General Education Committee Minutes, 3/31/08
Members present:, S. Hines, S. Kalm, D. MacDonald, D. Potts, F. Rosenzweig K. Shanley D.
Sloan, G. Weix
Members absent: K. Hill, D. Morton,
Guest: T. Huff – Chair Ethics Subcommittee
The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm.
Communications:
The Social Science Subcommittee revised its draft via email correspondence.
Business Items:
The committee discussed and amended Group VIII Ethics, Group VII Social Science, and Group IX
American and European Perspective. References to western thought were removed from the Ethics
requirement and the definitions of American and European were removed from Group IX. The
approved drafts are bellow.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:40 p.m.
Group VII Social Science
Courses in the Social Sciences Perspective bring the systematic study of individuals, groups, and
societies to bear on the analysis of individual, group, or social problems and structures, while
giving considerable attention to the ways in which conclusions and generalizations are
developed and justified. Social sciences are both descriptive and analytic of human social
organization and interaction, employing primarily social data at a broad scale with statistical
relevance, experimental data on individuals or groups, or qualitative data based on observation
and discourse.
Criteria
Courses in the Social Sciences Perspective:
1. systematically study individuals, groups, or
society and culture;
2. analyze individuals, groups, or social
problems and structures; and
3. give considerable attention to ways in
which conclusions and generalizations are
developed and justified as well as the
methods of data collection and analysis.
Learning Goals
Students taking courses in the Social Sciences
Perspective will be able to:
1. Describe the nature, structure, and
historical development of human
behavior, organizations, social
phenomena, and/or relationships;
2. use theory in explaining these individual,
group, or social phenomena; and
3. understand, assess, and evaluate how
conclusions and generalizations are
justified based on data
Group VIII Ethics and Human Values
Ethics and Human Values courses provide a critical understanding of the norms shared by
citizens in modern, secular, democratic societies. Such a critical understanding of these norms
makes possible the ideal of self-government, especially in the presence of deep differences
among citizens about the ultimate meanings and purposes of human existence such as may be
found in different religious or cultural traditions or other fundamental outlooks on life. Gaining
a critical understanding of these norms will also help to enrich the individual lives of citizens on
a personal or professional level.
Criteria
Learning goals
Ethics Perspective courses must be both
Upon completion of a course that satisfies the
introductory and foundational. Each course
Ethics Perspective requirement students
accepted for this perspective must therefore:
should:
1. Devote at least half of class time to the
basic concepts, and forms of reasoning of the
three main secular ethical traditions: General
Welfare, Individual Rights and Liberties, and
Moral Excellence. While focus on historical
origins of these traditions is preferable,
contemporary or comparative versions of
these traditions can be used.
2. Devote at least one third of class time to
applications of these theories to the kinds of
ethical problems students might face in their
personal, public, political, or professional lives
or which might arise in culturally diverse
contexts.
1. understand the three main secular ethical
traditions as demonstrated by their ability to
use correctly the basic concepts and forms of
reasoning from these traditions in the
treatment of pertinent ethical issues;
2. understand the contextual, and conceptual
limits of each of these concepts and forms of
reasoning, as well as the compatibility and
incompatibility of the values both within and
between these traditions of ethical inquiry;
and
3. be able to identify, articulate, and defend
their own ethical positions in the terms
employed by these three traditions.
Group IX: American and European Perspectives
These courses present a critical introduction to the antecedents, principles, institutions, and
cultures of the American and European traditions and legacies.
Criteria
“American” is defined as the United States.
“European” is defined as continental Europe,
Learning Goals
Upon completion of a Group IX course,
students will be able to:
the British Isles, and the religious traditions
(Judeo- Christian) of the Ancient Near East.
The courses focus on either area and can be
comparative in content or approach. The
courses are broad in theme, geography, or
chronology. They are foundational and
prepare students for further study by raising
core questions of an academic discipline.
1. Present informed and reasoned views
about European and/or American
historical and contemporary behavior,
ideas, institutions, and culture; and
2. Analyze and evaluate what is distinctive
and significant about the European and/or
American experience and legacy.