The Challenge CurriculumCourse Requirements and Area Designations
The full list of Gustavus graduation requirements are available in the Gustavus Academic Bulletin. Students are required by college policy to follow the general education requirements found in the catalog in effect at the time they entered the college.
Foundation and Integration
First-Term Seminar - 4 credits
First-year students enroll in this small, discussion-based course during their first semester. FTS students practice critical thinking, writing, and speaking. Students examine values while considering enduring and contemporary questions or challenges. The FTS instructor serves as the academic advisor until students declare a major or are admitted into a certification program (e.g., Athletic Training, Education, Exercise Physiology, Nursing). Each FTS carries a WRIT designation.
Challenge Seminar - 4 credits
The Challenge Seminar bookends the First Term Seminar by providing students an opportunity to collaboratively examine and propose responses to enduring and contemporary questions or challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students reflect on how the college’s mission and their education has influenced their values, plans after college, and vision of their role in the world. Like the First Term Seminar, these courses will explore how values relate to a complex challenges and engage students in critical thinking, writing, speaking, and reflection.
Liberal Arts Perspectives
Note: No more than two courses from the same department may be counted.
Arts (ARTSC) - 4 credits
Courses in this area provide students with intellectual, embodied and practical experiences that open new paths to understanding and interpreting themselves and the world. Through engagement and immersion in the creative process, students learn how the arts historically represent, reinforce, and/or critique culture. Students also learn interpersonal and organizational skills such as critical thinking, leadership, creative research and problem solving, strategies for collaboration, intercultural communication, attention to detail, discipline, and community engagement.
Human Behavior and Social Institutions (HBSI) - 4 credits
Courses in this area rely on empirical data (quantitative and qualitative) to generate and answer questions, such as: Why do humans behave and think as they do? How do social institutions form and function? How do humans and institutions interact? They also develop theories that contribute to an understanding of individual and group behavior in various contexts.
Humanities (HUMN) - 4 credits
Courses in this area examine what it means to be human through the study of artistic and literary expression, history, language, philosophy, rhetoric, and religion. They equip students to understand and evaluate human thought, culture, and history, and the ways in which human beings construct meaning from experience. They also offer an opportunity to reflect on what makes a purposeful life in the wider world.
Natural Science (NTSCI) - 4 credits
Courses in this area examine scientific questions with a variety of methods and tools, including hands-on work in a laboratory setting, and the communication of findings.
Religious Studies and Philosophy (RSAP) - 4 credits
In religion, philosophy, and ethics, people ask questions such as how should we live? On what grounds? What enables us to live that way? These disciplines consider the grounds of beliefs and practices and how beliefs, texts, practices, and ethics relate to each other and to their cultural contexts. In RSAP courses, students will gain knowledge and skills necessary to critically analyze beliefs, and practices and to navigate a world of competing theological, philosophical, and ethical commitments.
Living in the World
Quantitative and Analytical Reasoning - 4 credits
Courses in this area focus on understanding and evaluating quantitative or logical assertions, as well as conducting and communicating quantitative or logical analysis by preparing students to read, analyze, and critique mathematical, logical, statistical, and/or algorithmic analyses and increasing their understanding of how such methods are properly used. They also teach students to understand and apply mathematical, logical, statistical, and/or algorithmic methods in a discipline-specific context. A key feature of the QUANT course is that students perform analyses themselves, rather than merely critiquing or interpreting existing work. Students practice, receive feedback, and refine their quantitative skills.
Global Affairs and Cultures - 4 credits
Courses in this area examine global reach topics in the context of social, economic, cultural, political, or ecological environments, considering global interactions and interconnections.
Non-English Languages and Cultures - 8 credits
Courses in this area help students gain intercultural knowledge and participate meaningfully in global culture. Students will take two sequential courses of a non-English language and culture at the college level, preferably in the first two years. Course level placement is determined by previous coursework or experience in a non-English language. Visit the Modern Language, Literatures, and Cultures Department website for more details on language courses and requirements at Gustavus.
U.S. Identities and Difference - 4 credits
Courses in this area explore identity formation (e.g., race, gender, class, sexualtiy) in the U.S., examine separate and intersectional identity constructions in context, and reflect on the varied ways in which difference and identity impact policies, institutions, and/or communities here and abroad.
Note: The provisions of the Gustavus academic bulletin are not an irrevocable contract between the student and the College. The College reserves the right to change any provision or requirement at any time during the student's term of residence.