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Perspectives on the Liberal
Arts and Sciences Courses
Perspectives courses target foundations of knowledge, and are therefore taken by
students early on in their undergraduate experience, before they complete 60
credits.
Perspectives courses constitute the offerings for students to comply with the
following requirements (UCC,
2006, p. 2):
-
Eight Perspectives courses in the following Areas of Knowledge and
Inquiry:
- Reading Literature (RL): Two courses
- Appreciating and Participating in the Arts (AP): One course
- Cultures and Values (CV): One course
- Analyzing Social Structures (SS): Two courses
- Natural Science (NS): Two courses, one must be a laboratory course
(NS-L)
-
Three Perspectives courses, which may be among the
Perspectives
courses taken to fulfill the Areas of Knowledge and Inquiry requirements
above, each emphasizing one of the following Contexts of
Experience:
- United States (US): One course
- European Traditions (ET): One course
- World Cultures (WC): One course
-
Two Extended Requirements, which may
be satisfied by a course taken for the requirements above, or in the
student's major or minor, or as an elective:
- Pre-Industrial Society (PI)
- Abstract or Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
All Perspectives courses must satisfy Criteria 1-3:
- Address how, in the discipline (or disciplines) of the course, data
and evidence are construed and knowledge acquired; that is, how
questions are asked and answered.
- Position the discipline(s) in the liberal arts curriculum and the
larger society.
- Address the goals for their categorization as fulfilling an Area of
Knowledge and Inquiry requirement, and (as appropriate) a Context of
Experience and/or an Extended Requirement.
Criteria 4-8 are optional, and are fulfilled by courses when appropriate:
- Be global or comparative in scope.
- Consider diversity and the nature and construction of forms of
difference.
- Engage students in active inquiry.
- Reveal the existence and importance of change over time.
- Use primary documents and materials.
Understanding the Perspectives Categories and Criteria
Perspectives course categories and criteria are described at length in the
document approved by the Academic Senate:
-
Proposal 2: Area
Requirements
Proposing a Perspectives Course
