Page 5 Goals of the General Education Program
The General Education Program teaches the skills and knowledge needed to intelligently
participate in public discourse. Mastery of critical content and the development of skills
occur concurrently in all General Education courses.
Knowledge Goals
1. The major areas of human investigation and accomplishment — the arts,
the humanities, the mathematical sciences, the natural sciences, and the
social sciences.
A generally educated person is able to understand a variety of disciplinary perspectives, their
respective contributions to the growth of human knowledge, and the various approaches
through which knowledge is generated, tested, and used.
2. An understanding of one’s own culture and the cultures of others.
A generally educated person is able to comprehend and respond constructively to the world’s
diversity, a diversity manifested not only in ideas and ways of knowing but also in populations
and cultures. As citizens of the United States, students should be familiar with our pluralistic
heritage. As citizens of the world, students should be knowledgeable about cultures and
perspectives different from their own.
3. The tradition of humane inquiry that informs moral and ethical choices.
A generally educated person is able to identify the values that shape his/her choices, assess the
consequences of those choices, and understand alternate value perspectives. This enables one
to make informed choices in light of ethical, moral, and practical concerns.
Skills Goals
1. To engage in articulate expression through effective writing and speaking.
A generally educated person has mastered the various forms of written and oral communication
that permit full participation in a society and world dependent on the free interchange of ideas
and information.
2. To think critically and creatively.
A generally educated person is able to think logically and creatively. Expressiveness, imagination,
and originality are needed for innovation. Innovative ideas must be subjected to critical evaluation,
which involves distinguishing information, judgment, and assumption; evaluating evidence and
the logic of arguments; identifying and assessing differing perspectives and assumptions; and
reasoning systematically in support of arguments.
3. To locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
A generally educated person is able to locate, gather, assess, and process information from a
variety of sources, and evaluate and use that information as the basis of informed judgments
and intelligent decisions.
4. To integrate different areas of knowledge and view ideas from multiple
perspectives.
A generally educated person is able to correlate and synthesize facts, basic concepts, and disparate
knowledge into a coherent and meaningful whole. Making sense of a variety of data and experiences
allows one to address human concerns in a broader way than can be accomplished through any one
discipline.