Arts & Humanities
Students will take 6 credits for the Arts and Humanities requirement. Individual school or college curricula may specify that the requirements should be distributed across three subcategories in particular ways.
Arts (AH1)
Arts focus on the understanding, analysis, and production of creative works in a variety of forms, including dance, multimedia, music, theater, visual arts, and creative writing, among others. (The analysis and interpretation of literary works is covered in the separate AH2: Literature requirement.) While some classes focus on the development of artistic practices within specific forms and genres, others use critical theories to examine the meanings, cultural contexts, and historical development of artistic works. Together they enable students to recognize different artistic traditions, examine individual art works closely using appropriate methods, express their creativity through the rigorous practice of a particular artistic mode, and think critically about artistic works as they relate to different aspects of society and history, including the examination of practices and problems.
Literature (AH2)
Literature focuses on the understanding and analysis of creative literary works. Classes use critical theories to examine the meanings, cultural contexts, and historical development of literary works. They enable students to recognize different literary traditions, examine individual literary works closely using appropriate methods, and think critically about literary works as they relate to different aspects of society and history, including the examination of practices and problems.
Humanities (AH3)
The humanities involve the study of past and present human thought about the way the world works and how people should behave, exploring big questions with which human cultures have grappled for centuries. The study of the humanities helps students to understand what it means to be human and how the past has shaped the present, building skills in using primary source evidence to construct rational arguments, and expanding capacity to empathize with other people.
Social Sciences
Students will take 6 credits for the Social Science requirement, to be fulfilled by taking approved courses with the Social Science (S1) designation.
The social sciences focus on how individuals, groups, and institutions affect and interact with each other. Through systematic investigation, social scientists generate explanatory frameworks for understanding human behavior, action, and social practices. Studying social science prepares students to examine past and present social problems; to think critically about individual, local, regional, and global contexts; and to improve societal well-being.
Natural Sciences
Students will take 6 credits for the Natural Science requirement, to be fulfilled by taking either N1 or N2 approved courses. Colleges and Schools may implement specific requirements or pathways to fulfilling these requirements.
In natural sciences courses, students become familiar with scientific thought, observation, experimentation, and formal hypothesis testing. They develop the skills necessary to make informed judgments about scientific information and arguments related to the natural world. Students also gain the ability to assess the impacts of our expanding scientific knowledge and technology on the diversity of life on Earth, and the quality of life for our own species. All courses provide experiences with the methods of scientific inquiry used to develop new knowledge about the natural world.
N1 courses do not include a lab. N2 courses have a laboratory component.
Natural Science without Lab (N1)
Pure Mathematics
Students will take 3 credits to fulfill the Pure Mathematics Requirement, in courses approved as MA courses.
Familiarity with the language and concepts of mathematics fosters a full appreciation of our world, and is an integral component of the Liberal Arts; the phrase “Math is Everywhere” is true only to the extent that one knows where and how to look. The courses fulfilling this requirement help guide students in developing conceptual understanding of mathematics through engagement with the language of mathematics and processes of mathematical operations. In addition to illustrating the universality and beauty of mathematics, these courses will give students practice in constructing and critiquing arguments through mathematics.