Curriculum Areas

Students are required to complete courses in five General Education curriculum areas. Each curriculum area has different designations for different kinds of courses:

• Basic Math and Analytic Reasoning has two designations: R1 and R2
• Biological and Physical World has two designations: BS (Biological Science) and PS (Physical Science)
• Social and Cultural Diversity has two designations: U (Diversity: United States) and G (Diversity: Global). These courses may stand alone or be combined with those in the Social World, or Interdisciplinary, or Science Interdisciplinary (for example, ALG, HSU, IU, SIG)
• Social World has four designations: AL (Literature), AT (Arts), HS (Historical Sciences), and SB (Social and Behavioral Sciences)
• Writing

Courses may also be designated I (Interdisciplinary) or SI (Science Interdisciplinary).

Faculty may design courses in all of these curriculum areas except Writing, and may also design Interdisciplinary and Science Interdisciplinary courses that engage the intersection of these areas.

Undergraduates may satisfy the Writing Requirement only through completion of a Freshmen writing course, such as Basic Writing or College Writing. These courses are administered by the Writing Program. Faculty may design Junior Year Writing courses within their department. Junior Year Writing is required of all students, but it is technically a requirement of the student’s major. For further information on the Freshman or Junior Year requirements, or for resources available to instructors, please consult the Writing Program.

Consult Planning Your Gen Ed Experience within the For Students section for more information on the distribution of courses in Gen Ed.

In preparing a syllabus for formal approval, a faculty member must first determine the designation for the proposed course. For representative syllabi, click on a specific curriculum area above.

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