Required General Studies Program courses
Foundation requirements
The English Foundation course(s) offer students a valuable experience early in their academic career to develop the writing skills necessary for success at the university and in their future personal and professional lives. Opportunities to fulfill your English Foundation are varied and include the use of transfer credit, AP / SAT / ACT test scores and NAU coursework. Your specific recommended course may depend on your prior work, placement, or participation in unique programs such as NAU’s Honors College. Work with your Academic Advisor to understand the best English Foundation for you.
The Mathematics Foundations course(s) help students early in their academic career to develop the skills necessary for future mathematical reasoning within their major and in their future personal and professional lives. Opportunities to fulfill your Mathematics Foundations will vary based on a number of factors unique to you, including your chosen degree, career goals, transfer credit, mathematics placement, and course offerings. NAU offers many tools and resources to support your placement into and completion of mathematics foundational courses. Work with your Academic Advisor to understand your mathematics placement and requirements and develop a plan that best suits your goals.
Knowledge Areas
In these courses, students gain foundational knowledge about the history of the United States including essential founding documents such as the US Constitution and treaties, important debates, and Supreme Court cases. These courses help students understand the basic structure and function of the US government and how to actively participate.
Transferable skills:
Civil discourse (a communication style where people listen carefully to each other’s ideas in a way that promotes respect and understanding), critical thinking, and problem solving
In these courses, students examine art and culture, ways of knowing, and human experiences from various regions of the world and historical time periods. These courses help students fill the gaps in personal experience and gain a deeper understanding of our humanity.
Transferable skills:
Critical thinking, written and oral communication, teamwork, and personal and social responsibility
- (3 Credits) Natural Sciences
- (3 Credits) Social Sciences
- (3-4 Credits) Scientific Methods
In these courses, students study theories, concepts, and classifications essential to the physical, life, earth, space, and social sciences. In Scientific Methods courses (lab courses), students engage in the practice of observation, measurement, and experimentation and learn to form, test, and modify hypotheses. These courses help students understand the physical and biological world around them.
Transferable skills:
Scientific inquiry, quantitative reasoning (thinking with numbers), problem solving, and critical thinking
In these courses, students examine the organization and structure of societies within and outside of the United States. These courses help students understand the complexity and changing nature of human interactions among and between individual societies.
Transferable skills:
Critical and independent thinking, written and oral communication, problem solving, and the ability to see things from different points of view
Inclusive Perspectives
(embedded in Knowledge Area courses, not a separate course)
1 Knowledge Area course with Global designation
In Knowledge Area courses with a Global Inclusive Perspective, students learn from the voices, expertise, and viewpoints of peoples outside the United States and Europe, such as peoples from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America. Through these viewpoints, students learn about other peoples’ experiences and ways of knowing that may be similar or different from their own. These classes offer the opportunity to learn about the contributions of global peoples to society, culture, history, and the present.
1 Knowledge Area course with Indigenous Peoples designation
In Knowledge Area courses with an Indigenous Peoples Inclusive Perspective, students learn from the voices, expertise, and viewpoints of Indigenous Peoples. Through these viewpoints, students learn about social identities, other peoples’ experiences, and ways of knowing that may be similar or different from their own. These classes offer the opportunity to learn about the contributions of Indigenous Peoples to society, culture, history, and the present.
1 Knowledge Area course with the US Ethnic designation
In Knowledge Area courses with the US Ethnic Inclusive Perspective, students learn from the voices, expertise, and viewpoints of minoritized US ethnic groups such as African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latine/Hispanic peoples. Through these viewpoints, students learn about social identities, other peoples’ experiences, and ways of knowing that may be similar or different from their own. These classes offer the opportunity to learn about the contributions of US ethnic groups to society, culture, history, and the present.
Essential skills
Civil discourse through speaking
Constructive verbal communication that promotes respect and understanding and influences, informs, and/or connects with others by using organizational structures, supporting materials, and delivery skills appropriate to the topic, occasion, or audience.
Civil discourse through collaboration and teamwork
Constructive interaction that promotes respect and understanding within a group to achieve a common goal or complete a task.
Civil discourse through writing
Constructive written communication that promotes respect and understanding and conveys information or argues a point of view using organizational structures, supporting materials, and language appropriate for the topic, purpose, and audience.
Applications
The analysis and synthesis of content and theoretical approaches provided in a course that result in a product appropriate to the field/discipline.
Quantitative reasoning
The application of numerical, visual, or symbolic reasoning for the purpose of drawing inferences, understanding phenomena, or making predictions.
General Studies Program coursework
(embedded in a student’s major)
Junior-Level Writing
This is a writing-intensive course where students build on their English Foundations course and gain skills and techniques of written communication specific to their major field of study.
Senior Capstone
This is a culminating experience where students demonstrate the skills and knowledge gained through the General Studies Program and their major through signature projects and assignments.
