Oct 13, 2024  
2022-2023 Academic Catalog 
    
2022-2023 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

General Education Requirements


2022-2023 General Education Requirements

General Education in the Liberal Arts and Sciences Curriculum

The General Education (referred to as gen ed) Requirements at Muskingum University ensure the breadth inherent in a liberal arts education. A liberal arts education requires that students understand the foundations of knowledge and inquiry about nature, culture, self, and society; that students master core skills of perception, analysis, and expression; that students recognize the importance of historical and cultural contexts; and that students explore connections among formal learning, citizenship, and service to our communities. Students will take most of their gen ed requirements in their freshman and sophomore years, along with some courses in their major or other elective courses.

Core Requirements


Forming the core of the General Education Program are courses in communication in writing and speech:

1. Communication in Writing


This category is designed to develop the ability to communicate clearly and effectively in writing. Objective: Students will demonstrate effective communication through writing.
  • Credit Hours: 3 (Exempted with SAT W-620/ACT E-28)
  • Two writing unit courses (3 hours each), one at the 300- or 400-level. A “writing unit” uses writing as a substantial mode of learning and is identified in the Undergraduate Course Schedule listings on MuskieLink and in the MAP Schedule by the symbol # preceding the course title.

2. Communication in Speech


This category is designed to develop the ability to communicate clearly and effectively in speech. Objective: Students will demonstrate effective communication through speech.

Distribution Requirements


Students must successfully complete courses from at least 10 different prefixes (e.g. ART, PE, MATH) from the following Gen Ed categories.

3. Communication in a Global and Digital Age


This category is designed to develop communication and information-gathering skills through emphasis on a non-native language or other means of communicating in a technology-driven, global society. Minimum of 3 hours or participation in a Muskingum University-approved international program. Objective: Students will demonstrate effective communication skills in a non-native language or identify and use digital resources to communicate.

4. Religious Understanding


This category is designed to develop an understanding of religious ways of life. Minimum of 3 hours. Objective: Students will explain how religious belief systems interrelate with human life.

5. Moral Inquiry


This category is designed to develop an understanding of the means by which individuals and communities evaluate and respond to ethical problems, both personal and social. Minimum of 3 hours. Objective: Students will formulate and justify a position on an ethical problem.

6. Quantitative Reasoning (Exempted with SAT M-680/ACT M-28)


This category is designed to develop competency in understanding and using numerical concepts and methods. Minimum of 3 hours. Objective: Students will demonstrate an understanding of numerical concepts and use appropriate methods to solve problems.

7. Scientific Understanding


This category is designed to develop an understanding of the natural world, the scientific method, and the forces and elements inherent in the natural order. Minimum of 7 hours. (Must include one lab science course and courses from two course prefixes) Objective: Students will describe scientific principles and apply methods of scientific inquiry.

8. Health


This category is designed to develop an understanding of important health issues and to foster choices for students’ health throughout life. Minimum of 2 hours. Objective: Students will identify and evaluate biological, psychosocial, and/or behavioral factors that influence health.

9. Artistic Understanding and Expression


This category is designed to develop an understanding of the role of the arts in the human endeavor. Objective: Students will perform, create, or interpret artistic works. One course from the following:

10. Cultural Diversity


This category is designed to develop an understanding of diversity (gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, etc.) in the contemporary world. Minimum of 3 hours. Objective: Students will recognize and examine the role of diversity in society.

11. International Perspectives


This category is designed to develop an understanding of global societies, and a familiarity with patterns of social and political behavior in a comparative context, in order to lay the basis for responsible world citizenship. Minimum of 3 hours. Objective: Students will recognize and compare the social, cultural, and/or political patterns of global communities.

12. Western Traditions


This category is designed to develop an understanding of social, political, cultural and behavioral dimensions of human existence in Western European traditions. Minimum of 3 hours. Objective: Students will describe and interpret the social, cultural, political, and/or behavioral dimensions of Western European traditions.

13. The U.S. Experience


This category is designed to develop an understanding of the United States, its institutions, customs, culture, diversity of people and resources, and challenges facing the nation in the contemporary setting. Minimum of 3 hours. Objective: Students will describe and evaluate how traditions, practices, or institutions address or inform the society and culture of the United States.

Sequence for Meeting the General Education Requirements (Gen Ed)


During their first year, traditional students should take ENGL 121 - Composition  and COMM 200 - Fundamentals of Speech Communication , which comprise the core. Some first year students may want to take a science course. Typically first year students concentrate on the gen ed requirements and take no more than one or two classes in their prospective major. After taking Composition, students must complete two writing unit courses, usually one at the 100- or 200-level and one at the 300- or 400-level. At least one of the two must be at the 300- or 400-level.

A writing unit class is one that uses writing as a significant part of the learning process, not courses that teach writing per se. Therefore, writing unit classes are not those with the word “writing” in the title. They can be identified by a # sign before the name of the course in the online schedule. For example, #Emergence of the Modern World.