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An undergraduate student whose enrollment in a curriculum occurs after May 15, 1996, must fulfill the general education requirements in the catalog in effect at the time. A student who withdraws from the University and subsequently returns after May 15, 1996, will be required to satisfy the general education requirements. Any variation in curricular or general education requirements shall be considered under the substitution procedure.
Academic institutions exist for the transmission of knowledge, the pursuit of truth, the intellectual and ethical development of students, and the general well-being of society. Undergraduate students must be broadly educated and technically skilled to be informed and productive citizens. As citizens, they need to be able to think critically about significant issues. Students also need to be prepared to complete undergraduate work and a major course of study. The mission requires a high level of knowledge about and competence in the following areas: communication, computer use, mathematics, problem solving, natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and arts. Thus the mission of general education is to provide Clemson undergraduate students with a structured base through which these needs can be met.
General education requirements in some curricula are more restrictive than those shown below.
Courses approved for Oral Communication, Writing Intensive, or Computer Skills credit are indicated in the Courses of Instruction section of this catalog in brackets (e.g. ENGL 314 3(3,0) [W.3]).
1. ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 or
ENGL 101 and ENGL 103................ 6 hours
2. Oral Communication.................... 3 hours
ARCH 151........................................... O.1
ARCH 152........................................... O.1
ARCH 251........................................... O.1
C E 350 ................................................O.1
C M E 242........................................... O.1
C M E 341 ...........................................O.1
C M E 407........................................... O.1
CH E 307 ............................................O.1
CH E 407............................................ O.1
CH E 432 ............................................O.1
CH E 444 ............................................O.1
COMM 150 ........................................O.3
COMM 250........................................ O.3
COMM 251........................................ O.3
E C E 320........................................... O.1
E C E 495........................................... O.1
E C E 496........................................... O.1
ENT 305............................................ O.2
ENT 462 ............................................O.1
M E 401 .............................................O.1
M E 402............................................. O.2
3. Writing Intensive................... 3 hours
ARCH 351 ........................................W.1
ARCH 352 ........................................W.1
ARCH 451 ........................................W.1
B E 322 .............................................W.1
B E 471 .............................................W.1
C M E 342 ........................................W.1
C M E 407.........................................W.1
C M E 441 ........................................W.1
C R P 403......................................... W.2
CH E 307 .........................................W.1
CH E 407......................................... W.1
CH E 432 .........................................W.1
E C E 311......................................... W.1
E C E 312......................................... W.1
E C E 371......................................... W.1
E C E 417......................................... W.1
ECON 424 .......................................W.2
ED EL 458...................................... W.1
ED EL 488.......................................W.1
ED SP 495...................................... W.3
ENGL 304...................................... W.3
ENGL 310.......................................W.2
ENGL 312 ......................................W.3
ENGL 314...................................... W.3
ENGL 316...................................... W.3
ENGL 333...................................... W.3
ENGL 334 ......................................W.3
ENGL 345 ......................................W.3
ENGL 346...................................... W.3
ENGL 348...................................... W.3
ENGL 386...................................... W.2
ENGL 448 ......................................W.3
HIST 314 ........................................W.2
HIST 318 ........................................W.2
HIST 323 ........................................W.1
HIST 324 ........................................W.1
HIST 353 ........................................W.2
HIST 361........................................ W.2
HIST 365........................................ W.2
HIST 373 ........................................W.2
HIST 387 ........................................W.2
M E 401.......................................... W.2
M E 402 ..........................................W.1
NURS 320 ......................................W.1
NURS 330...................................... W.1
NURS 405 ......................................W.1
NURS 406...................................... W.1
READ 459...................................... W.1
THEA (ENGL) 447........................W.3
AG ED 200..................................... C.3
ARCH 151...................................... C.1
ARCH 251...................................... C.1
ARCH 252...................................... C.1
B E 450........................................... C.1
C E 251 ...........................................C.1
C M E 407 ......................................C.1
CH E 413........................................ C.1
CP SC 101 ......................................C.3
CP SC 110...................................... C.3
CP SC 111 ......................................C.3
CP SC 120...................................... C.3
CP SC 210...................................... C.3
E G 209.......................................... C.1
ED F (AG ED, THRD) 480 ..........C.3
ENGR 120 .....................................C.1
I E 220 ...........................................C.2
M E 205 ........................................C.1
MUSIC 180 ..................................C.2
NURS 140 ....................................C.3
PRTM (FOR) 209........................ C.3
EX ST 301
MTHSC 101, 102, 106, 108, 115*, 116*, 117*, 118*, 203, 207, 301, 309
*May be used by students graduating in Early Childhood, Elementary, and Special Education only.
A two semester sequence in the same physical or biological science, each including a laboratory
ASTR 101/103, 102/104
BIOL 101, 102, 103, 104, 110, 111
CH 101, 102, 105, 106
GEOL 101/103, 102, 112/114
PH SC 107, 108
PHYS 122/124 , 207, 208, 221/223, 222/224
1. Three hours selected from sophomore literature courses (200 level only) or foreign language literature (300 level or higher)
ENGL 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, H210
FR 300, 400, 499
GER 301, 302, 401, 402, 403
ITAL 301, 302, 400
JAPN 406
SPAN 301, 303, 311, 401, 403, 404, 405, 406, 422, 499
2. Three hours selected from the following:
A A H 101, 210
C H S H203
CHIN 201, 202, 499
COMM 369, 402
ENGL 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, H210, 350, 351, 353, 355, 356, 357, 380, 385, 386
FR 201, 202
G W (ENGL) 301
GER 201, 202
HUM 301, 302, 306, 309
ITAL 201, 202
JAPN 201, 202
MUSIC 210, 311, 312, 313, 314
PHIL 101, 102, 103, 303, 304, 315, 316, 317, 318, 320, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 330, 343, 344, 345
PORT 201, 202
REL 101, 102, 301, 302, 306, 307
RUSS 201, 202
SPAN 201, 202, 221
THEA 210, 315, 316, 317
W S 301
A A S 301
AGRIC 105
ANTH 201, 301, 320
AP EC 202, 257, 302, 309, 319, 490
AVS 315
C H S H201, H202
C R D 357, (AP EC, HLTH) 361
ECON 200, 211, 212, 301, 302, (MGT) 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 314, 315, 324, 404
GEOG 101, 103, 301, 302, 303, 305, 306, 330, 340
HIST 101, 102, 122, 172, 173, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 307, 311, 312, 313, 314, 316, 318, 321, 322, 323, 325, 327, 328, 329, 330, 333, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 351, 354, 355, 361, 363, 365, 370, 372, 373, 374, 375, 377, 378, 380, 381, 384, 385, 386, 387, 390, 391, (F&RR) 392, 393, 436
PO SC 101, 102, 302, 361, 381, 480
PRTM 201, 301
PSYCH 201, 306, 308, 320, 324, 330, 333, 340, 344, 345, 352, 355, 364, 368, 370, 375, H385
R S 301, (SOC) 401, (SOC) 459
SOC 201, 202, (C R D) 235, 310, 311, 330, 331, 350, 351, (E L E, PO SC, PSYCH) 356, (R S) 371, 380, 390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 396, 397, 494
A.1. English 101 and 102 or 103
Students completing English 102 or 103 with a passing grade should be able to demonstrate the following knowledge and skills:
1. An understanding of and ability to use the full range of the writing process including invention, drafting, revising, and editing.
2. The capacity to write a unified, coherent short essay with a suitable introduction and conclusion, well-organized and sufficiently developed paragraphs, and enough detail to support generalizations.
3. The capacity to summarize, analyze, and evaluate college-level fictional and non-fictional texts, including argumentative pieces expressing opinions different from their own.
4. The ability to use and evaluate basic library sources, including available databases.
5. The ability to effectively integrate and appropriately cite existing research in their own writing.
6. The ability to organize and sustain an argumentative essay that marshals sufficient and relevant evidence, avoids major logical fallacies, recognizes and responds to counter-arguments, and shows a rhetorical awareness of audience.
7. Skill at using varied sentence structure and length and appropriate sentence style and diction.
8. Ability to edit for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and other mechanics.
A.2. Oral Communication
Students prepared in oral communication classes will demonstrate effectiveness in the following knowledge and skills identified by the National Communication Association (NCA):
Competency One - Ability to choose and narrow a topic appropriately for the audience and occasion.
Competency Two - Ability to develop a clear thesis statement and organizational pattern appropriate for the topic, audience, and occasion.
Competency Three - Ability to assemble and use effective and sufficient supporting materials, including visual support, appropriate for the audience and occasion.
Competency Four - Ability to use nonverbal behaviors, including eye contact, gestures, and posture and movement, as well as verbal behaviors, including vocal variety in rate, pitch, and intensity to support the message.
Competency Five - Ability to choose, pronounce, and articulate grammatically correct language that is appropriate for the topic, audience, and occasion.
1. Course faculty will report at least 70% of students' presentations rated 6 or higher on each competency using a performance rating scale of Unsatisfactory (03), Satisfactory (47), and Excellent (810).
2. Students who have taken O courses will report that receiving constructive feedback from teachers based on the oral competency assessment instrument and being given the opportunity to perform orally again after constructive feedback enabled them to improve their oral communication.
3. An anonymous assessment team will report that at least 70%
of randomly selected student presentations (viewed on videotape) rated 6 or
higher on
each competency using a performance rating scale of Unsatisfactory (03),
Satisfactory (47), and Excellent (810).
A.3. Writing Intensive Courses
1. Faculty evaluators of student portfolios from W courses will report that at least 90% of students' writing samples meet or exceed the criteria for acceptable writing endorsed by teachers of those courses.
Students who have taken W courses will report the following:
2. That the writing assignments improved their learning of course material.
3. That receiving constructive feedback and being given the opportunity to revise their writing enabled them to improve their writing.
4. That they believe effective writing is important to success in their respective fields.
5. Increased confidence in their ability to meet the professional demands of writing in the workplace.
Teachers will report the following:
6. That writing assignments in W courses improved student learning of course material.
7. That student writing in W courses improved in response to constructive feedback.
The Computer Skills requirement is intended to achieve two goals. The first goal is to prepare students for the use of computer technology in their personal and professional lives. The second goal is to assist the students in developing a set of skills in using the computer in the areas of management and organization of data and the communication of ideas.
Following completion of the Computer Skills general education requirement, students will be competent in the operation of a number of standard computer tools, including word processors, spreadsheets, and communication tools (for example, electronic mail and remote file access). Students will be able to utilize these tools to present information in an organized and effective manner. Students will also be able to interpret and accommodate current capabilities and future advances in computer technology to support their decision making.
An education that reflects only the restricted mathematical needs of the distant past is not adequate for students who will live their professional lives in the twenty-first century. Therefore, the mathematical sciences requirement is designed to achieve the following competency goals:
1. To develop in students a high level of mathematical literacy in order that they be able to adequately cope with the demands of an information-based age. This basic literacy may assume different forms, depending upon students' academic curricula. For example, developing skills in applying the methods of modern data analysis and statistical inference, mastering the more classical deterministic methods of calculus, or (for future teachers of elementary school children) to actively engage fundamental mathematical concepts in the ways that we would have them to teach: to explore, investigate, validate, discuss, represent and construct.
2. To enable students to become confident in their ability to do mathematics and to grasp the implications of the many mathematical concepts that permeate our livesconcepts such as chance, rates of change, logic, and graphs.
3. To develop in students the ability to communicate and to reason mathematically because math-ematics today involves much more than calculation. Clarification of the problem, formulating alternatives, developing appropriate tools, and analyzing the consequences are all part of mathematical communication and reasoning.
Science is required of Clemson undergraduates to achieve two goals. The first goal is to expose students to the scientific philosophy that the natural world is mechanistic and largely predictable and can be systematically studied using empirical methods. Mastery of these methods requires particular reasoning skills. Following successful completion of the physical/biological science requirement, students should have an understanding of the relationship among hypotheses, experiments, and theories. They should be able to use the methods of scientific inquiry such as framing a question precisely, developing hypotheses, designing experiments, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and making a defensible claim.
The second goal is to familiarize the students with the major principles and theories of a particular science, its historical development, and its significance for a broader world. This knowledge will give students the factual basis needed to practice the scientific method successfully in a particular discipline.
The humanities is a broad category of study concerned with human nature, thought, emotion, values, interrelations, and culture. Unlike the sciences and the social sciences, the field of humanities is designed principally to insure that all students receive a balance of courses which generally are not applied or performance based. Specifically, the courses which fulfill the humanities general education requirement should build the following competencies: a reflective habit of mind, self and social awareness, a knowledge and appreciation of the development of our culture and those foreign to ours, a heightened aesthetic and ethical sensibility, an understanding of the diverse forms of expression, the ability to think critically, and good communication skills. Humanities courses should develop as many of these competencies as possible.
The general education social science requirement will introduce students to human social and cultural diversity. The courses will provide students with a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of human actions. The social science courses will also reinforce communication skills and challenge students to enhance their critical thinking and intellectual development.