Step 2) Understand the term "liberal arts" and the umw degree requirements
General Education Courses
Each student must complete the required number of credits in all of these eight GOAL areas. These requirements may be completed by UMW coursework, by approved equivalent transfer coursework, or by equivalent AP or IB credit as defined by the University's AP-IB Policy. No General Education coursework may be completed on a Pass/Fail basis.
A student with an appropriate VCCS Associate's degree (from the Virginia Community College System) will have satisfied Goals 1-6 and 8. Students that have a VCCS transfer Associate's degree must still either complete Goal 7 or transfer in coursework for an appropriate 202-level language course.
GOALS 1-8 REQUIREMENTS FOR BA/BS STUDENTS:
GOAL 1: The ability to write logically, clearly, and precisely; the ability to acquire, organize, present, and document ideas and information. (3 credits)
ENGL 101
OR
A score 3 or better on the AP English Language/Composition Exam, OR scores of 670 or higher on BOTH the Critical Reading and Writing portions of the SAT.
Note: This exemption policy only applies to students who took the new three-part SAT beginning in March 2005. Students who took the old SAT tests prior to March 2005 need to submit scores from the SAT Verbal AND the SAT-II Writing Tests of 670 or higher to exempt English 101. SAT test scores earn you a waiver, but they do not earn academic credit.
GOAL 2: An understanding of mathematical thoughts and the ability to conceptualize and apply mathematical logic to problem-solving. (6 credits, 3 of which must be a MATH course)
| MATH 110 | CPSC 110 |
| MATH 115A | CPSC 125A (Crosslisted as MATH 125A) |
| MATH 121 | CPSC 220 |
| MATH 122 | CPSC 230A |
| MATH 125A (Crosslisted as CPSC 125A) | MUTH 181A |
| MATH 200 | PHIL 151B |
GOAL 3: An appreciation of major contributions of science to an understanding of the natural world and to the possible solution to contemporary problems; the application of laboratory science methods to the acquisition of knowledge through a two-semester vertically-building sequence of laboratory courses in the same discipline. (8 credits)
| BIOL 121-122 | GEOL 111-112A |
| CHEM 105A-106A | PHYS 101-102 |
| CHEM 111-112 | PHYS 105-106 |
| GEOG 110-111 (Renumberd in fall 2007 from GEOG 210A-211A, which stood from fall 2003 - spring 2007) |
GOAL 4: An understanding of human culture as expressed in artistic achievements and as revealed in literature. (6 credits with one course in arts and one in literature)
Arts: |
Literature: |
ARTS 101* (not offered fall 2007) |
CLAS 110 |
| ARTS 102* (not offered fall 2007) | ENGL 205 |
ARTH 114A |
ENGL 206A |
| ARTH 115A | MDFL 201 (All Suffixes) |
CLAS 110 |
THEA 211A |
ENGL 245 |
THEA 212A |
IDIS 204 |
|
MUHL 151A |
|
| MUHL 152 | |
THEA 111 |
GOAL 5: An understanding of the intellectual foundations and development of western civilization. (6 credits)
| CLAS 101 | MATH 207 |
| GEOG 205 | PHIL 102 |
| HISP 101 | PHIL 201 |
| HIST 121 | PHIL 202 |
| HIST 122 | RELG 103 |
| HIST 131 | RELG 205 |
| HIST 132 | RELG 206A |
GOAL 6: An understanding of the forces shaping human behavior, social structures, institutions, and spatial relationships. (6 credits)
| ANTH 101 | PHIL 100 |
| BUAD 105 | PSCI 101A |
| ECON 201B | PSCI 102A |
| ECON 202B | PSYC 100 |
| GEOG 102 | RELG 102 |
| LING 101B | SOCG 100 |
| SOCG 200 |
GOAL 7: Intermediate-level competence in a foreign language. NOTE: Students may begin at any level of a language for which they are prepared, but must successfully complete the remaining sequence in order, without omission, through the intermediate level. (number of credits dependant upon entry-level competence)
| ARAB 101, 102, 201, 202 | SPAN 101, 102, 201A, 202A |
| FREN 101, 102, 201A, 202A | SPAN 101, 102, 205 |
| FREN 101, 102, 205 | SPAN 105, 201A, 202A |
| GERM 101, 102, 201A, 202A | SPAN 105, 205 |
| GREK 101, 102, 201, 202 | |
| ITAL 101, 102, 201, 202 | |
| LATN 101, 102, 201, 202 |
OR
Intermediate-level competence demonstrated by:
- A score of 620 or higher on any foreign language SAT II subject test or passing UMW competency test, or
- A score of 4 or higher on French Language, German Language, Latin Literature or Latin: Virgil or Spanish Language Advanced Placement Examination or a score of 5 on the Spanish Literature Advanced Placement Examination
- A score of 5 or higher on the French, German, Italian, Russian or Spanish I.B. Exam
- Successful completion of an advanced-level (300-400) foreign language course, or
- Submitting pertinent documents which verify the student has been educated through high school in a language other than English or has lived extensively in and become fluent in the language of a non-English-speaking country; demonstrating intermediate college-level (202) competency, and by successfully completing Writing Workshop (ENGL 101), or obtaining an exemption there from. No such course may be taken pass/fail.
NOTE : A student may begin at any level of the language for which he or she is prepared, but must then successfully complete the remaining sequence of courses through the 202 (intermediate) level. Any skipping of courses in the sequence, or substitution of a course at the 300 level or above in place of 202, requires permission of the instructor and also of the chair of the UMW department which offers the course in question.
GOAL 8: Physical fitness through physical activity (2 courses, 2 credits minimum)
Satisfied by 2 courses (2 credits minimum) of currently offered University of Mary Washington PHYD and DANC coursework. (2 courses required)
TO COUNT FOR GENERAL EDUCATION PURPOSES (GOALS 1-8 AND ACROSS-THE-CURRICULUM), A COURSE MUST BE DESIGNATED AS A GENERAL EDUCATION COURSE IN THE OFFICIAL SCHEDULE OF COURSES FOR THE SEMESTER IT IS TAKEN .
Across-the-Curriculum Requirements
In addition to completing the University of Mary Washington General Education requirements included in Goals 1-8, each student must meet the University's Across-the-Curriculum (ATC) requirements in the following five areas: Environmental Awareness, Global Awareness, Race/Gender Intensive, Speaking Intensive, and Writing Intensive. New students may select any of the courses described below to meet these requirements, which may be met by general education courses, electives, or courses in the major. Please note that some courses meet more than one requirement.
Please check the online schedule for the semester in which you plan to take the course to verify that it is designated as an ATC. Some courses only fulfill the requirement for certain semesters and when taught by certain instructors in specific sections. You can view the ATC designation of each individual course/section on the List of Open Courses in the "ATC" column.
Environmental Awareness: To promote an understanding of the fragility of the biosphere and the degree to which human activity can affect it. (1 course)
Global Awareness: To promote an understanding of other places, cultures, and societies. (2 courses)
Race and Gender Intensive: To ensure an understanding of race and/or gender issues in Western culture. (1 course)
Speaking Intensive: To ensure the development of competence in oral communication. (2 courses)
Writing Intensive: To ensure the development of competence in written composition. (4 courses beyond Goal 1. Exception: Students exempt from ENGL 101 through SAT scores must complete 5 Writing Intensive courses)
*The Art Department is introducing substantial changes to the studio art major in the coming year. Until the general education component of the curriculum is revised, the new entry level studio art course (ARTS 105) will not fulfill Goal 4.