The undergraduate curriculum at the University primarily consists of the courses a student takes in an academic major and the general education curriculum required of all students, regardless of major. General education comprises those courses and areas of study that the University believes are important for all undergraduates to study. Such courses help students develop the skills of reading, writing, discussion, quantitative reasoning and inquiry that enable them to do well in all their studies; they provide background information and context for a student’s major studies; they address those questions and issues as well as develop those methods and habits of mind, which students will need not only as practitioners in a profession but as citizens and human beings in today’s world.
University General Education Requirements
The general education curriculum is structured in terms of three developmental levels:
- Level I courses are addressed specifically to incoming first year students. These courses are designed to help freshmen successfully negotiate the transition from high school to university study.
- Level II courses introduce students to the many different fields of academic inquiry and knowledge from the arts through the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences by asking students to meet distribution requirements in these different areas.
- Level III Interdisciplinary Seminar challenges students to integrate what they have learned in their other studies by moving beyond the particular perspectives of isolated disciplines towards a more satisfying and comprehensive understanding of a question, problem or issue.
Total hours in General Education |
52-58 hours |
Level I: Introduction to University Learning |
16 hours |
| Transitions (TRANS 100) | 1 hour |
| First-Year Seminar (FYS 175) | 3 hours |
| The Examined Life (PHIL 140) | 3 hours |
| Rhetoric and Writing (ENGL 120) | 3 hours |
| Speech Fundamentals (COMM 101) | 3 hours |
| Mathematics (3 hours) | 3 hours |
Level II: Broadening Learning in the Arts and Sciences |
27-33 hours** |
| Natural Science: | |
| Life Science | 3 hours |
| Physical Science | 3 hours |
| Social Sciences: | |
| 2 courses in different disciplines | 6 hours |
| History: | |
| 2 courses | 6 hours |
| Art, Humanities, Music, Literature: | |
| 2 courses in different disciplines | 6 hours |
| Philosophy: | |
| 1 course | 3 hours |
| Religious Studies: | |
| 2 courses | 6 hours |
Level III: Integrating Learning and Experience |
3 hours |
| Interdisciplinary Seminar-see note 8 below | 3 hours |
Other General Education Requirements |
|
| Diversity Studies - 2 courses | 6 hours |
| Global Studies - 2 courses | 6 hours |
Degree Specific Requirements |
6 hours*** |
*Honors students and students in Continuing and Professional Studies should see the pages for these programs for variations in general education requirements.
**Up to six hours of Level II requirements can be met by the First Year Seminar and the Interdisciplinary Seminar. See the first two entries in Notes and Explanations below.
***The total general education hours include the 6 hours of degree specific requirements discussed immediately below.
Degree Specific Requirements
For the B.A. Degree: Six hours of foreign language, or foreign culture, or global studies courses or a combination of these, beyond the 6 hours of global studies indicated under "Other General Education Requirements."
For the B.S. Degree: Six hours of mathematics courses, or science courses, or a combination of these, as required by the major or professional program.
For the B.B.A. Degree: Either (a) 6 hours of mathematics courses, or science courses, or a combination of these; or (b) 6 hours of foreign language, or foreign culture or global studies courses; or (c) 3 hours of mathematics or science courses, or 3 hours of foreign language, foreign culture or global studies courses.
General Education Transfer Policy
All transfer students must take ACSU 101: Transfer Student Orientation. It meets once, for no cost, and carries 0 credit hours. This is a graduation requirement for transfer students.
Transfer students with fewer than 30 hours
All requirements of the general education curriculum.
Transfer students with more than 30 hours
Students who have completed the Illinois Articulation Initiative General Education Core Curriculum (IAI/GECC) requirements (37-41 hours) must take the following additional mission based courses at SXU in order to fulfill their general education requirements:
- Philosophy 150: The Examined Life
- One Religious Studies Course
- Interdisciplinary Seminar
Students who enter the University with all but 6 hours of the IAI/GECC can complete the general education core curriculum here and then must take at SXU the same three mission-based courses noted above.
All other students will be evaluated on an individual basis.
Notes and Explanations Regarding the General Education Curriculum
- The Level I First Year Seminar will generally also fulfill and the Level III Interdisciplinary Seminar may also fulfill a Level II distribution requirement in the discipline that offers the course (e.g., an Interdisciplinary Seminar on philosophy and biology offered by the Philosophy Department would also fulfill a Level II distribution requirement in philosophy).
- The overall number of general education hours ranges from 52 credit hours (when the First Year Seminar and the Interdisciplinary Seminar each also fulfills a Level II distribution requirement) to 58 credit hours (when neither the Interdisciplinary Seminar nor the First Year Seminar also meet Level II distribution requirements).
- All four-year students take a placement exam in mathematics before entering the University on this basis they will take the most challenging mathematics course for which they are prepared for the Level I mathematics requirement.
- General education courses may also count towards a major or minor program. (Students need to check the major and minor requirements of specific programs.)
- The 6 credit hour requirements in diversity studies and global studies are not additional courses beyond those required in Levels I through III. Rather some general education courses and some courses in the major are designated diversity or global studies courses. Students need to make sure that two of their courses at the University are diversity studies courses and that two of their courses are global studies courses. This information can be found by using CLAWS.
- A diversity or global studies course may fulfill both a Level II distribution requirement and a requirement in a major.
- Quite generally, students need to be aware that a given course may fulfill more than one requirement. For example:
- A particular First Year Seminar may fulfill a Level II distribution requirement and also fulfill a diversity or global studies requirement (a First Year Seminar in Mexican history, e.g., might also fulfill a Level II history requirement and a global studies requirement).
- An Interdisciplinary Seminar course may fulfill a Level II distribution requirement and also count towards a major (an Interdisciplinary Seminar in philosophy and drama, e.g., might also fulfill a Level II distribution requirement in philosophy and count towards the philosophy major as well).
- For students entering in 2012-13: B.A. students must take two courses in foreign language, foreign culture, global studies or a combination of these beyond the two courses in these areas required of all general education students at the University. This is a degree requirement specific to the B.A. degree.
- The Interdisciplinary Seminar serves as a capstone requirement in the general education program and has the following prerequisites: ENGL 102/120 and PHIL 140/150.
Previous General Education Curriculum (57 credit hours)
Students entering Saint Xavier University before fall 2010 must meet the requirements of the previous general education curriculum:
Writing
English 101: Critical Thinking and Writing
English 102: Research and Writing
Communication
Communication 101: Speech Fundamentals
Philosophy
Philosophy 150: The Examined Life
One additional Philosophy Department course beyond Philosophy 150.
Religious Studies
Two courses from the Religious Studies Department.
Literature/Fine Arts
Two literature and/or fine arts courses selected from the designated listings in art, music, humanities, English, foreign language and speech.
History
Two courses from the History Department.
Social Science
Three courses from the areas of anthropology, sociology, psychology, political science, economics and social science. No more than 6 credit hours may be selected from any one discipline.
Mathematics
One mathematics course from the Mathematics Department.
Natural Science
Two courses from the listings in biology, chemistry, physical science (includes astronomy, geology, meteorology) or physics.
To fulfill B.A. degree requirements:
Foreign language /foreign culture
The B.A. requires 6 additional credit hours of foreign language/culture. Any natural foreign language course qualifies. Foreign culture includes any course focusing on the literature and/or civilization of a specific society outside the Anglo-American tradition.*
To fulfill B.S. degree requirements:
Mathematics/science
The B.S. degree requires 6 additional credit hours of mathematics-science courses required by the major or professional program.
To fulfill B.B.A. requirements:
The B.B.A. requires 6 additional credit hours of math/science or 6 additional credit hours of foreign language/culture or 3 credit hours of math/science and 3 credit hours of foreign language/culture.
*Foreign culture courses are offered by a variety of disciplines. These can be found as course types on CLAWS. See the inset above. Education/teacher certification students should note that courses satisfying the SXU foreign culture requirement do not necessarily fulfill the state requirement for a multicultural course. An appropriate academic advisor should be consulted.
Notes and Explanations Regarding the Previous General Education Curriculum
- A major, minor or supportive course may fulfill a general education requirement where appropriate, thereby allowing such courses to fulfill both a requirement in general education and a requirement in the major.
- A single course, which may correspond with two general education requirements, may not fulfill two general education requirements simultaneously (e.g., a course in Latin American literature could not fulfill both a general education requirement in literature/fine arts and a general education requirement in foreign language/foreign culture). In such a case, a student must designate which requirement the course is to fulfill.
- In selecting among options for fulfill general education requirements, the student must satisfy all designated prerequisites.
