University Core Curriculum
The University Core Curriculum
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Jeffrey S. Philpott, PhD, Director
The University Core Curriculum is the academic “center of gravity” of a Seattle University undergraduate education. Deeply rooted in the 450 year old Jesuit educational tradition, and emphasizing rigorous, intentional, and engaging courses, the University Core helps students understand the world deeply, develop strong intellectual skills, and prepare to be thoughtful and empowered leaders for a better world.
The 60-credit University Core Curriculum consists of a total of 12 five-credit courses plus a disciplinary capstone course of at least three credits incorporated in each major. The curriculum is built around four main learning objectives, and the course work to develop the knowledge, skills, and values identified in those learning objectives takes place across four modules: Engaging Academic Inquiry, Engaging the Self, Engaging the World, and Reflection and Awareness. The University Core is designed as a four year program, with students taking Core courses throughout their SU experience.
All Core courses use UCOR as a departmental code, and each course number refers to a variety of sections with different topics. The topics and individual section titles for each course are listed on SUOnline and a guide to all of the available UCOR sections is available on the University Core web site: (www.seattleu.edu/core/curriculum/). Core requirements differ slightly depending on students’ majors. See the relevant major section in this Catalog for details.
University Core Curriculum Learning Objectives
Jesuit, Catholic Intellectual Traditions: Through knowledge of Jesuit, Catholic intellectual traditions and understanding of diverse religious traditions, students will reflect on questions of meaning, spirituality, ethics, values, and justice
Disciplinary Knowledge and Integrative Learning: By studying humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, and fine arts, students will learn how different disciplines pursue knowledge. They will learn disciplinary ways of posing questions, gathering and analyzing evidence, developing cogent arguments, and engaging issues related to nature, culture, and society. Students will also learn to integrate knowledge and explore their intellectual passions
Communication: Students will be able to communicate effectively in a variety of genres and for different audiences and purposes through writing, speaking, and visual expression
Global Engagement: Students will examine their roles in local, regional, national, and transnational cultures and communities. Students will be prepared to act, from an informed perspective, on local and global issues that surround and affect them.
The Curriculum
Module I: Engaging Academic Inquiry (30 credits)
Module I is a move into the academy: helping students develop critical academic skills and learn how major disciplinary approaches of the academy make sense of the world, while learning important content from particular disciplines within each approach. Two key goals of Module I are to get students interested in the questions that drive academic inquiry and to experience how scholars go about trying to find answers to those questions. This will help students make the transition to college, but also help prepare them to be curious, life-long learners—interested in important and meaningful questions and able to understand and evaluate knowledge claims from a variety of perspectives.
Module I Courses:
- UCOR 1100 - Academic Writing Seminar
- UCOR 1200 - Quantitative Reasoning (Fulfilled by: UCOR 1200, MATH 118, 120, 130, 131, 134, 135, or 141)
- UCOR 1300 - Creative Expression and Interpretation
- UCOR 1400 - Inquiry Seminar in the Humanities (Fulfilled by: UCOR 1410, 1420, 1430, or 1440)
- UCOR 1600 - Inquiry Seminar in the Social Sciences (Fulfilled by: UCOR 1610, 1620, 1630 or 1640)
- UCOR 1800 - Inquiry Seminar in the Natural Sciences (Fulfilled by: UCOR 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, BIOL 161/171, BIOL 200, PHYS 105, PHYS 121, or CHEM 121/131)
Module II: Exploring the Self and Others (15 credits)
Module II invites students to reflect on personhood: These courses help students learn to examine fundamental assumptions they make about themselves and how they think about existence. The courses in this module ask them to explore questions that transcend any particular time or place and to examine themselves and what they take for granted. Emphasis on deep, critical reflection and ethical/spiritual analysis and discernment is key here, based on the Jesuit educational tradition.
Module II Courses:
Module III: Engaging the World (15 credits)
Module III is a move out into the world: while the Module I classes invite students into those disciplines by introducing them to key disciplinary questions, content, and approaches, the Module III courses move in the other direction: using different disciplinary approaches to help students more effectively understand and engage important issues and challenges they will face as globally engaged persons.
Module III Courses:
Students take 2 of the following courses as designated by their major (consult major requirements or the Core web site for details):
Module IV: Reflection and Awareness (3 credits minimum in the major)
Module IV involves reflection. By combining major capstone experiences with an opportunity to reflect on their educational experience and growth, the Core helps students identify and “own” portions of their educational experience that are particularly meaningful to them
Module IV courses
- Disciplinary Capstone: 3 or more credits in designated major course (see major requirements for details)
University Core Curriculum Requirements for Transfer Students
For full details regarding the Core requirements for transfer students, please see the University Core Curriculum Policy 2012-01 on the Office of the Registrar’s website.
General principles regarding transfer courses:
- Non Seattle University courses being taken for University Core credit as part of an education abroad experience must be approved by the Core Director prior to enrollment. Please submit the Education Abroad Course Approval form.
- Students transferring from another Jesuit institution may submit a petition to the Core Director regarding potential transfer credit for courses in Module II. Otherwise, these courses must be completed at Seattle University.
- See Policy #77-1 regarding minimum grade requirements for transfer courses.
- Courses are evaluated for transfer on two different bases, depending on what Core requirement is involved (see below):
1) Direct Equivalency: comparison of specific course content
2) Categorical Substitution: evaluation based on subject area or discipline (see the Policy 2012-01 University Core Curriculum for details (www.seattleu.edu/registrar/Policies.aspx).
I. Students transferring with fewer than 36 credits:
The following courses are fulfilled through transfer based on direct equivalency:
II. Students Transferring with 36-89 credits prior to first enrollment at SU:
The following courses are fulfilled through transfer based on direct equivalency:
The Module I Inquiry Seminars are fulfilled with transfer credit based on categorical substitution.
III. Students Transferring with 90 credits prior to first enrollment at SU, but no transferrable degree
The following courses are fulfilled through transfer based on direct equivalency:
The Module I Inquiry Seminars are fulfilled with transfer credit based on categorical substitution.
One Module III Global Challenges course are fulfilled with transfer credit based on the categorical substitution.
IV. Students Transferring with 90 credits prior to first enrollment at SU, with a transferrable AST degree.
The following courses are fulfilled through transfer based on direct equivalency:
The Module I Inquiry Seminars are fulfilled with transfer credit based on categorical substitution.
One Module III Global Challenges course is waived. Students will complete one Global Challenges course at Seattle University, specified by major (see major requirements for details).
V. Students Transferring with 90 credits prior to first enrollment at SU, with a transferrable DTA degree or similar as defined in Policy #77-01.
The following courses are satisfied by the DTA-Associates degree:
VI. Second Undergraduate Degree where the first degree is from an accredited US institution.
Most of the University Core is waived. The following courses must be fulfilled at Seattle University:
VII. Second Undergraduate Degree where the first degree is from a foreign institution
The following courses are fulfilled through transfer based on direct equivalency: