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General education at The University of Scranton aims to generate opportunities for students to obtain and demonstrate broad knowledge of human cultures, social formations, and the physical and natural world. Moreover, philosophy and theology enjoy a special place in the Jesuit and Catholic educational traditions; in tandem with other disciplines, they encourage students to reflect on fundamental questions of ethics and faith in their personal and professional development. As such, the transformation for which The University of Scranton strives builds on shared, formative educational opportunities.
Students who take full advantage of the breadth of opportunities afforded to them by the general educational curriculum will develop a commitment to life-long learning and be practiced in the creative and compassionate imagination required to respond to the spiritual, intellectual, and material needs of others in a diverse and globalizing world. These include a range of courses that support the acquisition of intellectual and practical skills for formal and informal communication (oral and written) and for the critical and innovative thinking that guides inquiry and analysis. Foundational learning is often described as skills, but no skill can be taught or learned in isolation from content or processes. To that end, the general education curriculum is designed to achieve the goals articulated below by engaging students in fundamental areas of technological and information literacy, diversity, humanities, natural sciences, philosophy, quantitative reasoning, social-behavioral sciences, and theology.
The general education curriculum is composed of required and elective courses that are intended to lead students to these goals. The curriculum also includes opportunities to develop both depth and breadth in the major, the cognate, and in the areas of natural science, social/behavioral science, humanities, philosophy, and theology. Within the disciplines listed above, students will also take at least two courses that are writing intensive and two courses with a strong cultural diversity component.
Courses that fulfill general education requirements as described in the outline below can be identified in the catalog and course bulletin listings by a letter code in parentheses preceding the course title:
| FYS |
First-Year Seminar |
| FYW |
First-Year Writing |
| FYOC |
First-Year Oral Communication |
| FYDT |
First-Year Digital Technology |
| Q |
Quantitative Reasoning |
| CH |
Humanities/Culture: History |
| CL |
Humanities/Culture: Literature |
| CA |
Humanities/Culture: Arts |
| CF |
Humanities/Culture: Foreign Languages |
| CI |
Humanities/Culture: Interdisciplinary |
| P |
Philosophy or Theology/Religious Studies |
| E |
Natural Science |
| S |
Social/Behavioral Science |
| EPW |
Writing-Intensive |
| D |
Cultural Diversity |
Courses having more than one letter code indicates that the course satisfies multiple general education requirements; e.g., (CH,EPW) satisfies both a Humanities/Culture: History and a Writing-Intensive requirement.
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Outline of General Education Requirements
Eloquentia Perfecta
In accordance with the Jesuit pedagogical goal of Eloquentia Perfecta, the University of Scranton aims to prepare students to speak, write, and to communicate effectively in varied modes and media, and so develop skills that will enable them to contribute to the greater good as engaged and compassionate professionals and citizens. Eloquentia Perfecta derives its goals from rhetorical traditions stressing excellence and logical clarity in communicating. It develops progressively and recursively as students produce a variety of discourse and master the associated arts of reading, listening, observing, inquiring, analyzing, and thinking critically
The goal of the general education Eloquentia Perfecta requirement is to assure and further develop each student’s abilities to gather, evaluate and disseminate information and ideas. Eloquentia Perfecta foundation courses consist of the following, which the student normally completes in their first year of study: 1) First-Year Seminar (FYS); 2) First-Year Writing (FYW); 3) a First-Year Digital Technology course (FYDT); 4) a First Year Oral Communication (FYOC) course.
The minimum passing grade to fulfill the EP requirement is C or better for (FYDT, FYOC, FYS or FYW).
To develop writing skills beyond the Eloquentia Perfecta foundation level, all students are required to complete two courses which meet the Eloquentia Perfecta Rhetorical standards for writing (EPW).
The First Year Seminar
First Year Seminars will provide students with opportunities to work closely with a member of the faculty as they explore important intellectual questions and become immersed in the life of the mind through an exploration of a variety of academic topics. In the course of the seminar, students will become familiar with the University’s Ignatian identity and mission and address important transition-to-college issues. Students will choose from seminars that address a wide variety of different topics, and which can function as a major course, a general education course or an elective. Each seminar will enroll no more than 18 students so as to maximize interaction with the professor and among students. The minimum passing grade to fulfill the FYS requirement is C or better.
Skills Acquisition
In pursuing the goals of Eloquentia Perfecta, The University of Scranton requires that students demonstrate basic competencies in written, oral and digital communication before their junior year. These competencies may be demonstrated by students in one of the following ways:
- Successful completion (a grade of C or better) of an Eloquentia Perfecta foundation course for each required skills area: for oral communication (FYOC), for digital technology (FYDT), and for basic writing (FYW).
- Successful completion (a grade of C or better) of each skills course: COMM 100 or PHIL 217J for oral communication; WRTG 107 (or WRTG 105 & WRTG 106 ) for basic writing; and C/IL 102/102L , or C/IL 104 for digital technology.
- An examination supervised by Communication Department faculty (for COMM 100 ), by English Department faculty (for WRTG 107 ) and by the Computer Information Literacy Advisory Board (for C/IL 102/102L ). These examinations may be taken only once by freshmen and sophomores who have not taken the course in the same skill area.
Oral communication and basic writing skills can also be satisfied with INTD 117 - Writing, Research and Speaking .
Subject Matter Mastery
Writing-Intensive Requirement (EPW): Two courses, variable credit*
One of these courses should be in the major program of study. Writing-intensive courses may also fulfill other major, cognate and/or general education requirements. An advanced course in applied writing (WRTG 210 , WRTG 211 , WRTG 212 , WRTG 218 , WRTG 310 ) may be substituted for one of the two required writing-intensive courses.
Quantitative Reasoning (Q): One course, 3 credits*
A mathematics based course as recommended by the major or chosen by the student in consultation with an advisor.
The Human Person and God
- Theology/Religious Studies: Two courses, 6 credits
T/RS 121 - (P) Theology I: Introduction to the Bible
T/RS 122 - (P) Theology II: Introduction to Christian Theology
- Philosophy: Two courses, 6 credits
PHIL 120 - Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL 210 - Ethics
- Theology/Philosophy Elective (P): One course, 3 credits*
Nature
- Natural Science (E): Two courses, 6-8 credits*
Two courses in natural or physical sciences as recommended by the major or selected by the student after consultation with the advisor.
Culture
- Humanities (CA, CF, CH, CL, CI): Four courses, 12 credits*
Courses in the humanities as recommended by the major or selected by the student after consultation with the advisor. Students must earn 6 credits in one humanities field: foreign language (CF), history (CH) or literature (CL). The remaining 6 credits must come from the other humanities fields, with no more than 3 credits coming from the fine arts (CA).
Integration of Individual and Community
Personal
Social
- Social or Behavioral Science (S): Two courses, 6 credits*
- Two courses in social or behavioral sciences as recommended by the major or selected by students after consultation with an advisor.
- Cultural Diversity (D): Two courses, 6 credits*
- Two courses with strong cultural diversity content are required. These courses may also fulfill other major, cognate and/or general education requirements.
Electives
Up to four courses, 12 credits. Students are encouraged to use their general education electives to add minors or second majors where possible. For some majors, specific courses have been recommended in the GE elective area by the home departments. Where no specific recommendations have been made by the home department, any course (with a limit of 3 credits of PHED activity courses) may be used as an elective. Please refer to the department course listings in the catalog for complete Course Descriptions. If you have a question about how a specific course satisfies a requirement, please contact your advisor, academic advising center, dean’s office or registrar’s office.
Notes(s):
*A listing of courses that includes general education designations, if any, may be found under Course Descriptions in the online undergraduate catalogs. The catalogs are accessed through the registrar’s webpage at www.scranton.edu/registrar or directly at http://matrix.scranton.edu/catalogs. General education courses offered for a particular term may be located by accessing the online course schedule, “Course Schedule Search,” through the registrar’s webpage or directly at https://ssbprd.scranton.edu/appprd/syaclst.main, selecting a term, and then searching by course attributes. Not all courses are offered every registration cycle.
General Education Summary
Subject
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Credits
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Courses
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GE Required
(with designated attributes)
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| First Year Seminar |
3 |
Eloquentia Perfecta First Year Seminars (FYS) |
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Writing
Level I
Level II
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3-6
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Eloquentia Perfecta First-Year (FYW) course or WRTG 105 and WRTG 106
Two courses designated Eloquentia Perfecta Rhetorical-Writing (EPW); one should be in the major
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| Public Speaking & Information Literacy |
3-6 |
Eloquentia Perfecta First-Year Oral Communication (FYOC) course and First-Year Digital Technology (FYDT) course |
| Quantitative Reasoning |
3-4 |
Courses designated with (Q) |
| Theology/Philosophy |
15 |
T/RS 121 and T/RS 122 , PHIL 120 and PHIL 210 and approved T/RS or PHIL Elective (P) |
| Natural Science |
6-8 |
Courses designated with (E) |
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Humanities
History
Literature
Foreign Language
Art/Music/Theatre
Humanities/Interdisciplinary
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12 total
0-6
0-6
0-6
0-3
0-6
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Students must take 6 credits in one of the following areas:
History (CH), Literature (CL), or Foreign Language (CF).
Note that 6 credits in CI, although allowed, do not fulfill this requirement. 6 additional credits from any of the remaining humanities areas, but no more than 3 from Art/Music/Theatre (CA)).
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| Social/Behavioral Science |
6 |
Courses designated with (S) |
| Cultural Diversity |
6 |
Courses designated with (D) |
| Total Required GE Credits |
57-66 |
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| Other Graduation Expectations (Electives)* |
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| Electives |
12 |
Electives can vary, depending on the choice of major. |
*Students are required to take a minimum of 120 credits to graduate with a baccalaureate degree.
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