General Studies

General Studies Requirements

The General Studies Program is structured to foster the development of skills and to encourage students to use their mastery of skills to explore knowledge in a variety of disciplines. The General Studies Program provides two levels of experience:

Level I– Skills
Level I courses provide students with the basic skills of reading and listening critically, recognizing faulty reasoning, drawing conclusions from quantitative data, organizing ideas, and writing and speaking with clarity.

Level II– Breadth of Knowledge
Level II courses introduce students to the basic methods, knowledge, problems or attitudes characteristic of a field, encourage in students an open attitude toward different approaches to problems, enable students to communicate with experts in other disciplines and learn from them and cultivate in students an informed awareness of the principle achievements in history, arts and letters, social science, and science. In addition, in Level II courses students will continue to develop their skills in language and mathematics.

Distribution and Credit Requirements

To complete their General Studies Program, students must take approved courses that fulfill the following distribution and credit requirements:

Only approved courses may be used to satisfy the General Studies requirements. General College Requirements brochures contain all approved general studies, multicultural and senior experience courses. The brochure is updated two times per year and is available from academic departments, the Academic Advising Center (CN 104) and Academic Affairs (CN 318).

Departments or programs may specify, by prefix and number, some General Studies courses in addition to courses required for the major or a professional credential. Check with your departmental advisor.

For more information, go to http://www.mscd.edu/academic/catalog/