Liberal Learning Core Curriculum (46 semester hours minimum)

The program of study at CNU invites students to participate in a rich, multi-faceted tradition of intellectual exploration grounded in the common principles of liberal learning. Our ultimate aim is to produce empowered, informed, and responsible learners, whose key intellectual and personal attributes are enumerated below. All coursework at CNU--whether in the Liberal Learning Core, in the major, or in the advanced program of integrated study--seeks to develop, reinforce, and advance student aptitude in these primary domains.

I. Liberal Learning Foundations (18 hours minimum)

Introduces students to the expectations and habits of mind that are hallmarks of university life and the fundamental tools necessary for advanced engagement in ideas.  (No course submitted by a student for graduation to satisfy a Liberal Learning Foundations requirement may also be submitted to satisfy an Area of Inquiry requirement.)

• First Year Seminar   3 hours
• Written Communication Literacy   6 hours (with grade of C- or better)
  • 1st year   ENGL 123
  • 2nd year  ULLC 223 (Can be taken from any department offering a ULLC 223 course)
• Second Language Literacy (pdf)  3 hours minimum
• Mathematical Literacy   6 hours minimum
  • Chosen from mathematics courses above MATH 110

II. Liberal Learning Areas of Inquiry (AofI) 1,2 (22 hours minimum)

Allows students to explore important facets of themselves and their world - past, present, and future.

• Western Traditions   3 hours minimum
• Global and Multicultural Perspectives   3 hours minimum
• Investigating the Natural World ³  7 hours minimum
• Identity, Institutions, and Societies   3 hours minimum
• Creative Expressions   3 hours minimum
• Formal and Informal Reasoning   3 hours minimum

¹ No more than three hours in the discipline of the major may be presented to satisfy the Areas of Inquiry requirement.

² No more than seven hours across the Areas of Inquiry may be taken from one discipline to satisfy the Areas of Inquiry requirements. For exclusions, go to previous webpage.

³ The seven hour minumum must include two courses and one accompanying laboratory from this Area of Inquiry.

III. Liberal Learning Emphasis ⁴ (6 hours minimum)

Encourages students to develop a level of expertise in a field or area of inquiry beyond the major.

Students take at least six additional hours in an Area of Inquiry, with at least three hours at the 300-level or higher.

⁴ Courses taken to satisfy the Liberal Learning Emphasis may not be in the department of the major or, except in the case of interdisciplinary study degrees, in any discipline for which the major requires coursework at the 300-level or above. For exclusions, go to previous webpage.