Undergraduate Day CORE Curriculum and Courses

1. Effective Communication 1 (EC1) - 4 units

Students will:

Courses that Fulfills the Requirements

EC 1000 - This course may be offered as Writing Intensive (denoted with a + and offering students additional writing instruction with attention to grammar and mechanics) or Service-Learning

HONO 1100- This course may be offered as a Service Learning course  where academic content is applied and enriched through work with community partners addressing social/environmental issues. Community-engagement may occur during scheduled class meetings or may be integrated into the overall homework expectation and course load.

2. Effective Communication 2 (EC 2) (4 units)

Students will:

• Demonstrate advanced critical thinking through such methods as summary, evaluation, synthesis, and integration of research; 
• Create effective, original, and argumentative rhetoric across media (oral, visual, and written) appropriate to topic, purpose, and audience; topics and issues may include problem solving, civic engagement, and/or positing policy or social change;
• Apply understanding of how communication shapes and is shaped by difference (including but not limited to categories such as race, gender, sexuality, age and class) and reflect on one’s own place in a broader social context;
• Evaluate source material, synthesize new concepts, and apply deduction, induction, and/or logic for advanced argumentative research purposes; use proper citation and documentation.

Courses that Fulfill the Requirement

Prerequisite:

• An Effective Communication 1 course (EC 1000 or HONO 1100)

EC 2000: This course may be offered as Writing Intensive (denoted with a + and offering students additional writing instruction with attention to grammar and mechanics) or Service-Learning.

3. Quantitative Literacy and Social Issues (4 units)

Students will:

• Develop capacities of quantitative reasoning to interpret, analyze, apply, and explain data (information) presented in mathematical forms;
• Recognize and evaluate assumptions in estimation, modeling, and data analysis;
• Calculate mathematical problems, and communicate quantitative evidence in support of an argument;
• Apply quantitative reasoning skills using data analysis, probability, and statistics through examples related to current world debates, inquiries, and problems;
• Gain and act with confidence to work through problems using quantitative reasoning.

Courses that Fulfill the Requirement

Students in some majors and minors with an expanded quantitative reasoning requirement may double-dip those courses and are exempt from this requirement. Those are majors and minors offered by the following disciplines at Dominican: The Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Mathematics.

4. Science for Global Citizens (SCI) (4 units)

Students will:

• Examine and apply the fundamental principles of the scientific discipline (true for each course) in a manner that illustrates connections among science, technology, and society;
• Engage in the scientific method through laboratory and fieldwork to examine key elements of the science and conduct independent exploration, using observational and direct measurement techniques for primary data collection;
• Analyze, evaluate, manipulate, and interpret data to draw conclusions.

Courses that Fulfill the Requirement

Students in some majors and minors with an expanded natural science requirement may double-dip those courses and are exempt from this requirement. Those are majors and minors offered by the following disciplines at Dominican: The Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Dance, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Health Sciences/Pre-Occupational Therapy, and Nursing.

5. Artistic and Creative Expression (ACE) (4 units)

Students will:

• Develop competencies in creative thinking, artistic skills, and in the recognition of the diversity of artistic expressions;
• Apply creative thinking and artistic practice to unique self or collective expressions;
• Design, create, and present or practice and perform works of art for an audience;
• Reflect or articulate on the creative process, product, performance, artistic skill, aesthetics, or creative practice.

Courses that Fulfill the Requirement

Students in some majors and minors with an expanded creative arts requirement may double-dip those courses and are exempt from this requirement. Those are majors and minors offered by the following disciplines at Dominican: Dance and Music.

6. Social Sciences: Understanding Human Behavior (SSHB) (4 units)

Students will:

• Effectively communicate an understanding of the research method(s) used by the discipline.
• Critically evaluate theory(s) in the discipline that have been put forth to explain some aspect of human behavior.
• Reflect critically on individual identity and responsibilities as citizens of diverse communities.

Courses that Fulfill the Requirement

7. Civic Knowledge and Engagement (CKE) (4 units)

Students will:

• Identify and analyze no less than three of the following content areas: political structures, social systems, cultural trends, and/or historical change over time in the U.S. and/or other countries.
• Critically analyze a pressing political, social, or environmental issue using multiple sources of information. This analysis includes evaluating evidence through the interpretation of primary sources to develop informed arguments about historical and/or contemporary issues and/or drawing on community-based perspectives and experiences.
• Engage with local and local and/or global communities to build civic knowledge and skills, and reflect critically on their roles and responsibilities as members of diverse communities and societies.

Courses that Fulfill the Requirement

8. An Examined Life (EL) (4 units)

Students will:

• Comprehend theories and methods of the discipline under study and its modes of ethical inquiry;
• Analyze contemporary issues with attention to their ethical dimensions and the application of theory to practice
• Demonstrate an awareness of differing values and ethical perspectives.

Courses that Fulfill the Requirement

9. Purpose and Meaning (PM) (4 units)

Students will:

• Identify and contextualize key features of at least one religious and/or philosophical point of view;
• Analyze the ethical implications of these key features for dealing with problems in contemporary social life;
• Connect inquiry into those key features with their personal quest for meaning and well-being.

Courses that Fulfill the Requirement

10. Team-Taught Course Requirement (4 units)

This requirement applies only to those students who were enrolled prior to Fall 2019 and who did not complete the Colloquium requirement within the former General Education program. Several team-taught courses will be offered each semester.