The General Education Restructuring Project: History

Reaccreditation Subcommittee: The Common Academic Experience Senior Associate Provost Tom Rocklin and Associate Dean Helena Dettmer, Co-chairs Erin Cavanaugh, student member Toni Clow, Director, Nursing Meredith DeBoom, student member Peter Hlebowitsh, Education, Chair, Teaching and Learning Kelly Johnson, student member Len MacGillivray, Chemistry Dennis Moore, Rhetoric John Nelson, Director, Honors John Peters, Communication Studies Stephen Wieting, Sociology

The General Education Advisory Committee Jim Cremer, DEO, Department of Computer Science Pat Folsom, Assistant Provost of Enrollment Services; Director, Academic Advising David Gier, School of Music Thomas Gioielli, student member, Department of Psychology Lisa Heineman, Department of History Peter Hlebowitsh, College of Education; Chair, Teaching and Learning Beth Ingram, Associate Dean, Henry B. Tippie Undergraduate Program Brooks Landon, Department of English; Director, General Education Literature Program Dennis Moore, DEO, Department of Rhetoric Alec Scranton, Associate Dean for Academic Programs, College of Engineering Walter Seaman, Department of Mathematics Caroline Tolbert, Department of Political Science Helena Dettmer, Associate Dean, Chair

Educational Policy Committee Mary Adamek (Music) Susan Birrell (Health & Sport Studies) Miriam Gilbert (English) Anne Kvinge (student member) Mercedes Niño-Murcia (Spanish/Portuguese) Mark Reagan (Geoscience) David Redlawsk (Political Science) Alberto Maria Segre (Computer Science) Roumyana Slabakova (Linguistics) Gary Small (Chemistry) with past members John Menninger (Biology), Rex Honey (Geography), and Robert Ketterer (Classics)

General Education Curriculum Committee Paula Kempchinsky, Spanish and Portuguese, Chair of GECC Katherine Krick, student member Philip Kutzko, Mathematics (for Fall 2008) Tong Li, Mathematics (on leave Fall 2008) Elizabeth Pelton, Health and Sport Studies Wayne Polyzou, Physics and Astronomy Sonya Ryang, Anthropology Carol Severino, Rhetoric (for Fall 2008) Mary Trachsel, Rhetoric (on leave Fall 2008) Pat Folsom, Liaison from Academic Advising Center Miriam Gilbert, Liaison from EPC, English with Stephen Wieting, Sociology, past member

Current CLAS GE Requirements Rhetoric 4-8 s.h. according to placement Foreign Language Fourth-semester proficiency Interpretation of Literature Minimum of 3 s.h. Social Sciences Minimum of 3 s.h. Historical Perspectives Minimum of 3 s.h. Humanities Minimum of 3 s.h. Natural Sciences Minimum of 7 s.h. with at least one lab Quantitative or Formal Reasoning Minimum of 3 s.h. Distributed Area Minimum of 6 s.h. with 3 s.h. taken from two different categories: Cultural Diversity Fine Arts Foreign Civilization and Culture Health and Physical Activity Historical Perspectives Humanities Social Sciences

I Communication and Literacy  Rhetoric  Interpretation of Literature  World Languages II Natural, Quantitative, and Social Sciences  Natural Sciences  Quantitative or Formal Reasoning  Social Sciences III Culture, Society, and the Arts  Historical Perspectives  International and Global Issues  Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts  Values, Society, and Diversity

Comprehensive Criteria The General Education Program is designed to develop a student's critical thinking, analysis, and communication abilities by the effective use of oral, written, visual, and research skills appropriate to the liberal arts and sciences. Formal and informal opportunities for improving understanding, interpretation, and use of the various languages of the liberal arts and sciences, including mathematics, natural and social science methods, music and fine arts techniques, and new technologies of communication, are possibilities for satisfying the criteria for critical thinking, analysis, and communication. General Education courses typically teach research and inquiry skills appropriate to the discipline of the course as an integral part of the course content.

International and Global Issues Courses examine contemporary international or global issues, introducing students to the perspectives of other nations or cultures. Outcomes Students develop knowledge of one or more contemporary global or international issue. Students demonstrate a greater awareness of various perspectives and a deeper appreciation of how differences arise. Students are better able to adapt to the complexity and diversity of contemporary life through their understanding of international and global contexts. Students know and are able to apply at least one method of analysis and critical inquiry. Course Approval Guidelines Courses in this area help students to understand contemporary issues from an international or global perspective by focusing predominately on countries or issues outside of the United States. Courses studying a single country or using a historical perspective must place the subject within a contemporary international or global context. See report for additional information.

Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts Courses in literary, visual, and performing arts provide opportunities for students to appreciate art, to analyze art in historical and theoretical context, and in some courses to create works of art or performances. Outcomes Students develop the analytic, expressive, and imaginative abilities needed to understand and/or create art. Students recognize constituent parts of an artwork and the processes of artistic production. Students recognize how aesthetic and critical meanings are attached to artworks and to understand ways quality can be evaluated. Students relate art to the broader human context (e.g. historical, social, ethnic, economic, geographic) in which it is created, including, for example, how an artwork or form is linked to the artist’s culture and identity. Course Approval Guidelines Literary, visual, and performing arts courses may focus on artistic processes or on analysis of finished works, whether created by professionals or by students themselves. Courses emphasizing processes will provide ample opportunity for students to engage actively in producing art; courses emphasizing analysis will give students ample experience applying one or more methods of research and critical inquiry. See report for additional information

Values, Society, and Diversity Courses explore fundamental questions regarding human experience from a cultural, social, performative, philosophical, or spiritual perspective. Outcomes Students gain knowledge of at least one approach to understanding human experience. Students demonstrate a greater awareness of various perspectives and a deeper appreciation of how differences arise. Students consider and apply their knowledge in relation to their own values and actions. Students know and are able to apply at least one method of analysis and critical inquiry. Course Approval Guidelines Courses focus on the ways individuals and cultures have interpreted and understood themselves, others, and the world, exploring value systems and expressions of human aspiration and belief. Courses may also interpret and examine culture, community, identity formation, and the human experience. Courses focusing on U.S. cultural diversity are especially encouraged See report for additional information.