Objectives

The general requirements for students who entered Brandeis in the fall of 2000 and thereafter incorporate a variety of interconnected elements to build a strong, general education foundation. The fundamental goals of the program are to improve students' abilities to integrate knowledge from different fields; to provide opportunities for the acquisition and development of writing, linguistic, and quantitative skills; to introduce flexibility in the scheduling of degree requirements throughout the undergraduate career; and to expand students' opportunities to interact with faculty in small class settings in the first year of instruction.

General University Requirements

The basic outline of the requirements for students who entered Brandeis in the fall of 2000 and thereafter is as follows:

A. University Seminar in Humanistic Inquiries

All students in their first year will complete one semester course from the USEM program; this course may or may not be designated as a USEM+W course (see University Writing below).

B. University Writing

All students will complete one of the following options:

Option I: One University Seminar in Humanistic Inquiries Plus Writing (USEM+W) taken in the first year, plus two writing intensive courses.

Option II: One University Writing Seminar (UWS) taken in the first year, plus one writing intensive course, in addition to a University Seminar in Humanistic Inquiries (also taken in the first year).

Students normally complete the writing intensive component of the writing requirement in their second or third year. Courses numbered in the 90s may not satisfy the writing intensive designation.

C. Quantitative Reasoning

All students will take one course that is designated as meeting the quantitative reasoning requirement.

D. Foreign Language

The foreign language requirement is met by successful completion of a third semester course (normally numbered in the 30s) in the introductory language sequence. No more than one course (and never the final one) in the sequence may be taken on the pass-fail grading option.

E. Non-Western and Comparative Studies

Students will complete one semester course designated as meeting the requirement in non-Western and comparative studies.

F. School Distribution

Students will complete one semester course in each of the four schools of the University: Creative Arts, Humanities, Science, and Social Science. In general, "double counting" is encouraged; most students will satisfy the school distribution requirement in the context of others, e.g., in satisfying the requirements of a major, a minor, or a program. Between and among general University requirements, the only limitations on double counting are as follows: University Seminars in Humanistic Inquiries are interdisciplinary in character and have membership in no specific school of the University. The three-course foreign language sequence may not be applied toward the humanities component of this requirement. No single course in a student's program may satisfy both the quantitative reasoning requirement and the science component of this requirement. No courses numbered in the 90s may apply toward this component. Finally, a single course may be used toward school distribution in only one school.

The pages that follow contain additional information (including course lists) for the non-Western and comparative studies, quantitative reasoning, University seminar, and writing requirements.