Common Curriculum Outcomes

First-Year Seminar (4 credits)

  • demonstrate what it means to be an active member of an intellectual community by meeting rigorous academic expectations through critical reading, discussion, research and/or writing;
  • practice newly acquired skills in an active learning environment where writing, performing, laboratory experiments, quantitative analyses or other forms of experiential and/or creative activities will shape the goals and activities of the seminar

Rhetoric and Writing (8 credits)

  • analyze strategies used in a variety of rhetorical situations and employ those principles in their own writings and communications;
  • analyze research and writing strategies used in a range of academic traditions and use those strategies in their own writings;
  • adapt, to specific situations, a strong repertory of writing processes, including generating, shaping, revising, editing, proofreading and working with other writers.

Language (4-12 credits)

  • based on writing samples at the start and end of the first year of language, students will demonstrate increased proficiency in a language of choice in a specific skill (e.g., writing, speaking, listening or reading);
  • demonstrate proficiency in learning about a culture as embodied in a skill (e.g., writing, speaking, listening or reading) in a language of choice.

 

The Natural & Physical World

Society & Culture

Ways of Knowing: Analytical Inquiry

(4 credits)

  • apply formal reasoning, mathematics or computational science approaches to problem solving within mathematics or computational science, and other disciplines;
  • understand and communicate connections between different areas of logic, mathematics or computational science, or their relevance to other disciplines;
  • communicate formalisms in logic, mathematics or computing sciences.

(8 credits)

  • demonstrate the ability to create or interpret the texts, ideas or artifacts of human culture;
  • identify and analyze the connections between texts, ideas or cultural artifacts and the human experience and/or perception of the world.

Ways of Knowing: Scientific Inquiry

(12 credits)

  • apply knowledge of scientific practice to evaluate evidence for scientific claims;
  • demonstrate an understanding of science as an iterative process of knowledge generation with inherit strengths and limitations;
  • demonstrate skills for using and interpreting qualitative and quantitative information.

(8 credits)

  • describe basic principles of human functioning and conduct in social and cultural contexts;
  • describe and explain how social scientific methods are used to understand these underlying principles.

Advanced Seminar (4 credits)

  • integrate and apply knowledge and skills gained from Common Curriculum courses to new settings and complex problems;
  • write effectively, providing appropriate evidence and reasoning for assertions.