Study

Program

A full-time (16 credits), team-taught academic offering combining several subject areas under a central theme or question. Programs are 1 – 3 quarters in length and are organized into 5 levels: Core – All Freshmen, Lower Division – Freshmen & Sophomores, All Level – A mix of all classes, Intermediate – Sophomore and above, Upper Division – Juniors & Seniors.

Independent Study

Student-designed independent study options take the form of Independent Learning Contracts and Internship Learning Contracts. Contracts are for advanced study (usually Juniors & Seniors) and must be negotiated with and supervised by a faculty sponsor.

Evening & Weekend Studies

Half-time programs and single subject courses. This option is sometimes used by freshmen to supplement their full-time program. Freshmen considering this option should meet with an advisor to avoid credit overload.

Study Abroad

Study abroad can be incorporated into your Academic Plan through programs, exchanges and individual study. Study abroad requires advanced planning and Academic Advising assistance.

Core Programs

[Ed. note – The goals of general education that are met by structures of requirements in most programs are achieved at Evergreen through the skills that the Core Programs focus on: first-year students are guided towards these programs, though they may also enroll in Lower-Division Programs and All Level Programs.]

Core programs introduce you to Evergreen's interdisciplinary studies approach; you'll learn how to write more effectively, read more carefully, analyze arguments, reason both quantitatively and mathematically, work cooperatively in small groups and use campus resources such as the library. Core programs will introduce you to Evergreen's interdisciplinary studies, in which faculty members from different disciplines teach together to help you explore a central theme or topic and issue as a whole, rather than a collection of unrelated fragments. You will be exposed to the connection of artistic expression to social conditions, for example, or the relationship of biological facts to individual psychology. These integrated study programs combine several activities: seminars, individual conferences with faculty members, lectures, group work and, usually, field trips and laboratories. You will also learn the skills needed to design your own education.

Sample Core Programs

Sign, Symbol, Symptom: The Politics of Meaning

Fall and Winter quarters

Faculty: Rachel Hastings, Nancy Allen, Kathleen Eamon

Major areas of study include: literature, philosophy, linguistics and writing.

Class Standing: This Core program is designed for freshmen.

A word, a flag, a regional accent, a novel, a bumper sticker slogan, an emblem, a piece of art-we may find meaning in these things that extend well beyond the boundaries of their literal or direct significance in the world. How do these layers of meaning arise? How do they lead people to engage in impassioned debate or even violence over some issues of low material impact, while ignoring others which may be on the level of a national or global disaster? In this program, we will seek to understand the nature of meaning in language, literature and symbols. We will examine a series of contemporary social and political issues, for example marriage, immigration, hate speech, the English Only movement, and more, with the goal of understanding how objects, debates, images, and words can gain significance that exceed their immediate real-world impact.

We will use several approaches in our investigation of meaning as it relates to the framing of prominent social issues. We will use literature to familiarize ourselves with the individuals caught up in the situations we're studying, to arouse empathy with them. Furthermore, we will consider the ways literature complements, journalistic or private responses to social injustice. We will look at linguistic theories of semantics and pragmatics, which seek to uncover the properties of language as well as context that contribute to the overall meaning of an expression. We will also investigate communication through signs and symbols, analyzing the extent to which meaning is basic to the symbol itself, versus independent of the symbol and attributable to the experience and mind of the interpreter. These approaches to meaning are linked to the broader question of the arena in which dialogues take place, and who gets to participate in framing issues to the broader public.

In the course of our investigations, we will read authors ranging from Jane Austen to Immanuel Kant to Noam Chomsky to Gloria Anzaldua. We will read newspapers and novels, examine advertisements and bumper stickers, and watch films in our search to understand the sources of meaning. Our class discussions will explore links between abstract concepts and concrete effects, and in our activities we will explore ways to link theory to practice. While on the theoretical end we will focus on sorting out the elements of meaning that shape our positions on matters of current debate, on the practical end students will be encouraged to engage mindfully in individual community work projects.

Total: 16 credits each quarter.

Enrollment: 60 (F), 46 (W)

Program is preparatory for careers and future studies in: the humanities and social sciences such as literature, philosophy, linguistics and writing.

Understanding Species

Fall quarter

Faculty: John T. Longino, Heather Heying

Class Standing: This Core program is designed for freshmen.

Major areas of study include: introductory biology, introductory probability and statistics and writing.

What is a species? Species are the fundamental particle to ecologists, the entities around which models are built, theories tested and conservation laws enacted. Yet evolutionary biologists have never agreed on a single definition of species and may even question their existence. We will explore both the theory of species concepts and the practice of identifying species of vertebrates and insects. Readings and lectures will cover introductory concepts in genetics and development, taxonomy and systematics and the evolutionary biology of diversity. Current biodiversity is a function of both speciation and extinction rates, so we will investigate both the origin of species, and the death of species as well. We will also discuss non-Western views of species and the relationship of species discovery to colonial history.

To identify species is to make decisions about patterns of variation, so workshops will emphasize the scientific process, basic descriptive statistics and probability. On-campus field work and a five-day field trip to eastern Washington will emphasize the identification of terrestrial vertebrates and the diverse habitats in which they live. We will also continue a long-term project to assess and monitor the diversity of ground beetles on the Evergreen campus. Evaluation will be based on lab practicals, exams, written assignments and a field journal.

Total: 16 credits.

Enrollment: 46

Special Expenses: Approximately $90 for a five-day field trip to eastern Washington, to be paid by September 29, 2006.

Program is preparatory for: careers and future studies in vertebrate biology, entomology, field biology, ecology and evolutionary biology, education and environmental sciences.

Grinnell College General Education Requirements

derived from

Education in the Liberal Arts

A liberal arts education has at its center four practices that distinguish it from other kinds of learning: critical thinking, examination of life, encounters with difference, and free exchange of ideas. By offering an education in the liberal arts, Grinnell College asserts the importance of lifelong learning characterized by sustained intellectual curiosity and an open mind for assessing the unfamiliar. At the same time, by using critical thinking to identify assumptions, to test logic, to evaluate evidence, to reason correctly, and to take responsibility for the conclusions and actions that result, a student of the liberal arts can grow personally as well as intellectually. A liberally educated person should be capable of principled judgment, seeking to understand the origins, context, and implications of any area of study, rather than looking exclusively at its application. A liberally educated person should also be skilled at solving problems, drawing together multiple perspectives in the creation of new knowledge.

In the Grinnell College curriculum, the only requirements for graduation are completion of a First-Year Tutorial, 124 credits, and the academic major. This flexibility places significant responsibility on each student to design a coherent and compelling course of study, in conversation with a faculty adviser. Each student declares an academic major at some point during the first four semesters of enrollment. In consultation with an adviser, the student plans a comprehensive program that can incorporate options such as mentored research, off-campus study, teaching certification, an internship, or an interdisciplinary concentration.

What should the liberally educated person know? While each discipline in a liberal arts curriculum has its own rationale and purpose, the heterogeneity of good critical thinking and the free exchange of ideas militate against any single answer to this question. However, as each student works to create a personal definition in the form of the academic plan, the principles outlined below, articulated by the Grinnell College faculty, may serve as a useful guide.

Guide 1: Elements of a Liberal Education

Grinnell faculty members have articulated six areas of study in the current curriculum that are important elements of a liberal education. Students should review this list for guidance as they consider their curricular plans: 



1) Nothing enhances the expression of knowledge better than engaging, clear, and accurate language. Reading closely, thinking clearly, and writing effectively form a web of connected skills, whether practiced in the First-Year Tutorial, in the Writing Lab, in designated writing courses, or in courses ranging from the introductory to the advanced level in almost every discipline.


2) Study of a language other than one's own opens the mind to new ways of thinking.

3) An education in the natural sciences--biology, chemistry, physics, and psychology--introduces techniques of observation and experimentation, the relation of data to hypotheses, and the practice of scientific reasoning. This work trains the mind to relate concrete empirical information to abstract models, stimulating multidimensional and creative habits of thought. 



4) Quantitative reasoning, with emphasis on mathematical models and methods above the secondary-school level, aids in the expression of hypotheses, processes, and theoretical relations. A course in statistics can be helpful for all students, and particularly for those who might work in the social and behavioral sciences. Studies in computer science offer valuable exposure to principles of logic and problem-solving paradigms. 


5) The study of human behavior and society leads students to investigate their own identities and to gain insight into social categories and relations. Faculty advisers often urge students to take a sustained look at the history of a specific society, and also to examine a contemporary society (or a segment of it) that is unfamiliar. In light of these encounters, students learn to make and evaluate their own political and ethical choices.

6) Students enlarge their understanding of the liberal arts through the study of creative expression. In the analysis of creative works, whether through historical survey of forms, aesthetic theory, or interpretive practice, the arts occupy the foreground, though knowledge of history and society may inform the analysis. In this way, courses in literature, music, theatre, dance, and the visual arts complement studies in anthropology, history, philosophy, religious studies, and other fields. Students also benefit from learning, through direct instruction in artistic or literary technique, the intense discipline of art and its interplay between conscious intent and unconscious design.

Guide 2: The First Year

Every first-year student at Grinnell enrolls in the First-Year Tutorial, a small group of students working with a faculty member to study a subject of interest to both students and tutor. The tutor also is the academic adviser for each student in the group, so that teaching and learning are closely linked with the planning of programs of study. In teaching, the tutor discovers the aptitudes and interests of the students, who in turn receive academic advice, not from an infrequently consulted stranger, but from a teacher who sees them several times each week. In planning a program of study, the student and the tutor balance the cultivation of existing interests with the discovery of new ones. An entering student should regard the first year as a time for gaining breadth in the arts and sciences, confidence in exploring a variety of disciplines, and a more mature understanding of the place of each of these in liberal education as a whole. The following guidelines are helpful in realizing these objectives during the first year.

1. The student should develop his or her command of written English, not only in the tutorial but in at least one other suitable course as well.

2. The student should develop his or her knowledge of mathematics, a foreign language, or both.

3. The student should take courses in each of the three main divisions of the curriculum--humanities, science, and social studies--and should take no more than two full courses in any one division in any semester.

Warren Wilson College General Education Requirements

derived from

Triad Education Program Requirements

Academics, Work, and Service

All students must complete the Warren Wilson College Triad Education Program.

I. Academics

1. The First-Year Seminar 4 credit hours All new first-year students, and many transfer students with less than one full year of college study, must enroll in a First-Year Seminar during the first term or semester at Warren Wilson College. The student is assigned an academic advisor until a major advisor is determined. The seminar consists of a small group of students and is designed to provide a stimulating beginning for collegiate study. Seminars are offered in many different subjects, introducing the student to Warren Wilson collegiate life, and to strategies for learning, problem solving, and research, using resources of the College and the immediate area.

2. College Composition I and II 8 credit hours All students must demonstrate competency in college composition by successfully completing the course WRI 120 College Composition I and a Composition II course offered through one of the academic departments. Students must enroll in WRI 120 in their first year and a College Composition II course in their second or third year.

College Composition I 
Students develop their thinking through writing expository prose. They work toward improved organization and clarity by writing multiple drafts of their assignments and participating in peer reviews. Students practice locating, integrating, and citing primary or secondary source material in their writing, and they learn to edit their own writing, checking for correct usage, mechanics, spelling, and punctuation.

College Composition II - See also courses of instruction 
Students complete several writing assignments that encourage them to improve their writing skills and discover the specific demands of writing in this discipline. They learn approaches to research and documentation as they are practiced in this academic field, and they are given some exposure to the professional literature of the discipline.

3. Liberal Arts Area Courses 32 credit hours 
At least one 4-credit course is required in each of the following academic areas. Liberal arts area course requirements are normally completed within the first two years of study.

4. Artistic Expression: 
All courses designated Art (ART), Music (MUS), Theatre (THR), and Creative Writing (WRI) that involve participation in the arts.

5. History and Political Science: 
All four-credit courses at the 100, 200, or 300 level designated History (HIS) or Political Science (PSC).

6. Language and Global Issues: 
Courses designated Language (LAN) and selected courses in History (HIS), Political Science (PSC), Global Studies (GBL), Peace Studies (PAX), Environmental Studies (ENS), Philosophy (PHI), and others.

7. Literature: 
Literature courses designated English (ENG), selected Theatre (THR), and Language (LAN).

8. Mathematics: 
ALL courses designated Mathematics (MAT) or score of 3 or higher on a Mathematics or Computer Science Advanced Placement Examination

9. Natural Science: 
All courses designated Biology (BIO), Chemistry (CHM), and Physics (PHY).

10. Philosophy and Religious Studies: 
All courses designated Philosophy (PHI) and Religious Studies (REL).

11. Social Science: 
Most courses designated Anthropology (ANT), Economics (ECO), Psychology (PSY), Sociology (SOC), Women's Studies (WMS), and selected Social Work (SOW) courses.

II. Work Requirement

All resident students are required to work 480 hours per academic year. This is usually accomplished by working 15 hours per week.

The Learning Experience

It is recommended that each student work on at least two different types of crews while attending Warren Wilson College.

Students at Warren Wilson do not simply "work." The students, in fact, provide the essential work force to operate the College. Students must consider early in their educational careers the most productive ways to combine work, academic classes, and community service.

Students receive regular evaluations describing their performance level on their crews. The evaluations may be used as a measure of performance as graded by the supervisor. Supervisors are also evaluated by the student work force.

III. Service Project Requirement

Each student must complete 100 hours of community service with an approved agency, at least 25 hours of which has been earned through an "extended project" related to a single issue area.

Of the total, 60 hours must be completed before registration for the student's senior year near the end of the junior year.

The Extended Project and Extended Project Reflection

The 25 hours or more are spent focused on a single issue.

The student's reflection is expected to demonstrate understanding of the underlying causes of the problem addressed, to offer long-term solutions, and/or to comment on the insights obtained through the service. This reflection component may be completed through a written reflection paper of a minimum of 800 words or through a pre-approved oral extended project presentation to the campus community or to a community non-profit organization. Students are encouraged to present their experiences to the campus community.

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