What is the number of credit hours required in the general education program?

Can Core Curriculum courses also fulfill Fields of Knowledge elective requirements?

How does the CORE 200, Cultural Connections requirement work?

I have heard that the CORE 200 learning communities can be used to fulfill several requirements. How does that work?

How do the threads work?

Can a single course fulfill more than one Fields of Knowledge requirement?

I teach a course that fulfilled an elective requirement for credit in the old General Education Curriculum. Will I need to go through an application process to have this course fulfill credit in the program?

A colleague in my department has had her course approved as fulfilling a thread component requirement. I teach a section of the same course. Will it also fulfill that thread?

What courses or activities will be able to fulfill the experiential learning requirement?

I understand that a student must attend 12 convocations and/or cultural events as a graduation requirement. What counts for the convocation/cultural events requirement?

How will the convocation and cultural events requirement be confirmed and recorded?

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What is the number of credit hours required in the general education program?
The program consists of course requirements and independent learning requirements which, depending on student choice and preparation, total between 51 and 67 credit hours. Most students are likely to average 57 hours.

What are the specific requirements of the general education program?

1. Core (19 credit hours)

• CORE 100 (taken 1st or 2nd semester), CORE 200 (taken 2nd-6th semester), and CORE 400 (taken 6th-8th semester)
• ENG 111 (taken 1st- 2nd semester) and ENG 200 (follows ENG 111 immediately)
• HIS 101, 102 or 103 (recommended 1st-4th semester)
• REL 101, 102, 103, 104, or 105 (recommended 1st-4th semester)

2. Fields of Knowledge (32 credit hours plus those needed for competency in a second language)
Includes a broad array of exposures to the various disciplines in the liberal arts. Done throughout all four years. Integration between CORE 200 and courses within Fields of Knowledge is required. Integration with CORE 200 and the major is recommended.

3. Experiential and Independent Learning (embedded in courses throughout the curriculum)
Acknowledges learning that every student is expected to engage in through coursework in general education and major program of study or through co-curricular experiences.

Can Core Curriculum courses also fulfill Fields of Knowledge elective requirements?
Generally, no. However, there are two ways this can happen:

• the CORE 200 learning community – in which case at least one of the two courses must also fulfill a Fields requirement
• taking a second course from either the HIS selection or REL selection will fulfill the Cultural Perspectives elective

How does the CORE 200, Cultural Connection requirement work?
One of the most effective ways to fulfill the goals of CORE 200 is through an approved Study Abroad experience that includes a research component. Students may also fulfill this requirement by enrolling in a CORE 200 learning community. These learning communities are formed when two faculty create an integrated linkage of two courses, each enrolling the same cohort of students. These learning communities provide students with an integrated and interdisciplinary study of a non-U.S. culture. CORE 200 course linkages offer students opportunities to see how different disciplines approach a particular topic within that non-U.S. culture. Students enjoy being in two classes with the same group of peers. Faculty members enjoy the opportunity to work with and learn from a peer, without all the demands of team teaching. The general education web site provides a clear description of the CORE 200 criteria and curriculum goals. The requirements for CORE 200 will be satisfied in one of two ways.

1. Through a 2 course linkage:
• The instructors teaching these courses will link them thematically.
• The courses must address the CORE 200 curriculum goals.
• One of the courses must have predominant content about aspects of a culture outside the borders of the U.S. Culture may be broadly defined. The general education committee welcomes proposals that provide some depth of focus on a culture, or culture area beyond the U.S. borders. Culture may be defined in terms of nationality, religion, ethnicity, common history, or geographic region.
• At least one of the courses must fulfill a field of knowledge course requirement.
2. Through an approved study abroad course or extension:
• All Meredith study abroad courses.
• Borderlinks, Danish International Study (DIS) or other approved programs.
• Other institutions’ study abroad courses as approved by the director of general education.
• Meredith courses focusing on another culture that include a course extension trip abroad. The itinerary and activities of this trip will clearly augment the content and goals of the course. The trip will not be for credit nor required of all students in the course. It will take place under the auspices of Meredith Study Abroad and be supervised by Meredith faculty. Satisfactory completion of the trip and thereby the CORE 200 requirement will be reported by the faculty member to the director of general education and the registrar.

I’ve heard that the CORE 200 learning communities can be used to fulfill several requirements. How does that work?
CORE 200 linkages are comprised of at least one course that also fulfills a Fields of Knowledge elective. It may be that both courses do this, or that one or both fulfill requirements in the major. In addition all courses have the potential to fulfill up to two thread component requirements. As a hypothetical example: CORE 20_ , a linkage of Cross Cultural Psychology and Spanish American Civilization, would fulfill the CORE 200 requirement, a Behavioral & Social Science elective, and a Cultural Perspectives elective. Also, the courses might each fulfill a thread component—for example Information Literacy (IL) in the PSY course and Writing (WI) in the SPA course.

How do the threads work?
Threads are another name for an across-the-curriculum approach to embedding skills in many different kinds of courses. We've been doing this with Writing Intensive (WI) courses for some time, but these have not been required until now. In addition to the requirement of two WIs, students will need to take one course that is designated as Oral Communication (OC) intensive, one as Ethics (E) intensive, and one as Information Literacy intensive. It is possible for a single course to have as many as three thread designations, but it may only fulfill two threads for a single student. For example: A course dealing with ethics in the discipline (E) could possibly be writing intensive (WI) and have an Infromation Literacy (IL) component as well. In this case, the student would get credit for only two threads, such as fulfilling one WI thread and one E thread with this one course.

Can a single course fulfill more than one Fields of Knowledge requirement?
No. Although some courses qualify as fulfilling more than one category, a course can only count toward a student’s graduation requirements one time. This is the same policy as in the previous general education program. In the program there are more possibilities for this to occur. The student selects which requirement she would like the course to fulfill. The student and her adviser should make an attempt to create her program of study with category requirements in mind.

I teach a course that fulfilled an elective requirement for credit in the old General Education Curriculum. Will I need to go through an application process to have this course fulfill credit in the program?
Probably not, most courses in the former elective categories of general education have been grandmothered in to the Fields of Knowledge categories. See the General Education website under Courses Approved to Fulfill General Education Requirements.

A colleague in my department has had her course approved as fulfilling a thread component requirement. I teach a section of the same course. Will it also fulfill that thread?
Not unless you have deliberately created it to do so and have had your syllabus approved by the general education committee. Thread requirements are designated by professor and course number. Professor X has developed his course to fulfill an ethics (E) requirement. He goes on sabbatical and Professor Z picks up the course for that semester. If she or her department want the course to fulfill the E requirement, then they must apply for approval to the general education committee with the syllabus.

What courses or activities will be able to fulfill the experiential learning requirement?
This requirement may be fulfilled by a service-learning enhanced course that includes a substantial off-campus component, by an internship, student teaching, study abroad, or by undergraduate research. Also several of our college-sponsored leadership experiences may fulfill this requirement (e.g. Leadershape). See the general education web site for more complete information on the EL requirement.

I understand that a student must attend 12 convocations and/or cultural events as a graduation requirement. What counts for the convocation/cultural events requirement?
Convocations, performing and visual arts events, museum visits, scholarly lectures, poetry readings, historical re-enactments, cultural festivals, etc. All these and more are valid events for fulfilling this independent learning requirement. The general education web site and the Meredith College calendar pages include links to local arts and events calendars that can help professors and students identify events relevant for particular disciplines or for particular student interests.

How will the convocation and cultural events requirement be confirmed and recorded?
For each event they attend, students will complete a simple, one-page form that includes some reflective writing on the experience. When they attend an event to fulfill an assignment for a course, they will submit the completed form to the course instructor for review. If the instructor finds the content satisfactory, he/she will sign it and return it to the student. If they attend an event independently, they will submit their completed form to either their adviser or the Director of General Education for review and signature. In either case, the student must then take the signed form to the Registrars office where it will be noted in her electronic record and filed in the student’s paper file. Students should keep a copy of each form for their own records.