First-Year General Education Recommendations

The only general education 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 in your first semester.

Other general education 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 general education courses or electives that interest you.

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

If there are any general education 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 general education requirements have an associated attribute. These are the abbreviations you will find listed below for each requirement.

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 2-credit topical course. Topical course have a different topic 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 General Education website.

EXPOSITORY WRITING

Expository Writing (EW, always offered as Engl 113) is a 4-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 General Education website.

If you have credit for Engl 113 and would like to improve your writing skills, consider taking Engl 213, Expository Writing II. Engl 213 does not count for a general education requirement. You can request it at the end of your registration survey.

HEALTH DYNAMICS

Health Dynamics (HD, always offered as Kin 140) is a 2-credit course that is generally taken in the first year in either fall or spring semester.

More information about Health Dynamics can be found on the General Education website.

THE ARTS

The general education arts requirement has two components:

• Fine Arts I (FA1): emphasize ways of knowing in the arts. One FA1 course is required to meet this component.
• Fine Arts II (FA2): emphasize “doing” the arts. One FA2 2-credit course (or two FA2 1-credit courses) is required to meet this component. If you take two 1-credit courses, you do not need to take them in the same semester.

More information about the arts can be found on the General Education 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 Fine Arts II general education requirement.

Lessons are available for 1–3 credits and will incur an extra fee, depending on your intended major: 1 credit for non-music majors and music (BA) majors ($320); 2 credits for music education (BMu) majors ($500); 3 credits for music performance (BMu) majors or others by permission ($500).

Priority for arts 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 courses, you can do so on your survey. Below are some examples of courses you can request and/or might see on your schedule:

FINE ARTS I

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Art 295	Intro to Islamic Art and Architecture	4
Mus 101	Intro to Music	4
Mus 105	Survey of American Music	4
Thea 101	Intro to the Theatre	4

FINE ARTS II

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 119*	Basic Photography	3
Art 195	Time Based Art	3
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
Engl 253**	Intro to Creative Writing	4
Mus 115–160	Instrumental and Vocal Ensembles	0—1
Mus 161–181	Private lessons	1—3
Mus 192	Voice Class, Beginning	2
Mus 194	Classical Guitar Class, Beginner	2
Mus 196	Folk Style Guitar Methods	2
Thea 110	Acting for the Non-Major	2

*Art 111 and Art studio (except Art 195, Time Based Art) classes are reserved for DAA scholarship recipients and art majors.

**Engl 253 is reserved for DAA scholarship recipients and art majors.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

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

1. One Cultural Heritage I (CH1, ancient) course, 4 credits
2. One Cultural Heritage II (CH2, modern) course, 4 credits
3. The two above courses must cover three disciplines: literature, history and philosophy. Therefore, at least one of the above courses must be an IDS 171–178 course.

IDS (Interdisciplinary Studies) courses deal with methods or content that goes beyond what is usually dealt with in a single department. Many cultural heritage classes are IDS courses.

More information about Cultural Heritage can be found on the General Education website.

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

CULTURAL HERITAGE I

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Engl 233	Ancient Global Literature	4

CULTURAL HERITAGE II

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Engl 232	Literature of the Western World II	4
Hist 131	Intro to Modern European History	4
IDS 172	Cultural Heritage II	4
IDS 174	Cultural Heritage II, Hist/Lit	4
Phil 232	Modern Philosophy	4

MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCE

In general, we recommend that you wait until you are decided on a major to take math and science classes. 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 MA1 or MA2 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

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 General Education 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 Quantitative World	2
Math 125, 131 or higher*	Calculus with Review I, Calculus I or higher	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	Intro to Cellular Biology	4
Biol 105 and 107	Intro to Biology and Lab	4
Chem 125 and 127	General Chemistry I and Lab	4
Chem 131 and 132	Accelerated General Chemistry and Lab	4
CSCI 125	Software Design and Implementation	4
Engs 100	Intro Engineering	4
GEMS/GES 130	Intro to Environmental Science and Lab	4
GEMS 157** (may not also register for GES 125)	The Planet Earth and Lab	4
GEMS 161**	Biotechnology and You and Lab	4
GES 125*** (may not also register for GEMS 157)	Michigan Field Geology	4
Kin 200****	Human Anatomy and Lab	4
Phys 121 and 141	General Physics I and Lab	4

**Recommended for non-science majors.

***GES 125 includes a required field trip August 16–25. 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.

NATURAL SCIENCE ii (WITHOUT LAB)

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
CSCI 140	Business Computing	4
GEMS 206	The Night Sky	2
GES 111	How the Earth Works	2

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

To fulfill the religious studies requirement, you must complete:

• One Religion I course (RL1) — always offered as Rel 100
• One Religion II course (RL2) — a Rel 200-level course

Rel 100 is a 2-credit, half-semester topical course that is open to all incoming first year students. Half-semester courses are offered either first-half or last-half, and each half of the semester is 7 weeks long. You will have the opportunity to fulfill your RL2 requirement in a later semester.

More information about Religious Studies can be found on the General Education website.

SOCIAL SCIENCES

For most programs, the social science requirement is met through:

• Two Social Science I (SS1) courses of different disciplines
  OR
  
• One SS1 course and one Social Science II (SS2) course of different disciplines

More information about Social Science can be found on the General Education 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:

SOCIAL SCIENCE I

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Comm 101	The Communication Process	4
Econ 211	Principles of Macroeconomics	4
Pol 100	Intro to American Politics	4
Pol 151	Intro to Global Politics	4
Pol/WGS 160	Women in a Global Society	4
Psy 100	Intro to Psychology	4
Soc 101	Sociology & Social Problems & Lab	4
Soc 151	Cultural Anthropology	4

SOCIAL SCIENCE II

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Comm 151	Media and Society	2
Pol 110*	United Nations	2
Pol 110	Politics and Race	2
Pol 110	Campaign Management	2
Soc 269	Race and Ethnic Relations	4

*Course includes $300 fee and a Chicago field trip, November 19—22. If you'd like to take the class, indicate that at the end of your survey.

SECOND LANGUAGE

To fulfill the second language requirement, you must complete a Foreign Language II (FL2) course that provides second-level competency or higher in one of the foreign 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 the languages we offer, please view this orientation video:

The Department of World Languages and Cultures advises you to choose your language based on your academic and cultural interests and career aspirations. You may wish to continue the language you were learning in high school, or you may find that adding a new language makes more sense. Try to think about how skills in a particular language might be beneficial to you. For example:

• Would being able to speak Chinese give you a leg up in the business world?
• Would knowing how to read the New Testament in Greek help your aspirations for ministry?
• Would being fluent in Spanish help you in a hospital setting?
• Would proficiency in French help your career aspirations in international relations?

All the languages we offer will give you marketable skills. It can be helpful to think about your particular interests and goals.

You should have received an email with your language placement. DWLC bases your placement on the length of time you studied the language and the grades you received. If you plan to continue a language you took in high school, we recommend you start at the level you were placed into. If you plan to take a language you have never studied before, you will start with level 1.

If you were placed into a level 2 or higher language course and then complete that course, you receive additional credits for the lower-level courses you skipped, up to 16 credits. Let's say you have been placed into Fren 201 at Hope. When you pass Fren 201, you will earn 4 credits for Fren 201, plus 8 additional credits for Fren 101 and Fren 102.

If your language is French, German or Spanish and you feel you were placed too low or too high, you can take this optional placement exam. You will need to create a username and password to access your personal dashboard for the Emmersion system. From there you will be able to select the appropriate test and your score will be saved to your dashboard when complete. The test should take approximately 1/2 hour and your placement information will be generated upon completion. For questions and concerns about other placements, contact Steve Maiullo.

More information about the Second Language requirement can be found on the General Education website. Course descriptions for language courses are listed in the Catalog.

We will be offering the following foreign 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 FL2 requirement. Course descriptions for language courses can be found in the Catalog.

SUBJECT/COURSE NUMBER	TITLE	CREDITS
Chin 101	Chinese I	4
Chin 201	Chinese III	4
Chin 301	Chinese V Language & Culture	4
Fren 101	French I	4
Fren 102	French II	4
Fren 201	French III Language & Culture	4
Fren 250	French IV Adv Language & Culture	4
Germ 101	German I	4
Germ 201	German III	4
Grk 171	Ancient/Biblical Greek I	4
Grk 271	Greek III	4
Japn 101	Japanese I	4
Japn 201	Japanese III	4
Japn 301	Advanced Japanese I	4
Latn 171	Latin I	4
Latn 271	Latin III	4
Span 121	Spanish I	4
Span 122	Spanish II	4
Span 221	Spanish III	4
Span 222	Spanish IV	4
Span 312*	Spanish for Heritage Speakers	4

*If you are a heritage speaker, please indicate so on your survey. Upon completion of this course, you will earn credit for Spanish I–IV (16 credits).

GLOBAL LEARNING

The requirements to fulfill the global learning requirement are:

• One Global Learning Domestic (GLD) course
• One Global Learning International (GLI) course

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

More information about Global Learning can be found on the General Education website.

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 General Education website.