View/Download Gen Ed requirements at a glance (PDF)

Highlights of our General Education Program include:

First-Year Inquiry

This first-year course introduces students to the liberal arts through examination of topical, relevant, real-world issues through a focused disciplinary and broader interdisciplinary perspective. Using common readings, speakers, and information drawn from liberal arts disciplines, students will explore their own ideas and assumptions while discussing ways in which information offers deeper understanding and insight into their lived experiences - personal or educational. Additionally, throughout the course, information literacy and portfolio development will be introduced as students retrieve and evaluate information, and demonstrate their learning.

Read more about First-Year Inquiry

Gen Ed Capstone

This course emphasizes the integration of ideas and knowledge in liberal arts disciplines and is the culminating experience in the General Education curriculum at Curry College. Adopting a thematic approach using readings, discussions, and examinations of work included in the portfolio, the course provides students with an in-depth, personal understanding of the many sensible if sometimes subtle connections among liberal arts disciplines, the value of a liberal arts education, and ways to integrate liberal arts learning further into their studies.

Curry Launch

The 1 credit Curry Launch Seminar is designed to assist first year students with the transition to the college experience. Students will be introduced to the methods and resources to promote success in college and have opportunities to discover how they learn, relate, and make choices. Topics will focus on the purpose and value of higher education, academic development, organizational skills, Curry’s course learning management system, Curry’s electronic portfolio system, and wellness topics such as stress management, drug abuse, sexual assault, relationships, and personal well-being. Campus life and support systems for academics and wellness will be introduced.

Read more about Curry Launch

First-Year Core Requirements

In addition to Curry Launch and First-Year Inquiry, all students take 12 credits in their first year in these areas: Reading, Writing and Research (I)(II), Communication, Quantitative Literary/Math.

Breadth Requirements

All students take 16-17 breadth credits drawn from these areas: Sciences, Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences. Breadth courses will also be used to satisfy "enhancement" course work in reading and writing, quantitative literacy, and information literacy.

Diversity & International/Global Interdependence

All students will complete 9 credits in courses which address learning outcomes for Diversity & International/Global Interdependence.

Experiential Learning and Wellness

All students will satisfy learning outcome objectives in the areas of Experiential Learning and Wellness as demonstrated through course work or in co-curricular experiences as evidenced in their ePortfolio.

Beginning with the Curry Launch course and culminating in Gen Ed Capstone, all students will maintain an ePortfolio. This digital portfolio will support reflection and integration of learning within the entire Gen Ed curriculum. The ePortfolio also fosters student responsibility for learning and provides both evidence and direction supporting career choice and longer term career advancement.

Active Learning Outcomes:

• Apply theory and/or classroom learning to practice
• Communicate effectively and professionally according to the practices and standards of the community relevant to the Active Learning experience
• Document and reflect on the nature of ethical behavior in a circumstance relevant to the Active Learning experience
• Analyze information in a manner that reflects engagement with diverse actors and/or ideas
• Demonstrate acquisition of a skill relevant to the Active Learning experience
• Demonstrate a level of understanding of the nature, functioning, or significance of the community of practice associated with the Active Learning experience that can only come through substantive exposure to said community  

Courses and activities fulfilling the Active Learning requirement will be expected to meet a majority of the learning outcomes.

Breadth Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Identify the distinct perspective of the discipline, including what it looks at and the descriptive and explanatory power that it offers
• Present a theoretical and/or historical overview of the discipline
• Articulate the role of the course within the context of the liberal arts

Diversity Learning Outcomes:

• Conceptualize and articulate the complexities of difference
• Describe historical, social, political, and economic processes producing diversity, equality, and structured inequalities
• Critically examine the intersections of race, ethnicity, religion, ability, class, gender species and/or sexuality-from the local to the global-within the contexts of power relationships that lead to systemic inequities
• Apply knowledge of difference to analyze struggles of people, and address social issues and political concerns that impact everyday lives

First-Year Inquiry Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Articulate, in written or oral form, their initial ideas and assumptions in relation to the topic/theme of the course
• Recognize and articulate in written synthesis papers disciplinary perspectives on the course topic/theme
• Make use of knowledge from multiple disciplines to explain and evaluate, both in written and oral presentations, multiple perspectives on the course theme/topic
• Integrate informed and multiple perspectives to construct a final written course project
• Identify, access, and critically evaluate a variety of types and formats of information
• Develop an understanding of personal responsibility through metacognitive experiences

International / Global Interdependence Learning Outcomes   

Courses fulfilling the International/Global Interdependence requirement must be able to meet at least two of the following learning outcomes:

• Identify and articulate differing cultural perspectives on course themes/content
• Analyze actions, attitudes, or behaviors from the perspective of local, regional, national, or global identities
• Articulate the origins and influences of one's own cultural heritage along with its advantages and limitations relative to other traditions
• Demonstrate a sensitivity toward and appreciation for learning existent in perspectives and experiences different from one's own
• Apply knowledge of multiple perspectives to pose well-defined solutions to problems facing the natural and human world
• Analyze global systems in light of historical origins or contemporary relevance Acknowledge the relationship between language and cultural identity

Gen Ed Capstone Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Articulate, in both spoken and written forms, an awareness and grounded understanding of the many theoretical and practical connections that can be gleaned from the diverse knowledge gained in Gen Ed courses
• Integrate information and perspectives gained from courses in the liberal arts to demonstrate the ability to analyze thematic material from a variety of disciplinary approaches
• Present evidence of, and evaluate, their learning process in a well-organized and comprehensive Portfolio
• Evaluate information and sources critically, and incorporate new information into the knowledge base gained through General Education, and identify the larger interdisciplinary themes linking them
• Demonstrate an understanding of the connectedness of the liberal arts through an integrated examination and analysis of a real-world issue

Wellness Learning Outcomes

• Reflect on how to incorporate specific wellness practices into one's life
• Identify detrimental behaviors/attitudes/actions that suggest a lack of wellness in others
• Analyze the multi-faceted and interconnected nature of wellness
• Articulate what wellness looks like for you now and later in life

Courses and activities fulfilling the Wellness requirement will be expected to meet a majority of the learning outcomes.

Gen Ed Program Faculty - Fall 2021:

Melissa Anyiwo
Bill Nancarrow
Si Pearman
Alan Revering
Julia Sloan
Rob Smid
Ryan Theroux