Common Learning Experience
We have carefully selected ten courses in five areas where we believe you can sharpen the skills and develop the understanding and conversancy with essential knowledge that you need for living effectively in the information age. These courses should not be thought of as introductory courses—they are not 101 anything—but rather as a challenging set of relevant interdisciplinary courses offered at an advanced level. Activities that bring students together, as partners or members of teams, are encouraged; and working together cooperatively to support each other’s learning is an important aspect of the experience.
Because all students in the program, regardless of their chosen major, will be taking these courses, they will have a common experience that can be shared. Of course you will be conversing with other students in your class, but you will also soon discover that most of the students you encounter will have had that same class, too. As you move through the program you can refer back to a class that you and your peers took earlier. Most important, instructors in advanced courses in the majors will be able to know what students know and will be able to assume what all students can do. For example, instructors will be able to assume that you know how to write a report, make a presentation, communicate in a group, and document sources in a research paper.
Finally, because different students enter the program with varied amounts of past credits and since these credits are transferred in as electives, the Common Learning Experience guarantees that each student receives a degree of the highest caliber.
BA Majors
Common Learning Courses
- Effective Communication
- Discovering Creative Energies
- Organizational Behavior Leadership
- Public Policy and Social Services
- Ethical Decision Making
- Concepts of the Public Good
- Scientific Method: The Digital Age
- 21st Century Global Issues
- The Past as Prologue