Nov 23, 2024  
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

General Education Requirements

Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education Requirements

Consistent with its heritage since its founding in 1770, the College of Charleston retains a strong liberal arts undergraduate general education curriculum. The Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education requirement serves all students, regardless of major, and assures that students are exposed to a breadth of intellectual inquiry distributed across seven areas of the curriculum: History, Humanities, Mathematics and Logic, Foreign Language, Natural Science, Social Science, and Writing.  The general education program emphasizes acquisition of knowledge, communication and languages, analysis, explanation and problem-solving.  Faculty have defined specific learning outcomes for each of the distribution areas. The fields of knowledge reflected in the College’s seven general education distribution areas draw nearly equally from two dominant models: the mid-twentieth century “core distribution areas” (humanities, social science, natural science, and later mathematics) and the “traditional liberal arts” originating in a classical curriculum (literature, history, philosophy, and foreign languages).

The College’s general education distribution requirement provides a measure of structure by specifying which fields of learning every student must include, but allows each student the flexibility to select specific courses from among those approved for inclusion in each of the seven distribution areas. General education courses are designed to provide students with a solid foundation for further study as well as allow for intellectual exploration within the liberal arts and sciences. General education coursework in the liberal arts and sciences is an essential part of each undergraduate’s education at the College of Charleston.

Students must fulfill the general education requirements in effect at the time of their matriculation at the College of Charleston. Matriculation is defined as the first term of degree seeking enrollment or first term of readmission at the College. The general education requirements catalog year remains fixed during the period of time a student is continuously enrolled.

Each year faculty review courses that satisfy general education degree requirements.  They may make course additions or deletions.  Please consult course lists in future catalogs and/or your degree audit in Degree Works.

All undergraduate A.B., B.A., B.I.S., and B.S. degrees require students to complete the following General Education Requirements:


First Year Writing

Student Learning Outcomes

1: Students analyze a source’s rhetorical situation.

2: Students substantiate claims with evidence.

 

Complete one of the approved courses or course credit combinations satisfying the first-year writing general education requirement.

Approved Courses and Course Credit Combinations

ENGL 110 Introduction to Academic Writing (4)  or

ENGL 111 Introduction to Academic Writing-Race, Equity, and Inclusion (4)  or 

HONS 110 Honors Academic Writing (4)  

OR

English (ENGL) 101* AND English (ENGL) 102*

OR

English (ENGL) 101* AND ENGL 215 Interdisciplinary Composition (3)  

OR

English (ENGL) 102* AND ENGL 215 Interdisciplinary Composition (3)  

OR

English (ENGL) 101* AND an approved portfolio**

OR

International Baccalaureate (IB) exam score of 6 or higher on the Extended Essay + Higher-Level (HL) English Language 1A Exam AND an approved portfolio**

OR

A score of 4 on the AP Language Exam, the AP Capstone Research exam, or the AP Capstone Seminar exam AND an approved portfolio**

 

 

Notes:

*English 101 and 102 are not offered by the College of Charleston but continue to be available through approved transfer credit [Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or Transfer (TR)].

**In certain limited cases, students may apply for an exemption from the first-year writing requirement by using a combination of AP scores, IB evidence, or transfer credit and submission of a portfolio of writing. Click English portfolio review process for details.

Note: Students are expected to complete the first-year writing requirement within the first year of enrollment.

 


Foreign Languages, Classical or Modern

Student Learning Outcomes

1: Students will read languages other than English.

2: Students will write languages other than English.

3: Students understand languages other than English.

4: Students use their knowledge of languages other than English to analyze the perspectives of historical and/or modern cultures that can be obtained only through reading and/or listening to that language.

 

Complete the 202-level or its equivalent or demonstrate proficiency at that level of an approved course satisfying the foreign language general education requirement.

Approved Courses

Note:

For Native Speakers of Languages Other Than English: A student whose native language is not English but who has received formal instruction or can demonstrate a high level of literacy in his or her first language, may be exempted from the general education requirement for language study. Such students must still complete a minimum of 122 credit hours to earn a degree. For more information, contact the Associate Dean of the School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs.

 


History

Student Learning Outcomes

1: Students demonstrate knowledge of history and awareness of the historical experience.

2: Students situate primary historical documents in their context and use sources to construct historical arguments.

 

Complete one course in pre-modern history and one course in modern history from the list of approved courses satisfying the history general education requirement (6 credit hours). The two courses do not have to be taken from the same department or in sequence.

Approved Courses

Pre-Modern Era

Modern Era

Note:

*History 101 and 102 are not offered by the College of Charleston but continue to be available through approved transfer credit.

 


Humanities

Student Learning Outcomes

1: Students analyze how ideas are represented, interpreted or valued in various expressions of human culture.

2: Students examine relevant primary source materials as understood by the humanities area under study and interpret the material in writing assignments (or alternatives that require equally coherent and sustained analysis).

 

Complete 12 credit hours from the list of approved courses satisfying the humanities general education requirement with no more than 6 credit hours from the same course acronym.

Approved Courses

Notes:

*Students may take more than 6 credit hours of HONS courses toward the humanities requirement.

 


Mathematics/Logic

Student Learning Outcomes

1: Students model phenomena in mathematical terms.

2: When given a question, students apply models and establish conclusions.

3: Students demonstrate an understanding of the supporting theory apart from any particular application.

 

Completion of MATH 120  or HONS 115  or transfer credit for any one of MATH 220 , MATH 221 , MATH 323  (anyone of which requires the comprehension of the content of MATH 120 /HONS 115 ); or 6 credit hours from the list of approved courses satisfying the math/logic general education requirement.

Approved Courses

Notes:

  • Honors students can take the alternative course of HONS 115  in lieu of MATH 120 .
  • Honors students can take the alternative course of HONS 215  in lieu of MATH 220 .
  • Honors students can take the alternative course of HONS 217  in lieu of MATH 250 .
 


Natural Science

Student Learning Outcomes

1: Students apply physical/natural principles to analyze and solve problems.

2: Students explain how science impacts society.

 

Complete an introductory or higher sequence (with accompanying laboratories) from the list of approved course sequences satisfying the natural science general education requirement.

Approved Course Sequences

Astronomy (ASTR)

Notes:

Biology (BIOL)

OR

OR

Notes:

Chemistry (CHEM)

OR

OR

          OR

Geology (GEOL)

Notes:

Physics (PHYS)

OR

OR

Notes:

 


Social Sciences

Student Learning Outcomes

1: Students can apply social science concepts, models or theories to explain human behavior, social interactions or social institutions.

 

Complete 6 credit hours from the list of approved courses satisfying the social science general education requirement.

Approved Courses

Notes:

  • Honors students can take the alternative course of HONS 168  in lieu of ANTH 202 .
  • Honors students can take the alternative course of HONS 169  in lieu of ANTH 205 .
  • Honors students can take the alternative course of HONS 200  in lieu of ECON 200 .
  • Honors students can take the alternative course of HONS 211  in lieu of ECON 201 .
  • Honors students can take the alternative course of HONS 165  in lieu of POLI 101 .
  • Honors students can take the alternative course of HONS 166  in lieu of POLI 103 .
  • Honors students can take the alternative course of HONS 163  in lieu of PSYC 103 .
  • Honors students can take the alternative course of HONS 167  in lieu of SOCY 101 .