Far more than general education requirements, the courses in the Central Curriculum invite you to open your mind and think differently about yourself and the world around you.
Our curriculum, including our award-winning GO program, will help you be more aware of the creative, natural, societal and cultural forces that shape the world around you. And arm you with critical skills that will make you a valuable employee in today’s marketplace.
Courses
Courses in the Central Curriculum make up 40 percent of our graduation requirements, and they easily fit with all of our 100+ majors and minors.
The Central Curriculum contains five complementary sections:
Richness of Thought
Natural World
Human Interactions
Intellectual Skills
Connections
The range of courses is quite diverse, so you’ll have plenty of options to expand your knowledge and gain new perspectives.
Why add an interdisciplinary minor
Pursue an interest or enhance your major studies with an interdisciplinary minor. These minors combine courses from multiple departments to help you gain a better understanding of important topics in today’s world.
It’s easy to fit these flexible minors in with your other studies and our Central Curriculum requirements:
Offered to students participating in the London Program of the Sigmund Weis School of Business, this course provides knowledge and exposure to the art of theatre performance by utilizing the rich offerings of the theatre and other fine arts resources in London and England. 4 SH. CC: Artistic Expression.
Offered to students participating in the London Program of the Sigmund Weis School of Business, this course introduces students to the theories and principles of diversity by examining Great Britain as a case study in diversity. The course explores key aspects diversity in relation to, but not limited to, class, race, gender and sexuality. A key focus will be location-specific study of social and cultural diversity through student exploration of the role played by culture, ethnicity, class, race and gender in Britain’s past and in its contemporary life. This will involve exploring the opportunities and challenges faced by individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations in their engagement with issues of equality and social justice. Students will learn about contemporary British culture and they will be able to compare that culture with that of the United States. 4 SH. CC: Diversity.
This course provides an overview of theories and approaches common in the field of international studies. Students will grapple with what makes this field interdisciplinary and why that may prove critical in problem-solving on an international scale. Students are introduced to how and why the field draws from many different disciplines, such as economics, anthropology, health sciences, public planning, public policy, linguistics/language, history, political science, business, and the arts. Students begin a portfolio that includes course work, a CV, and an analysis of the interdisciplinary nature of international studies. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing. 4 SH. CC: Interdisciplinary, Diversity.
This course offers an insight into Japan’s unique culture and society through a survey of its history from ancient to modern times, its political and social transformations, its religious history, the development of its language, literature, and art forms, and its absorption and transformation of outside cultures and ideas. This course is a prerequisite for the A Window to Japan GO short program. 2 SH.
Students in this course will examine the disciplines of the natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, earth and space) together with related technologies. The course introduces students to science as a human activity with a long history and the following habits of mind: values and attitudes, computation and estimation, manipulation and observation, communication, and critical-response skills. Particular attention is given to the underlying themes of science: systems, models, constancy and change, and scale. Laboratories will be taught together with the lecture portion of the class. However, some laboratory experiences may be on Saturdays. Prerequisites: sophomore standing, completion of the Analytical Thought requirement, and either MUED-200 or EDUC-101. 4 SH. CC: Interdisciplinary, Scientific Explanations, Team Intensive
This course is designed for secondary education, modern language education, and music education students. Course instruction will be structured following principles of interdisciplinary instruction and inquiry-based learning. Required lab components are integrated with instruction. Students will analyze and apply their developing understanding of interdisciplinary instruction and inquiry-based learning in order to create original learning activities and lesson plans that incorporate concepts from their respective teaching disciplines. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing and completed the Central Curriculum Analytic Thought requirement and EDUC-101 or MUED-200
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The Senior Seminar in International Studies is the culmination and integration of the International Studies major, although it is also open to students majoring in Political Science and Public Policy. This class may count as the capstone experience for students majoring in all three programs. It provides students with the opportunity to research, write, and present a thesis on an approved. Students work closely with faculty members to formulate their theses and prepare both a research design and a final senior essay that implements that design. Students will also critically analyze others’ work. This course should be cross-listed with POLI-501. Prerequisites: POLI-205 Research Methods. 4SH. Capstone. CC: Writing Intensive.