University Core Curriculum
The University Core Curriculum
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Kate Koppelman, PhD, Director, University Core Curriculum
The University Core Curriculum is the academic “center of gravity” of a Seattle University undergraduate education. Deeply rooted in a more than 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 Jesuit Traditions, Engaging the World, and Reflection. 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 website: (www.seattleu.edu/core/). Core requirements differ slightly depending on previous credits earned as well as a student’s major. 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 who are 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 or MATH 1010 or above courses of 5 credits)
- UCOR 1300 - Creative Expression and Interpretation
- UCOR 1400 - Inquiry Seminar in the Humanities
- UCOR 1600 - Inquiry Seminar in the Social Sciences
- UCOR 1800 - Inquiry Seminar in the Natural Sciences (Fulfilled by: UCOR 1800, 1810, BIOL 1610/1611 , BIOL 2200, 2220, CHEM 1500/1501, PHYS 1050/1501, or PHYS 1210/1211)
Module II: Engaging Jesuit Traditions (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:
- UCOR 2100 - Theological Explorations (Prerequisite: UCOR 1100)
- UCOR 2500 - Philosophy of the Human Person (Prerequisite: UCOR 1100)
- UCOR 2900 - Ethical Reasoning (Fulfilled by: UCOR 2900, 2910 or 2920; Prerequisite: UCOR 2500)
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:
- UCOR 3100 - Religion in a Global Context (Prerequisite: UCOR 2100)
Students take 2 of the following Global Challenges courses as designated by their major:
- UCOR 3400 - Humanities and Global Challenges
- UCOR 3600 - Social Sciences and Global Challenges
- UCOR 3800 - Natural Sciences and Global Challenges
The prerequisites for all Global Challenges courses are 75 earned credits and the corresponding inquiry seminar (or designated equivalent course listed above). Additionally, UCOR 1200 (or designated equivalent course listed above) is a prerequisite for UCOR 3600 and UCOR 3800.
Students may consult their major requirements in the Academic Catalog for the designation of Global Challenges courses required for their major. Note that students who are double-majoring must only take the Global Challenges courses required for their primary major. Students seeking a double degree must complete the Global Challenges courses required for both majors.
Module IV: Reflection (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)
Prior Learning Assessment (AP, IB, etc.)
A limited number of UCOR courses can be satisfied through prior learning assessments. The specific exams, minimum scores, and course equivalents are detailed in the relevant policies (#75-16 and #99-1).
UCOR courses eligible for prior learning assessment include:
UCOR 1100 - Academic Writing Seminar
UCOR 1200 - Quantitative Reasoning (or MATH 1010 or above courses of 5 credits)
UCOR 1300 - Creative Expression and Interpretation
BIOL 1610/1611, BIOL 2200, BIOL 2220, CHEM 1500/1501, PHYS 1050/1051, or PHYS 1210/1211 for UCOR 1800 - Inquiry Seminar in the Natural Sciences. (Introductory science courses designed for non-majors are not accepted for UCOR 1800.)
Running Start credits are treated as transfer credits (see below).
University Core Curriculum Requirements for Transfer Students
For full details regarding the Core requirements for transfer students, please see the University Core Curriculum Policy #2012-1 on the Office of the Registrar’s website (http://www.seattleu.edu/redhawk-axis/).
General principles regarding transfer courses:
- Once a student has matriculated at Seattle University only the following University Core courses can be fulfilled with courses transferred from accredited domestic institutions:
UCOR 1100 - Academic Writing Seminar
MATH 1010 or above courses of 5 credits to fulfill UCOR 1200 - Quantitative Reasoning
UCOR 1300 - Creative Expression and Interpretation
BIOL 1610/1611, BIOL 2200, BIOL 2220, CHEM 1500/1501, PHYS 1050/1051, or PHYS 1210/1211 to fulfill UCOR 1800 - Inquiry Seminar in the Natural Sciences. (Introductory science courses designed for non-majors are not accepted for UCOR 1800.)
UCOR 3100 - Religion in a Global Context
Exception: Because the following courses are not available within the School of New and Continuing Studies (NCS), NCS students may also transfer courses from accredited domestic institutions after matriculation in order to complete the following Core requirements. Transfer evaluation is based on categorical substitution.
- UCOR 1400 - Inquiry Seminar in the Humanities
- UCOR 1600 - Inquiry Seminar in the Social Sciences
- UCOR 3400 - Humanities and Global Challenges
- UCOR 3600 - Social Sciences and Global Challenges
- 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 Transfer 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: where the course content of the transfer course approximately matches the content and objectives of the SU Core requirement
2) Categorical Substitution: evaluation based on subject area or discipline (see the University Core Curriculum Policy #2012-1 for details)
I. Students transferring with up to 84 credits prior to first enrollment at SU:
The following courses are fulfilled through transfer based on direct equivalency:
- UCOR 1100 - Academic Writing Seminar
- UCOR 1200 - Quantitative Reasoning
- UCOR 1300 - Creative Expression and Interpretation
- UCOR 3100 - Religion in a Global Context
The Module I Inquiry Seminars are fulfilled with transfer credit based on categorical substitution.
II. Students transferring with 85 credits prior to first enrollment at SU, but without a transferrable degree
The following courses are fulfilled through transfer based on direct equivalency:
- UCOR 1100 - Academic Writing Seminar
- UCOR 1200 - Quantitative Reasoning
- UCOR 1300 - Creative Expression and Interpretation
The Module I Inquiry Seminars are fulfilled with transfer credit based on categorical substitution.
- UCOR 3100 - Religion in a Global Context course is waived.
One Module III Global Challenges course may be fulfilled with transfer credit based on categorical substitution. Students will complete one Global Challenges course at Seattle University, specified by major (see major requirements for details).
III. Students transferring with 90 credits prior to first enrollment at SU, with an Associate in Science - Transfer Degree (AS-T) from Washington Community Colleges (as defined in Transfer Policy #77-1)
The following courses are fulfilled through transfer based on direct equivalency:
- UCOR 1100 - Academic Writing Seminar
- UCOR 1200 - Quantitative Reasoning
- UCOR 1300 - Creative Expression and Interpretation
The Module I Inquiry Seminars are fulfilled with transfer credit based on categorical substitution.
- UCOR 3100 - Religion in a Global Context course is waived.
One Module III Global Challenges course is satisfied through application of AS-T credits.
Students must complete one Global Challenges course at Seattle University, specified by major (see major requirements for details).
- Exception: Albers School of Business and Economics students fulfill this requirement in the major with INBU 3200 or ECON 3130.
- Exception: Diagnostic Ultrasound students fulfill this requirement in the major with DIUS 3700.
IV. Students transferring with 90 credits prior to first enrollment at SU, with a Direct Transfer Associate Degree (DTA) from Washington Community Colleges (or equivalent as defined in Transfer Policy #77-1)
The following courses are satisfied by the DTA-Associates degree:
- All of Module I is satisfied by the DTA degree
- UCOR 3100 - Religion in a Global Context course is waived
- One Module III Global Challenges course is waived.
Students must complete one Global Challenges course at Seattle University, specified by major (see major requirements for details).
- Exception: Albers School of Business and Economics students fulfill this requirement in the major with INBU 3200 or ECON 3130.
- Exception: Diagnostic Ultrasound students fulfill this requirement in the major with DIUS 3700.
V. Students entering Seattle University with a first degree from an accredited US institution
Most of the University Core is waived. The following courses must be fulfilled at Seattle University:
- UCOR 2100 - Theological Explorations
- UCOR 2900 - Ethical Reasoning
VI. Students entering Seattle University with a first degree from a non-US institution
The following courses are fulfilled through transfer based on direct equivalency:
- UCOR 1100 - Academic Writing Seminar
- UCOR 1200 - Quantitative Reasoning
- UCOR 1300 - Creative Expression and Interpretation
- Module I inquiry seminars are waived.
- UCOR 2500 - Philosophy of the Human Person is waived.
- UCOR 3100 Religion in a Global Context is waived.
The two Module III Global Challenges courses may be fulfilled with transfer credit based on categorical substitution.
VII. Students entering the School of New and Continuing Studies (NCS) with 60 or more credits (per NCS admission requirement)
The following courses are fulfilled through transfer based on direct equivalency:
- UCOR 1100 - Academic Writing Seminar
- UCOR 1200 - Quantitative Reasoning
- UCOR 1300 - Creative Expression and Interpretation
The Module I Inquiry Seminars are fulfilled with transfer credit based on categorical substitution.
- UCOR 3100 - Religion in a Global Context course is waived.
UCOR 3800 requirement must be completed at Seattle University with courses offered by NCS.
The second Global Challenge course (UCOR 3400 or UCOR 3600 as designated by major) may be satisfied via transfer through categorical substitution.
Students entering NCS with a first undergraduate degree from an accredited US institution or a first undergraduate degree from a non-US institution should follow the same transfer rules as noted for all SU colleges in sections VI and VII above.
VIII. University Core Requirements for Readmitted Students
Students readmitted to Seattle University are subject to the Core requirements in effect at the time of their readmission (See Readmission Requirements, Policy #76-10). Readmitted students’ coursework will be evaluated based on the transfer student rules described above as determined by the number of credits earned at the time of readmission, and any degrees earned prior to first enrollment at SU. There are two exceptions to these rules:
- Students who return having earned fewer than 36 credits from Seattle University and who have not taken additional coursework at another institution after leaving SU will be evaluated using the rules for 36-84 credits, thereby allowing categorical substitution of Module I Inquiry Seminars using previous SU Core courses. Non-SU courses may not be used for categorical substitution unless the student returns with 36 or more credits.
- UCOR 3100 will not be waived for students who return to Seattle University with 85 or more credits unless THRS 300-399 was waived during their previous attendance.
SU courses that were not approved Core courses when taken may not be used to fulfill Core requirements upon readmission. Appropriate prior SU courses may be accepted for Module II requirements.