The College of Arts and Sciences has a general education requirement, or Core Curriculum, designed to provide a common base of knowledge, values, and skills essential to the education of each student, and upon which individual departments can build their specialized programs. The Core Curriculum is also intended to stimulate the student's curiosity in areas other than his/her chosen specialization and to provide the inspiration and foundation for further intellectual development.

The goals of the Core Curriculum are:

• To introduce the student to the common elements of the human heritage with special attention devoted to the richness and diversity of that heritage;
• To assist the student to reason effectively;
• To assist the student to develop a system of values that will serve as a guide for making ethical and moral decisions;
• To assist the student to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to communicate effectively;
• To introduce the student to concepts, methods and skills necessary to participate effectively and responsibly in society, as well as the skills to create a more humane society.

The faculty believes that in order to achieve these goals the Core Curriculum should include courses which contribute to the development of a student who has:

• the ability to write and speak effectively,
• the ability to reason effectively and to think both critically and creatively,
• the ability to respond to the basic questions of humanity and to develop a system of personal values,
• a familiarity with and an understanding of the past,
• an acquaintance with a foreign language,
• an appreciation of the arts and of literature,
• acquaintance with the scientific method,
• quantitative and computational skills and an acquaintance with the essential nature of mathematics,
• an understanding of the psychological, social, economic, and political forces which move and shape the world in which the student lives,
• acquaintance with concepts of the biological and physical sciences, and acquaintance with the principles of physical well-being and with the creative use of leisure time.

Therefore, a Core Curriculum has been established which requires that each degree program contains the following:

Core Curriculum

Course Semester Hours
African American Studies (any African American Studies 3-hour course)	3
English Composition	6
Fine Arts (any Art course (except ART 2500 ), Music course, MSCM 2580, SPCH 2400, or WRIT 1050)	3
Foreign Language*	6
Mathematics (completion of any 1000-level mathematics course offered by the Department of Mathematics)	3
Natural Science (including at least one semester hour of laboratory work)	6
Philosophy ***	6
Physical Education**	1
Social Sciences (two courses from any two of the following disciplines ECON: 1030, 2010, 2020; PSCI: 1010, 1020; PSYC: 1010; SOCI: 1010)	6
Speech Communication (SPCM 1010)	3
Theology***	6
World History (HIST 1030-1040)	6
World Literature (ENGL 2010)	3
Free Electives	8

* Six hours in one language (any foreign language or American Sign Language). See the Department of Languages description for placement options.

** To fulfill this requirement, students may elect to test-out by passing a physical education exercise (i.e., swimming, sports activities) or take a physical education activity course. Test-out courses fulfill the core curriculum physical education requirement but do not offer academic credit. If a student elects to test-out and fails, he or she may have a second try in the same or different sport. Should he or she fail the second time, he or she must take a physical education activity course.

*** Three semester hours must be taken at the introductory level, and three must be taken at an upper level. See the course listings in this catalog.