First-Year Anchor Plan Recommendations

The only Anchor Plan requirement that must be taken in the fall semester of your first year is the First Year Seminar (FYS). However, if you are in the FOCUS program, you must also take Expository Writing (Engl 113) in your first semester.

Other Anchor Plan courses can be taken in later semesters. Some may be met through your major or minor program. If you’re undecided, no problem. You can choose any Anchor Plan courses or electives that interest you.

The recommendations below are based on the Anchor Plan requirements for Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees.

If there are any Anchor Plan courses you really want to take in your first semester, you can list them in your survey. We will do our best to include them in your schedule.

All Anchor Plan requirements have an associated attribute. These are the abbreviations you will find listed below for each requirement.

Course descriptions can be found in the College Catalog.

FIRST YEAR SEMINAR

All incoming first-year students are required to take a First Year Seminar (FYS, always offered as IDS 100) class in their first semester at Hope.

IDS 100 is a 3-credit topical course. Topical courses have different topics for each section of the course, and the topics change from year to year. When completing your survey, rank your top 10 FYS topics. Also list 5 topics you are not interested in. The FYS course descriptions are available here.

Your FYS professor will be your advisor until you declare a major.

More information about FYS can be found on the Anchor Plan website.

EXPOSITORY WRITING

Expository Writing (EW, always offered as Engl 113) is a 3-credit topical course, with topics that change from semester to semester; however, all sections focus on cultivating college-level writing abilities. It will help you develop your ability to reflect critically, logically and speculatively, and to express your reflections clearly and concisely in writing.

If you are in the FOCUS program, you must take Engl 113 in your first semester.

More information about Expository Writing can be found on the Anchor Plan website.

If you have credit for Engl 113, you might consider taking an Arts and Humanities II (AH2) course – see the Humanities section below for suggestions.

HEALTH DYNAMICS

Health Dynamics (HD, always offered as Kin 140) is a 2-credit course that is generally taken in the first year, either in fall or spring semester. The course consists of 1 credit of a lecture section, and 1 credit of an activity section.

More information about Health Dynamics can be found on the Anchor Plan website.

ARTS

The Arts requirement is 2–3 credits of an Arts in Practice (ART) course.

More information about the arts can be found on the Anchor Plan website.

Private music lessons and ensembles are open to all students. Ensembles and piano or voice lessons will require an audition. More information about auditions is available here.

Ensembles are available for 0 or 1 credit. They must be taken for credit in order to count toward the Arts in Practice requirement.

Lessons are available for 1–3 credits, depending on your intended major: 1 credit for non-music majors and music (BA) majors; 2 credits for music education (BMU) majors; 3 credits for music performance (BMU) majors or others by permission.

Priority for Arts in Practice courses will be given to students with a potential major in the arts, as many of these courses have limited enrollment.

If you would like to request any specific Arts in Practice courses, you can do so on your survey. Below are some examples of courses you can request and/or might see on your schedule:

ARTS IN PRACTICE

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Art 113*	Basic Painting	3
Art 114*	Basic Drawing	3
Art 115*	Basic Sculpture	3
Art 116*	Basic Printmaking	3
Art 117*	Basic Ceramics	3
Art 121*	Basic Photographic Arts	3
Dan 111	Fundamentals of Tap	2
Dan 112	Intro to Dance Movement	2
Dan 116	Hip Hop	1
Dan 120	Modern I	1
Dan 140	Jazz I	1
Dan 150	Tap I	1
Dan 162	Ballet I	1
Dan 204	Basics of Physical Percussion	1
Engl 153**	Intro to Creative Writing	3
Engl 156	Graphic Novels: Learn to Make Comics	3
Engl 158	Creative Nonfiction Writing for Beginners	3
Mus 192	Voice Class, Beginning	2
Mus 194	Classical Guitar Class, Begin	3
Musa 161–181	Private lessons	1—3
Muse 115–160	Instrumental and Vocal Ensembles	0—1
Thea 110	Acting for the Non-Major	3
Thea 205	Principles of Design	3

*Art studio courses are reserved for DAA scholarship recipients and art majors.

**Engl 153 is reserved for DAA scholarship recipients and creative writing majors.

HUMANITIES

The following must be met in order to fulfill the Humanities requirement:

• One Human Creative Perspectives (HCP) course
• One Historical Perspectives (HST) course
• One Philosophical Perspectives (PHL) course
  • One of the above courses must be at the 100-level (Arts and Humanities I, flagged AH1)
  • Two of the above courses must be at the 200-level (Arts and Humanities II, flagged AH2)
  • Engl 113 must be completed before taking an AH2 course

More information about Humanities can be found on the Anchor Plan website.

Below are some examples of courses you can request and/or might see on your schedule:

HUMAN CREATIVE PERSPECTIVES

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Engl 110-01	Celestial Encounters: The World of Black Sci Fi	3
Engl 110-02	War Stories	3
Engl 130-01	African Novels, Music, and Film	3
Engl 130-02	Survey of English Literature I	3
Mus 104	World Music	3
Mus 105	Survey of American Music	3
Thea 101	Intro to the Theatre	3

If you have credit for Engl 113, then you can also consider taking any of the following 200-level HCP courses:

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Art 242	Global Art Since 1960	3
Engl 230-01	English Literature Themes II, The Great American Novel	3
Engl 230-02	Contemporary Victorians	3
Engl 230-03	Multicultural Literature: Women’s Perspectives	3

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Clas/Hist 120	Intro to World History to 1500	3
Clas/Hist 130	Intro to Ancient & Medieval Europe	3
Hist 131	Intro Modern European History	3
Hist 160	U.S. History to 1877	3
Mus 101	Intro to Music	3

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Wgs 130	Intro to Women's and Gender Studies	3

If you have credit for Engl 113, then you can also consider taking any of the following 200-level PHL courses:

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Hist 295	Love, from Plato to C.S. Lewis	3

MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCE

In general, unless a math or science course is recommended in your first semester for the major(s) you are interested in, we recommend waiting to take one of these courses. Your major will determine which math and science classes you should take.

To fulfill the mathematics and natural science requirement, you must complete the following for a total of 10 credits:

1. Mathematics: one MA course
2. Natural Science with Lab: one NSL course, Gems preferred for non-science majors
3. Remaining credits may be completed by any math or science course (MA, NSL or MNS)

Gems (General Education Math and Science) courses are designed for non-math and non-science majors.

More information about Mathematics and Natural Science can be found on the Anchor Plan website.

Below are some examples of courses you can request and/or might see on your schedule:

MATHEMATICS

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Gems 100	Understanding Our Quant World	3
Math 115	Introductory Statistics	3
Math 125*	Calculus with Review I	4
Math 131	Calculus I	4
Math 219	Statistical Methods	4

*Math 125 covers the same material covered in the first half of 131, supplemented by a review of high school math as needed; if you have an ACT Math score of 25 or below and did not take trigonometry in high school, we recommend you take 125. If your major or minor requires Calculus I, then you will take Math 126 (Calculus with Review II) in the spring to complete the Calculus I requirement.

NATURAL SCIENCE WITH LAB

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Biol 103 and 103L	Intro to Cellular Biology and Lab	4
Biol 105, 107, and 107D (or Biol 207)	General Biology I, Lab, and Discussion (or Day 1: Phage Lab if you've been accepted)	4
Chem 125, 125D and 127 (or Chem 122)	General Chemistry I, Discussion, and Lab (or Day 1: Watershed Lab if you've been accepted)	4
Chem 131, 131D and 132	Accelerated General Chemistry, Discussion, and Lab	4
Csci 125	Software Design and Implementation	4
Engs 100 and 100L	Intro Engineering and Lab	4
Gems 161 and 161L	Biotechnology and You and Lab	4
Gems 295 and 295L or Ges 295 and 295L	Exploration & Envir Geophysics and Lab	4
Ges 125**	Michigan Field Geology	3
Kin 200 and 200L***	Human Anatomy and Lab	4
Phys 121 and 141	General Physics I and Lab	4

**GES 125 begins August 12 and includes a required field trip, August 13–22. After the field trip, the course meets first half of semester only. If you'd like to take it, indicate that at the end of your survey.

***We recommend this course in your first semester only if you have a very strong background in science (ACT of 28+ or AP Biology credit). If you do not have a strong background in science, you can take this course in a later semester.

MATHEMATICS OR NATURAL SCIENCE

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Csci 112	Exploring Computer Science	3
Csci 115	Intro to Programming w/ Python	3

RELIGION

To fulfill the Religion requirement, you must complete:

• One Religion 100-level course (RL1)
• One Religion 200-level course (RL2)
  • Take RL1 before RL2

More information about Religious Studies can be found on the Anchor Plan website.

RELIGION 100-LEVEL

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Rel 120	Which Jesus?	3
Rel 121	Psalms and the Christian Life	3
Rel 122	God and Humanity	3
Rel 123	Fierce and Faithful Women	3
Rel 141	Many Faces of Christianity	3
Rel 160	Christ and the Self	3
Rel 162	God, Earth, Ethics	3
Rel 180	Christianity & Other Religions	3
Rel 181	Religions of India	3
Rel 195-01	Land, Scripture, Story, Place	3
Rel 195-02/03	Christianity, Violence, and Peace	3
Rel 195-05/06	Land, Scripture, Story, Place	3
Rel 195-08/09	American Jesus	3

SOCIAL SCIENCES

The Social Science requirement consists of two Social Science (SS) courses taken in different disciplines/subjects.

More information about Social Sciences can be found on the Anchor Plan website.

Some Social Science courses also count for a major requirement. We will take this into account when we create your schedule. Below are some examples of courses you can request and/or might see on your schedule:

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Comm 101	The Communication Process	3
Comm 151	Media and Society	3
Econ 211	Principles of Macroeconomics	3
Educ 200 and 201 (education majors only)	Diversity Inclusion and Equity and Clinical Experience	4
Pol 100	Intro to American Politics	3
Pol 151	Intro to Global Politics	3
Psy 100	Intro to Psychology	3
Soc 101	Intro to Sociology	3
Soc 151	Cultural Anthropology	3

HUMAN DIVERSITIES

The Human Diversities requirement consists of the following:

• One Global Language (GL2) course that provides second-level competency or higher
• One US Diversities (USD) course
• One Global Perspectives (GLP) course

More information about Human Diversities can be found on the Anchor Plan website.

GLOBAL LANGUAGE

To fulfill the global language requirement, you must complete a Global Language (GL2) course that provides second-level competency or higher in one of the global languages offered at Hope. We offer courses in Chinese, French, German, Ancient Greek, Japanese, Latin and Spanish. If you would like to learn more about our languages and programs, please visit the Department of World Languages & Cultures website.

You should have received an email to your Hope account with your language placement. More information about the placement process can be found here.

If you begin your language studies at Hope by completing a course at or above the second-semester level, you will receive additional credits equivalent to the lower-level courses you skipped, up to 12 credits. For example, if you take and pass Fren 201, you will receive additional credit for Fren 102 and 101. If you take Span 250 or 251, you will receive additional credit for Span 121 and 122.

We will be offering the following global language classes in the fall. Remember that if you start a language at level one competency, you will need to take two semesters to fulfill the GL2 requirement.

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Chin 101	Chinese I	3
Chin 201	Chinese III	3
Chin 301	Chinese V Language & Culture	3
Fren 101	French I	3
Fren 102	French II	3
Fren 201	French III Language & Culture	3
Fren 250	French IV Adv Language & Culture	3
Germ 101	German I	3
Germ 102	German II	3
Germ 201	German III	3
Grk 171	Ancient/Biblical Greek I	3
Grk 271	Greek III	3
Japn 101	Japanese I	3
Japn 201	Japanese III	3
Japn 301	Advanced Japanese I	3
Latn 171	Latin I	3
Latn 271	Latin III	3
Span 122	Spanish II	3
Span 250	Spanish-Spkng World: Northern	3
Span 340*	Spanish for Heritage Speakers	3

*If you are a heritage speaker, please indicate so on your survey. Upon completion of this course, you will earn credit for SPAN 121, 122, 250 and 251 (12 credits).

United States Diversities and Global Perspectives

Many courses that are flagged for USD or GLP also fulfill other Anchor Plan or major requirements, so you may find later that some of the courses on your fall schedule are flagged for USD or GLP. If not, you will be able to complete this requirement in future semesters.

SENIOR SEMINAR

The Senior Seminar is a capstone course that is taken in your final year at Hope. More information about Senior Seminar can be found on the Anchor Plan website.