University Core courses are designed to help students achieve and demonstrate competence a series of General Education Learning Goals. Students may therefore use successful completion of the appropriate UC course, or one of the approved non-UC cognate courses, to demonstrate their competency in each of the following areas:
Intellectual and Academic Skills - Freshman Year
Reading and Writing Skills:
- UC 110 Reading and Writing in College (3): Fosters critical reading of challenging material. Aims at teaching students to perform successfully the writing tasks that are an accepted part of college life. Instruction in the rudiments of word processing is included.
Speaking and Listening Skills
UC 120 Oral Communication (3) : Fosters the competencies necessary for effective speaking and listening in both interpersonal and intrapersonal forms. The student develops insight and skill in sending and receiving factual, expressive, persuasive and problem-solving messages in small and large group settings.
NOTE: Freshmen MUST complete UC 110 and UC 120 during their first-year. They should not, if possible, take them concurrently.
All freshmen exempt from UC 110 (having a minimum English ACT of 28 or Verbal SAT of 680) should take UC 120 during the Fall Term.
Freshmen required to take ENG 100: Basic Writing should enroll in ENG 100 and UC 120 Fall Term, followed by UC 110 Spring Term.
Quantitative Reasoning
- UC 140: Quantitative Reasoning (3). Introduces the student to contemporary mathematical thinking and develops the capacity for engaging in logical thinking and critical evaluation of quantitative information. The power of mathematics is conveyed by the great variety of problems that can be modeled and solved by quantitative means.
- MATH 215 Elementary Statistics
- MATH 220 Business Math
- MATH 230 Calculus I
- MATH 231 Calculus II
- MATH 251 Discrete Mathematics
- PSYCH 210 Psychological Statistics
Living in the Contemporary World - Freshman/Sophomore Year
Global Awareness
- UC 150: Global Awareness (3). Focuses on the context of the economic interdependence of modern society, the geographic structure of the contemporary world, the cultural similarities and differences among people in different sectors of the world, and the political difference resulting from philosophy, ideology and resources. Course sections will focus on different regions (e.g. the Middle East) and different issues (e.g. war or hunger) to address the course goals.
- FREN 371 Francophone Culture
- RELIG 252 Asian Religions of Liberation
- RELIG 254 Judaism and Islam
Cultural Diversity
- UC 200: Cultural Diversity in American Society (3). Analyzes the history, patterns, contemporary social costs of, and moral questions posed by, prejudice and discrimination in the United States against racial and ethnic minorities as well as women.
Modes of Inquiry - Sophomore Year
Fine Arts
- UC 210: Fine Arts (3). Provides students with learning experiences focusing on a fine art as a form of organization and communication. The course includes historical aspects of art forms along with a major emphasis on practice in one of the basic disciplines (art, music, theatre) of the fine arts.
Note: Sections of UC 210 are designated in the Time Schedule with the discipline of primary focus: Art, Music or Theatre. - ENG 204 Creative Writing
- MUS 223 Introduction to Jazz and Popular Music
- THE 121 Introduction to Theatre
- Three semesters of major music ensemble
Religion
- UC 220: Religious Foundations and the Bible (3). Introduces the student to the general topic of religion in life and the biblical tradition in the Christian faith. Religion will include treatment of parallels with other major world religions. The Bible will introduce students to the heart of the Christian religion.
- RELIG 190 Introduction to Religion
Social Science
- UC 230: Social Science (3). Using specific issues (such as crime, poverty, etc.) this course will introduce the student to the domain of the social sciences, how new knowledge is established and tested, and how the social sciences can be used in choosing from among competing solutions to social issues.
- ECON 100 Introduction to Political Economy
- POLS 104 Introduction to Political Science
- PSYCH 110 Principles of Psychology
- SOC 110 Principles of Sociology
Natural Science
- UC 240: Science and Technology in Society (3). Develops the student's understanding of the nature of science and technology and its knowledge through the study of selected concepts, processes and skills in science and technology. The impact of scientific/technological knowledge in society and the relationship between the nature of this knowledge and other ways of knowing also is examined.
- BIOL 150 Human and Applied Genetics
- BIOL 151 Foundations of Modern Biology
- BIOL 190 Plants and People
- CHEM 261 Dawning of the Nuclear Age
- CHEM 262 Molecular Genetics and Gender
- ENVS/GEOL 230 Environmental Geology
Interpreting Texts and Images – Junior Year
Humanities
UC 310: Humanities: Classical, Medieval and Renaissance (3). Requires students to examine in some depth selected works which illustrate the philosophic, artistic and historic concerns of Western culture. Traces shifts in cultural perspectives from the Classical world to the Renaissance.
Or UC 311: Humanities: Enlightenment to the Present (3). Requires students to examine in some depth selected works which illustrate the philosophic, artistic and historic concerns of Western culture. Traces shifts in cultural perspectives from the Enlightenment to the present.
Prerequisites: UC 110, 210 & 220 (or equivalent) and 45 hours.
- RELIG 321 Reformation and the Enlightenment
- FRNCH 330 French Civilization
- Hungary Program
Ethical Thought – Senior Year
Ethical Thought
- UC 410: Ethical Issues and Contemporary Religious Conviction (3).
Enables the students to understand the grounding of human life action in religious conviction with special attention to the Judeo-Christian tradition, considers alternative ethical positions, and studies the application of this analysis to contemporary social issues. The course will integrate significant elements of the undergraduate core.
- RELIG 430 Christian Ethics
Prerequisites: UC 220 or RELIG 190 and 75 hours.