Furman University
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Undergraduate General Education Requirements To acquire the breadth in educational experience that characterizes liberal education, develop intellectual discipline, discover their interests and build a foundation for specialization, students must successfully complete courses fulfilling a prescribed set of general education requirements. General education courses include: core requirements in empirical studies; human cultures; mathematical and formal reasoning; foreign language; ultimate questions; body and mind; and global awareness offerings focusing on humans and their natural environment and world cultures.

Furman maintains general education requirements for all undergraduate students in order to graduate. Two of the general education requirements fall under a sustainability learning outcome: Humans and the Natural Environment Requirement and the World Cultures Requirement. Through the General Education Requirments, the university requires all students to complete a set of courses designed to: - Invigorate and stimulate intellectual curiosity - Broadly prepare students in a diverse set of disciplines, including the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and the fine arts - Encourage intellectual inquiry in sufficient depth to allow one to contribute to a greater body of knowledge - Develop expressive capabilities in writing, speaking, and the arts - Cultivate world citizenship—an understanding of those not like oneself - Integrate knowledge into a meaningful synthesis The spefifics of the Humans and Natural Environment Requirement and World Cultures Requirement is as follows: A course addressing humans and the natural environment (NE) Humans are affecting the dynamics of the planet; they are changing the composition of the atmosphere, the currents in the oceans, and the productivity of natural ecosystems. Because modern societies require more energy, food, and materials than ever before, we are increasingly dependent on stable, productive, and sustainable natural systems. Ironically, our societies are becoming increasingly urban and increasingly insulated from nature just as these ineluctable dependencies are becoming increasingly important. In order to foster an appreciation for these dependencies, courses will emphasize some aspect of the interactive relationships between humans and the natural environment. A course focusing on world cultures (WC) World cultures courses will help students achieve a heightened awareness of the diverse cultures and traditions that have formed our world, and to reflect on the relationships between their own and other cultures. Courses will focus on the traditions, beliefs, experiences, and expressions of peoples of, or originating from, Asia, Africa, Latin America, or the pre-colonial Americas.