Minor in the Core Curriculum

The minor in the Core Curriculum offers students an integrated and interdisciplinary pathway bringing together the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences in context. The Core minor enables students to gain a liberal arts foundation for any major or field of study, while benefiting from the interconnections built into the sequence of Core texts, art, and ideas that have shaped our world.

Benefits of the Core Minor

• An opportunity for continuous and integrated study. The Core minor allows students to go beyond courses taken for general education requirements and synthesize the primary texts and ideas that are at the heart of a liberal arts education.
• Community. The Core minor invites students into a learning community of self-selected peers interested in a liberal arts education as the foundation for any major of study.
• Interdisciplinary scope. Completion of the Core minor enables students to pursue knowledge across disciplinary boundaries, from the ancient to the modern world and from religion and the visual arts to the Big Bang and individual rights. The foundation that the Core minor provides gives context to big ideas for students in any major.
• Core minor and Hub. All Core courses fulfilled for the Core minor satisfy multiple and different Hub requirements.

All students choosing to take the Core minor are encouraged to participate in their choice of a selection of other opportunities made available through Core, such as the Core Cocurricular Docent Program; Core Honors; the Core Journal Cocurricular; Core Peer Tutors; the winter break study trip to Florence, Italy; the spring break trip to London, England; Core’s digital and multimedia course (CC 320); a public speaking course (CC 318); as well as the Word & Way Society, Core’s SLIC student group.

Learning Outcomes

• Students who complete the Core minor will demonstrate knowledge of notable works of literature, philosophy, and visual culture and learn to evaluate important arguments from the fields of natural and social sciences. Students will be able to make meaningful connections through an interdisciplinary lens and connect their learning to multiple fields of study and to their own experience.
• Students will master skills in reading, writing, and oral communication. They will learn how to learn effectively, exercise creativity, and reflect upon all of these processes.
• Students will demonstrate the skills and vocabulary needed to reflect on issues of critical thinking, ethical questions, concerns of society and the individual, aesthetic concerns, and the validity of scientific arguments.

Requirements

Students complete the Core minor by taking the two gateway humanities courses CAS CC 101 and CC 102, and four more Core courses. At least three must come from the other six foundational Core courses: CAS CC 201/202; CAS CC 221/222; and/or CAS CC 111/212. Students may opt to take either CC 318 or CC 320 to satisfy the fourth course.

Honors Requirements

Completion of the Core with Honors requires achieving a grade of B+ or better in eight Core courses, including CAS CC 101 & CC 102 and six more from CC 201, CC 202, CC 221, CC 222, CC 111, CC 212, CC 318, or CC 320. Note: Students may take only one 300-level course to count for Core Honors. STEM majors who do not need to take CC 111/212 may take all four 200-level classes and one 300-level course. Core Honors students must also complete ONE of the following:

1. Completion of a course taken outside of (but relevant to) the Core program, and a substantial paper or project that relates material in that course to the Core program. The paper/project must be defended in front of a committee of at least three faculty members. At least one member of the committee must be from the Core faculty, and one must be from the non-Core course, OR
2. The composition and defense of a substantial paper or project on a subject that bridges at least two particular Core courses. The paper/project must be defended in front of at least three relevant faculty members from Core.