Curriculum Guide - Pathways to Graduation

128 credits are required for graduation. Most courses are four credits and students should take four courses each semester (4x4). Doing so will keep students on track to graduate in four years. January and Summer Terms are both good options for catching up or getting ahead toward graduation.

There are three different areas that make up a plan of study.

General Education Requirements (1/3 of your courses)

Basic Language Competency

English 105: The Art of Writing (4 credit hours)
requires a grade of C or better to satisfy graduation requirement

Foreign Language Proficiency (0-12 credit hours)
Exempt foreign language through satisfactory high school completion,
Or
Successfully complete work through the 213 course (up to 12 semester hours)

Wesleyan Seminars (12 credit hours)
WES 100 (4 credit hours)
WES 200 (4 credit hours)
WES 300 (4 credit hours)

Six Breadth Courses (24 credit hours)

Susan S. Goode School of Arts and Humanities
- 1 course in the creative arts or the equivalent
- 1 humanities course at the 300-level or above

Joan P. Brock School of Mathematics and Natural Science
- 1 mathematical science course at the 100-level or above
- 1 science course with laboratory component

 Birdsong School of Social Sciences and D. Henry Watts School of Professional Studies
- 1 course from the Birdsong School
- 1 course from either the Birdsong School or the Watts School

The Major (1/3 of your courses)

Students are required to complete the requirements for a major course of study. Most majors require around 40-50 credit hours as determined by the specific department, and the requirements for each major are listed in the University Catalog. Students can declare or change their major at any time, but they must declare a major once they complete 54 credits. Your Academic Advisor can help you think about possible majors and guide you to a Faculty Advisor who will oversee the completion of your course of study once you declare a major.

Electives and/or Minor and/or Second Major (1/3 of your courses)

What are you curious about or have always wanted to learn more about? Explore your interests by taking courses in a variety of disciplines and learn something new. A minor is not required but is a common way of structuring an academic path. A minor can be related to a major or be in a completely different field. A double major is also a possibility, though it requires careful planning and discipline to be completed in four years. All courses count toward graduation so no course is wasted or unnecessary.

Wesleyan Seminars

Seminar I (WES 100) - Introduction to Critical Inquiry in the Liberal Arts
Students will learn how to identify problems, consult sources, questions assumptions, consider disparate points of view, and explore different strategies for articulating their own perspectives and conclusions for an audience. Through readings related to the course topic, a variety of writing assignments, class discussion, and the use of library resources, students will begin their exploration of the liberal arts and develop their critical reading, writing, and thinking skills.

Seminar II (WES 200) - Introduction to Engagement in Intellectual Discourse
This course builds on the broad understanding of the liberal arts explored in Seminar I with a particular focus on how the backbone of the liberal arts is engagement with text defined in its very broadest sense. Seminar II engages ideas and texts with more nuance, more thoroughly, and in a broader context. Students will read texts for their articulation of the complexity of the topic and pursue scholarly research in the library to develop their understanding of the liberal arts as an engaged, critical endeavor.

Seminar III (WES 300) – Participation in Intellectual Discourse
Seminar III strives to position students as scholars and to ask them to participate thoughtfully and articulately as members of a discourse community. Students will be asked to consider, examine, and develop their own perspectives while also considering the validity of other viewpoints. The goal for the Seminar is for students to understand what it means to create knowledge as a scholar.

Susan S. Goode School of Arts and Humanities

Joan P. Brock School of Mathematics and Natural Science

Birdsong School of Social Science