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Core Competencies

Four Core Competencies

With the full range of academic disciplines as starting points, these courses give every student some experience with thinking critically and contextually about culture, social institutions, ideas, and the natural world, as well as experience in problem-solving, design, and other creative work. These courses, which may also be taken as general electives, will provide not only a broad foundation for undergraduate studies but also an opportunity to explore subjects students may never have encountered otherwise with faculty members from a range of disciplines.

Their guidance and insights might offer new perspectives on students’ chosen field of study or open up new vistas on the vast storehouse of human knowledge, experience, and expression. Most importantly, Core Competency courses should offer ways of thinking with which students can approach the world around them and should demonstrate the relevance of a range of disciplinary thinking to life beyond the classroom.

Core Competencies

Area Number of Courses Required
Arts, Design, and Technology 1
Cultural Exploration and Analysis 1
Data and Discovery
 1
Structures of Thought and Society
 1

With the full range of academic disciplines as starting points, these courses give every student some experience with thinking critically and contextually about culture, social institutions, ideas, and the natural world, as well as experience in problem-solving, design, and other creative work. These courses, which may also be taken as general electives, will provide not only a broad foundation for undergraduate studies but also an opportunity to explore subjects students may never have encountered otherwise with faculty members from a range of disciplines.

 

Taking classes outside of your comfort zone is also very important. I really enjoyed the core: reading literature, for example, inspired me in different ways — maybe even unconsciously in my science and my thinking.

Gloria Jansen, Class of 2018

Courses

With the full range of academic disciplines as starting points, these courses give every student some experience with thinking critically and contextually about culture, social institutions, ideas, and the natural world, as well as experience in problem-solving, design, and other creative work. These courses, which may also be taken as general electives, will provide not only a broad foundation for your undergraduate studies, but also an opportunity to explore subjects you may never have encountered otherwise with faculty members from a range of disciplines.

Their guidance and insights might offer you new perspectives on your chosen field of study or open up new vistas on the vast storehouse of human knowledge, experience, and expression. Most importantly, Core Competency courses should offer ways of thinking with which you can approach the world around you and should demonstrate the relevance of a range of disciplinary thinking to life beyond the classroom.