General Education Curriculum

Walsh University requires students to demonstrate basic baccalaureate skills in English and Mathematics. Those who are proficient based on test scores or transfer credits will not be required to take courses in these areas unless required by their declared major.

(Proficiencies fulfilled by placement test or completion of course.)
English - ENG 102: Reading and Writing Connections 
Mathematics - MATH 104:Algebra II

This element of the Core program focuses on how categories of differences are formed, how differences are experienced, and how differences are given meaning through social institutions. A student will take at least one Diversity Course as part of the General Education Program. Categories include age, race, gender, social class, sexual orientations, ethnicity, relations, and ability/disability, etc. Experience focuses on exclusion, inclusion, and privilege. For example, how exclusion shapes individual and collective consciousness, how inclusion begins with valuing the experiences of those excluded and critiquing individual/societal assumptions about all groups, and how statuses provide under-privilege (disadvantage) or over- privilege (advantage). Meaning ascribed to differences comes from the functions of social institutions that construct and interpret what differences means. For example, the ideologies that are reinforced through stereotypes, discrimination, prejudice and language found in the social institutions of family, government, schools, religion, work, etc. (The above is adapted from: Rosenblum, K.E. & Travis, T.M. [2000]. The meaning of Difference (2nd ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.).

Students will need to take two (2) 3-credit courses, for a total of 6 credits, that expand upon the Catholic Intellectual Tradition above the introductory-level Theology courses in Foundations. Courses with the CIT-designation may be in any discipline/Division/School, within the 12-credit Themes, and taught by any Faculty member who wishes to do so. Teaching a CIT course will be optional for Faculty, not required. The purpose of the CIT courses will be to demonstrate to students ways in which Church teachings can be applicable to a variety of disciplines, including Business, Education, the Sciences, or the Arts. Courses carrying this designation will need to be rooted in one of many authoritative Church documents. This approach represents an expansion of the Heritage series reliance on Gaudium et Spes such that in the new curriculum Faculty will have more flexibility and options from which to choose. 

*Service Learning requirements cannot be transferred in to Walsh.

Service Learning is defined by the American Association of Higher Education as a method under which students learn and develop through thoughtfully organized service that:

• Is conducted in and meets the needs of a community
• Is coordinated with an institution of higher education and with the community
• Helps foster civic responsibility
• Is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the students enrolled
• Includes structured time for students to reflect on the service experience

A service learning course will involve students partnering with a community-based organization or group. The students will provide service to meet a need identified by the community. In this setting, "community organization or group" means a non-profit agency, educational institution, group of people with a common identity, or for-profit agency when the primary purpose is providing a significant public service. The service learning experience will help bring classroom material and discussion to life by giving students a real environment in which to apply course concepts.

Each semester, 15-20 Service Learning courses are offered. For a current list, please visit http://www.walsh.edu/for-students.

In addition to writing and speaking, today's students need to be able to communicate by creating and disseminating messages through digital platforms and channels.  These modes of communication are now key components of students' personal and professional lives.  The Digital Media (DM) application in the General Education program (and majors) will help foster the skills necessary to use digital communication effectively. 

When students enroll in a DM-designated course, they will be required to complete a project involving a significant digital media component.  This project will entail learning new technical skills and, more importantly, learning how to use the digital media tools  needed to innovate, create, and disseminate information and content as a part of the course.  This project will not be in addition to course content requirements, but rather part of the course curriculum that requires transforming content into digital platforms, including websites, videos, interactive presentations, social media-based methods, and/or  additional digital-media options.  Walsh University resources will be available to students and faculty to support the DM courses.

Foundations of the General Education Curriculum follows the traditional form of a liberal arts core curriculum, exposing students in their first and second years of college to a broad spectrum of disciplines (i.e., Theology, Humanities, Fine Arts, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Empirical Science). The Foundations course work fosters the following student outcomes: the acquisition of knowledge in the Arts and Sciences, critical thinking and communication skills, and the integration of knowledge and skills in pursuit of truth and service. Students are required to take courses in Theology, Philosophy, History or English, Art or Music or VPAA, Soc or Psych, and GFA or ECON. In addition, they are required to take one three-credit science course. Courses labeled NS are typical for most non-science majors, though students may elect to take other Foundation science courses.

Students typically take their Theme courses after completing Foundations with some exceptions. Theme courses offer students an integrated approach to addressing the problems and challenges of our time.

Theme options:

1. Leadership, Responsibility, and Social Justice

2. Science Innovation and Environmental Sustainability

3. Creativity in the Arts, Culture and Humanities.

Students are required to choose two of these three themes with their academic advisors and complete six credits within each theme.

All first-year traditional students are required to take FYE 101: First Year Institute, a one-hour credit course during the fall semester. A student who does not pass this course must re-take it the following spring semester (one section will be available in the spring).