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Graduation

The Liberal Arts Tradition

General Education at CCSJ

Calumet College of St. Joseph’s General Education Program is an integrated experience closely tied to our institutional mission, providing a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences designed to promote flexible, agile, lifelong learning.  A liberal education is one that prepares us to live responsible, productive, creative lives in a dramatically changing world, fostering a well-grounded intellectual resilience and an acceptance of responsibility for the ethical consequences of our ideas and actions.

The General Education Program at CCSJ requires that students understand the foundations of knowledge and inquiry about nature, culture and society; that they master core skills; that they cultivate a respect for truth and recognize the importance of historical and cultural context; and that they explore connections among formal learning, citizenship, and service to our communities.

The Liberal Arts Tradition

Program

Outcome Objectives

The General Education Program has the following objectives:

  • Students will read analytically, synthetically, and critically in a variety of genres.
  • Students will write in a variety of forms using valid logic, persuasive rhetoric, and correct grammar, usage, and punctuation.
  • Students will be able to orally deliver a presentation with a clear central idea that is logically developed, supported by convincing evidence and valid reasoning, and expressed using language and delivery choices thoughtfully adapted to the audience.
  • Students will represent, apply, analyze, and evaluate relevant qualitative and quantitative mathematical and scientific evidence (i.e. equations, graphs, diagrams, tables, words) to support or refute an argument.
  • Students will appreciate, create, and critique the persuasive power of art and media.
  • Students will be able to apply ethical standards to social issues and analyze their own core beliefs and the origin of these beliefs.

The College’s General Education requirement includes 38 credit hours of course work, which includes a 1-credit-hour Orientation, a 3-credit-hour course in Social Justice and a Theological general education capstone.

Students who started at Calumet College of St. Joseph in Fall 2017 or later, either as new or transferring students, are subject to these requirements.  Students admitted prior to Fall 2017 should consult the catalog under which they were accepted to identify the applicable General Education Requirements.

General Education Requirements

The College’s General Education baccalaureate degree course requirements are as follows:

Required courses during freshman semesters 1 and 2:

  • General Education 100 or 100T (transfer protected)
  • General Education 290 (Honors students only)
  • HUM 110 Foundations of Western Culture (transfer protected for students with fewer than 52 credit hours)
  • EMCO 103 English Composition
  • THEO 110 Social Justice (transfer protected for students with fewer than 52 credit hours)
  • EMCO 150 Public Speaking
  • MATH 104 Algebra and Trigonometry, or MATH 110 Finite Mathematics, or MATH 171 Principles of Statistics
  • BIOL 115 Cell and Evolution Biology plus lab, or CHEM 200 General and Analytical Chemistry I plus lab, or GEOL 110 Earth and Space Science plus lab, or SCIE 102 General Science plus lab

Any two of the following Humanities courses during the second semester of freshman year and/or the sophomore year (students are not able to repeat a prefix in their Humanities choices):

  • ARTS 100 Introduction to the Performing Arts
  • ARTS 120 Digital Photography
  • ARTS 140 Introduction to Graphic Design
  • ARTS 160 Drawing I
  • ARTS 170 Introduction to Visual Arts
  • EMCO 111 The Literary Experience (Honors students take EMCO 112)
  • PHIL 200 Great Philosophical Ideas

Any two of the following Social Science courses during the second semester of freshman year and/or the sophomore year (students are not able to repeat a prefix in their Social Science choices)

  • ECON 160 Economic Theory and Personal Finance
  • HIST 110 American Civilization
  • HIST 115 Western Civilization
  • HIST 120 World Civilizations
  • PLSC 220 American Political System I
  • PSY 100 Introduction to Psychology
  • SOCL 210 General Sociology

A Capstone Sequence taken in order beginning in the second semester of sophomore year or later:

  • EMCO 204 Academic Reading and Writing II (transfer protected)
  • THEO 230 The Search for Ultimate Meaning (transfer protected)

Some courses in the General Education curriculum can be taken to meet the needs of students majoring in any of the College’s traditional academic programs.

The General Education Program applies to students in traditional, associate degree, and accelerated degree programs, as well as to transfer students.  To this end,

  • Traditional students complete the 38-credit-hour General Education Program.
  • Associate degree students complete the first 35 credit hours of General Education, plus 24 credit hours in their major discipline, for a 60-credit-hour program.
  • Transfer students meet the 38-credit-hour General Education Program requirements.
  • Transfer students with at least 52 credit hours meet General Education Program requirements with the exception of HUMS 110 and THEO 110.
  • Students in accelerated programs meet the 38-credit-hour General Education Program requirements through a special sequence, described below. ​

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