Page 4 of Albion College Academic Programs by Albion College Michigan

Academic Programs: The Core Requirement At Albion, the general education requirement is referred to as "the core." Students begin to fulfill the core in their first semester with Liberal Arts 101; some will be able to complete much of the core requirement by the end of their first year. I. Liberal Arts 101 (First-Year Seminar; 1 unit) II. Modes of Inquiry (1 unit in each) Textual Analysis Artistic Creation and Analysis Scientific Analysis Modeling and Analysis Historical and Cultural Analysis III. Category Requirements (1 unit in each) Environmental Studies Ethnicity Studies Gender Studies Global Studies Students must also complete a distribution as follows: one unit in fine arts (art and art history, music, theatre, honors), two units in humanities (English, foreign languages, philosophy, religious studies, honors), two units in mathematics or natural sciences (biology, chemistry, computer science, geological sciences, mathematics, physics, honors) and two units in social science (anthropology and sociology, economics and management, history, political science, psychology, speech communication, honors). I. Liberal Arts 101: First-Year Seminars The First-Year Seminars are distinguished by their small class size and close personal attention. Students select from a wide variety of seminars in which academic skills, creativity, active inquiry and collegiality are nurtured. A distinguished convocation series unites these seminars with common threads. In addition, the First-Year Seminars foster co-curricular outreach. First-Year Seminars have the following characteristics. 1. They are inquiry-based, writing-intensive, focused on developing critical thinking skills, and they emphasize discussion. 2. They are as interdisciplinary as possible, exploring multiple modes of inquiry. 3. They nurture creativity in all forms. 4. They encourage community-building and outreach as well as co-curricular experiences. II. The Modes of Inquiry The Modes of Inquiry core requirement reflects the awareness that there are several fundamental types of analysis that scholars use to understand the world. All Albion College courses require students to employ analytical and creative tools while completing course assignments. A Mode course, however, requires both professor and student to approach the teaching and thinking process with a significantly higher level of self-awareness and intentionality. Students are required not only to think, but also to think about their thinking. Textual Analysis Analyzing a text (including works of art and music, written and oral texts, and rituals and symbols) involves understanding not only what meaning that text holds but also how those meanings are produced, what purposes they serve, and what effects they have, as well as exploring the ways in which a text conveys meaning. In order to fulfill this mode of inquiry, courses must: 1. focus on the methods of analysis employed by at least one specific discipline or area of scholarship; 2. foster inquiry into the particular strengths and weaknesses of those methods; 3. require students to analyze texts in writing; 4. foster inquiry into the intellectual or cultural systems that produce the text's meaning and effects. Artistic Creation and Analysis Courses in this mode focus on the uniquely symbolic and expressive way in which the arts explore and express ideas and feelings. In order to fulfill this mode of inquiry, courses must: Page 1 of 3 Albion College Catalog 2006-2007 Academic Programs Core Requirement 5/8/2006 http://www.albion.edu/academics/catalog/programs/core.asp

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