General Education Requirements

The mission of the general education program at Morehouse College is to ground students in African and African Diasporic heritage while empowering students to integrate knowledge and skills from their academic and co-curricular experiences. Students should become active participants in their own learning. This means that the College’s general education program is distinctive in its deliberate use of texts, examples, perspectives, and principles of Black people across time and from Africa and its Diaspora. Students explore themes of social justice, equity, and protest across various disciplines. Students also demonstrate breadth of learning and develop critical intellectual skills. General education is a starting point for life-long work that students will continue as they pursue their majors, graduate from Morehouse, and go out into the world.

Student Learning Outcomes

As a result of completing the general education program, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate integrative learning in Black life, history, and culture
• Communicate effectively
• Practice global citizenship
• Apply the principles of ethical leadership
• Identify, explore and solve problems
• Demonstrate breadth and integration of learning across disciplines
• Engage identity and equity

Distribution Requirements

To reach these learning outcomes, students are required to complete the following general education requirements:

* Writing courses are satisfied by a grade of C or higher.

* For all others, requirements are met with a grade of D or higher. Some general education courses may require a higher grade as a prerequisite.

Breadth Requirement and Major Overlap

To ensure that students meet the breadth requirement of the general education program, they must take courses from different departments, programs, and disciplines. Students are required to adhere to all rules and guidelines stated both here and earlier.

• Breadth Requirement: Students must take a total of seven (7) courses in the thematic areas of Arts & Literature, Ideas & Ethics, Society & Culture, and Scientific Discovery from at least six (6) different disciplines.
• Course Overlap of Thematic Areas: A course may overlap two thematic areas. Different students in the same course may use that course to fulfill different thematic area requirements. However, each individual student can get credit for only one thematic area for each course.
• Major Overlap: A course taken to fulfill a general education requirement may also meet a requirement for the major.
• Additional Major Requirements: Departments and programs may require their majors to take courses outside of the discipline. This is independent of general education requirements. Students must rely upon their major requirements for guidance on these matters.

In the end, Morehouse expects that students will get significant breadth because they will have taken courses in:

• Modern Foreign Languages Department through the language requirement
• English Department through the writing requirement
• Mathematics or, in some cases, a statistics course authorized by the Mathematics Department
• Two of five science departments (i.e., Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Physics, Psychology)
• One of three Arts and Humanities departments or programs (e.g., Music, Art, and English), each in the humanities
• Two departments, most likely to be from the social sciences, in covering the Society & Culture area
• Two departments, at least one of which is likely to be from Philosophy & Religion in covering the Ideas & Ethics area.

Detailed Student Learning Outcomes

Success begins with identifying and codifying the right set of student learning outcomes, which set the college-level competences we expect our students to attain. Individual courses, co-curricular activities, and the overall structure of the general education curriculum is designed for students to meet these learning outcomes.

Demonstrate Integrative Learning In Black Life, History, And Culture

• Analyze the histories, cultures, and peoples of Africa and its Diaspora through multiple disciplines and critical perspectives, including but not exclusive to African-centered models.
• Understand the diverse experiences, patterns, philosophies, theories, and ways of knowing pertaining to Africa and its Diaspora.

Communicate Effectively

• Present ideas effectively and persuasively using writing, speech, and digital and emerging media.
• Show patience and discipline to absorb others’ perspectives and ideas and to respond thoughtfully and professionally.

Practice Global Citizenship

• Understand diverse communities, cultures, and nations, including the impact and contributions of other people.
• Analyze pressing global problems.

Identify, Explore, And Solve Problems

• Use different disciplines to identify issues in society worthy of challenge.
• Think critically, innovatively, and responsibly to question and challenge those issues.
• Work collaboratively and creatively to develop solutions.

Apply The Principles Of Ethical Leadership

• Understand major theories and models of ethical leadership and their implications.
• Evaluate principles of ethics and justice from different disciplines and theoretical perspectives.
• Apply principles of ethical leadership.

Demonstrate Breadth And Integration Of Learning Across Disciplines

• Be well-versed in the knowledge, ideas, big questions, and methods of discovery across a variety of disciplines.
• Understand the relationship between and integrate knowledge, ideas, and methodologies from the arts, humanities, science and math, social sciences and business.
• Demonstrate mastery of and a capacity to continue to learn technologies, tools and contemporary techniques for inquiry and analysis.

Engage Identity And Equity

• Engage issues of identity-race and gender; sexuality; belief systems and religion; nationality; class; and others-both in self and in others.
• Use theory to inform life experiences and vice-versa.
• Examine constructs of identity with rigor and emotional intelligence, all in the context of understanding and achieving equity.

Students are introduced to these goals in the general education curriculum, but Morehouse expects that students will continue to develop higher levels of competency in each of these learning outcomes within majors, minors, elective courses and co-curricular experiences, such as service learning, study abroad, internships, and mentored apprenticeships.

The Program Structure: Core Skills, Thematic Areas And Designations

Students are expected to achieve proficiency in the seven learning outcomes by completing general education requirements in three overlapping categories. These categories are: core skills, thematic areas, and designations.

The general education curriculum exposes students to a breadth of knowledge, transdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary methods, and tools to see and work through problems using many disciplinary lenses. A critically important feature of the curriculum is First-Year Experience (FYE) designation, which takes the form of courses on the Black experience that incorporate both service-learning and some of the Crown Forum requirement.

The general education program consists of a maximum of 48 credit hours. Except for the Crown Forum requirement, students are expected to complete their general education curriculum within their first two years at the College.

Core Skill: Writing [6 Credit Hours]

Educating students in writing has a long and important history at HBCU’s and Morehouse in particular. Every discipline and every path students take after Morehouse requires college-level proficiency in writing. There are four principle learning objectives for students in writing courses:

• Clearly and effectively communicate through writing
• Critically analyze problems
• Apply research tools
• Integrate material, ideas, and texts from the African diaspora.

To fulfill the writing requirement, students must complete a set of courses designed to prepare them for more advanced writing. First-year students are assessed to determine where they should be placed and to track their progress over time.

Students will fulfill their general education writing requirements through:

• Composition: (3 Credit Hours) one 3 credit hour composition course.
• Critical Writing: (3 Credit Hours) one 3 credit hour critical writing course that introduces students to more advanced writing, higher-levels of critical analysis, and research-based writing. Composition is a prerequisite for critical writing.
• First-Year Experience Courses: FYE courses will have intentional writing modules.
• Students can transfer approved courses but cannot use exams to waive this requirement.
• Advanced students may fulfill their composition and critical writing requirements by taking HENG103.

Core Skill: Language [0-9 Credit Hours]

Learning a foreign language is a critical step for students to become global citizens. At Morehouse College, learning languages requires that students:

• Communicate effectively in a variety of situations.
• Develop intercultural competence.
• Make connections with other disciplines and perspectives.
• Apply foreign language skills to academic and real-world settings.
• Participate in a broader world of multilingual communities in the United States and abroad.

To fulfill the general education language requirement, students must reach the level of Intermediate Low in a foreign language, as established by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). All students must take a mandatory assessment upon admission to the College to determine their placement and how many courses they need to fulfill their language requirement. Students can demonstrate the required level of language proficiency by:

• Modern Foreign Language or Another Foreign Language Through 201: (0-9 Credit Hours)
• Completing a foreign language course at the 201 level or higher. Students may complete these courses on campus or through study abroad. In taking a series of language courses, students cannot skip the sequence: 0-9 Credit Hours.
• Taking the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Examination and earn a minimum score of Intermediate Low.
• Earning a score of 4 on the AP Spanish, French or German Examination.
• Passing a CLEP Level 2 examination with a score of 63 or higher.
• Graduating from a high school with a Seal of Biliteracy.
• Holding an International Baccalaureate high school diploma.
• Transferring appropriate, approved work from another accredited institution.

Core Skill: Mathematical and Quantitative Literacy [3-6 Credit Hours]

In today’s world, there is a growing need for people with the ability to work with numbers, quantities, and data sets in systematic ways. This is an essential skill and fulfillment of this requirement will equip students to:

• Communicate concisely and coherently quantitative information, analysis and conclusions.
• Use the tools of mathematics to represent, analyze, and solve problems involving quantitative information.
• Estimate, deduce, and infer quantitative conclusions using the systems, ideas, and theories of mathematics or statistics.
• Understand the limits of quantitative evidence to draw conclusions.

Students must show competence in mathematics or statistics above the level of College Algebra. First-year students are assessed to determine their placement. Students fulfill the mathematical and quantitative reasoning requirement through:

• Math at or below College Algebra I: (2-4 Credit Hours) Either by placement or by coursework, at most 3 credit hours of mathematics at or below the level of College Algebra I will count toward fulfillment of the general education requirement. This can be earned by placement into a course at a level higher than College Algebra.
• Math or Statistics above College Algebra I: (3-4 Credit Hours) A student must take at least one 3 or 4 credit hour course that is at the level above College Algebra I. This can be a statistics course provided that the math department qualifies the course as being above this level of rigor. This cannot be earned by placement/examination but can be earned by approved transfer of credit.

Core Skill: Health & Wellness [1-2 Credit Hours]

There is a critically important relationship between intellectual development and physical health. As such, students must understand what it means to be in good health, to know how to do so, and to engage in practices that ensure personal wellness. This will necessarily mean both physical activity and learning across areas ranging from food and sleep to understanding data and science around one’s physical body, particularly as it relates to Black men’s health. Given this, through this skill, students:

• Understand research-based, optimal life skills for personal wellness.
• Recognize the importance of maintaining personal health and wellness over the course of their lives.
• Apply the seven dimensions of wellness: physical, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, environmental, occupational, and social.

Students must show competency in both the practical and theoretical aspects of health and wellness. They must engage in physical activity under appropriate supervision at the College and will complete this requirement though the following:

• Physical Activity Course or Equivalent: (0-1 Credit Hour) Completion of a physical education course, serving in the ROTC, or one year as a varsity athlete.
• Wellness Course: (1 Credit Hour) Completion of a wellness course. This requirement may be completed through an online/hybrid course.

Thematic Area: Arts & Literature [3 Credit Hours]

The Arts hold a special place in the human experience. In this area, students explore how artistic expression and the creative process can bring about disruptive and innovative solutions. Art has the power to express ideas, feelings, and conditions of humanity in ways that are deeply moving; can capture the history and culture of a people; and is one of the most fundamental creative acts, one that has utility but is certainly not bound by function. As a result of taking these courses, students:

• Communicate effectively about the arts and literature.
• Identify artistic, cultural, and literary traditions and movements.
• Understand theses and the contexts of creative production.
• Understand principles of storytelling and artistic composition.
• Critique various modes of human creative expression.

Students are required to complete:

• One course: (3 Credit Hours) A course of at least 3 credit hours in the area.
• Students may also fulfill one of their FYE requirements through designated courses in this area.
• This cannot be earned by placement/examination but can be earned by approved transfer of credit if it can be reasonably determined that the course fits the rubric for the area.

Thematic Area: Ideas & Ethics [6 Credit Hours]

President Benjamin E. Mays claimed that Morehouse College provided “an education with a social conscience, a social concern; science has made the world a neighborhood, it is up to us-leaders in education and religion-to make it a brotherhood.” Similarly, Martin Luther King, Jr. insisted: “intelligence plus character that is the purpose of education.” Honoring this unique legacy, students taking courses and seminars in this area critically examine and intensely explore big ideas or ultimate questions and ethical systems, whether philosophical or religious, or both, within a global context. As a result of taking courses in this area, students:

• Communicate about models of social responsibility, justice, and ethical leadership.
• Recollect ethical systems, sacred writings, and/or wisdom traditions in a larger global context.
• Understand perennial questions including the meaning and purpose of life, the limits of knowledge, the nature of existence, the human condition, and human mortality.
• Evaluate arguments using philosophical, religious, and/or ethical reasoning.

Students are required to complete:

• Two courses: (6 Credit Hours) These courses must each be in different disciplines and focus on the area of Ideas & Ethics as articulated in the previous section.
• Students may also fulfill their FYE requirements through designated courses in this area.
• This cannot be earned by placement/examination but can be earned by approved transfer of credit if it can be reasonably determined that the course fits the rubric for the area.

Thematic Area: Society & Culture [6 Credit Hours]

To be human is to live within larger social and community contexts. The courses in this area are designed to help students develop a greater sense of their connection to the larger social world. Courses in Society & Culture help students explain how social forces shape the human experience. Students examine key social theories, study methods of investigating social problems, and apply these theories and methods to specific social, cultural, or historical contexts. From taking these courses, students:

• Communicate effectively about the social world.
• Understand peoples, social relations, and politics within a global context.
• Analyze social problems using social science theories and methodologies.
• Interpret social inequity as it relates to race, gender, class, sexuality, nationality, and/or other forms of difference.

Students are required to complete:

• Two courses: (6 Credit Hours) These courses must each be in different disciplines and be in the area of Society & Culture as articulated in the previous section.
• Students may also fulfill one of their FYE requirements through designated courses in this area.
• This cannot be earned by placement/examination but can be earned by approved transfer of credit if it can be reasonably determined that the course fits the rubric for the area.

Thematic Area: Scientific Discovery [8 Credit Hours]

Students will be required to take two discovery-based science courses as an introductory level or upper-division course, engaging in ways that both cover content material and demonstrate how scientists work. The courses that fulfill this requirement must provide each student with an authentic scientific discovery, research immersion experience in a laboratory or studio format. Students:

• Communicate findings in writing, visually, and orally.
• Recall key information about the natural world.
• Analyze data and draw conclusions from raw data.
• Apply scientific concepts to real world problems.
• Perform the experimental scientific process by designing and conducting experiments.

Students must complete:

• Two Discovery-Based Science Courses: (8 Credit Hours) Two 4 credit hour courses in two distinct disciplines that have the scientific discovery designation.
• Students may also fulfill one of their FYE requirements through designated courses in this area.
• This cannot be earned by placement/examination but can be earned by approved transfer of credit if it can be reasonably determined that the course fits the rubric for the area.
• Students pursuing the BS degree may be mandated to take specific courses to meet the general education scientific discovery requirement.

Area: Crown Forum

Howard Thurman stated that “Over the heads of her students, Morehouse holds a crown that she challenges them to grow tall enough to wear.” Crown Forum is designed to inspire students to grow tall enough to wear this crown. The mission of Crown Forum is to create a learning community that evokes the College’s mission of character development, social justice, leadership, and teaching Black history and culture. From participating in Crown Forum, students gain a greater understanding of self, a deeper appreciation of the Morehouse experience, and a deeper commitment to servant leadership and global citizenship. To honor Morehouse’s rich traditions, students must attend official college ceremonies. They are exposed to thought leaders and Black culture through a Drum Major Instinct Distinguished Crown Forum Series and Crown Forum After Dark events. Furthermore, students explore common readings pertaining to Africa and the African Diaspora.

Students complete general education Crown Forum requirements by passing First-Year Experience courses and completing up to six (6) semesters of Crown Forum. Students will be automatically enrolled in Crown Forum until they have accumulated up to six (6) semesters or terms. Students make satisfactory progress on the Crown Forum requirement by attending:

• Ceremonial Crown Forum
• Founder’s Day Crown Forum
• Major Crown Forum: Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King Jr., Scholars Day, and Senior Day
• Free Elective Crown Forum

Returning (stop-out) and transfer students have special stipulations for Crown Forum.

• Returning (stop-out) students:
  When a traditional student returns to the College after being separated for more than three (3) full semesters, they are automatically placed into the general education requirement for the Catalog year in which they re-enter Morehouse. Returning (stop-out) students are still required to complete six (6) semesters of Crown Forum.
• Transfer and Morehouse Online students:
  All transfer and Morehouse Online students are required to take a Crown Forum for each semester they attend Morehouse College up to six (6) semesters or terms.

Designation: The First-Year Experience at Morehouse

Consistent with the mission of the College, students are required to take courses in Black history and culture that will prepare them for leadership on the African Diaspora and the World. Students learn about the major peoples, cultures, themes, and intellectual traditions in Africa and its Diaspora. To achieve this goal, students take two thematic courses on Black life, history, and culture with the First-Year Experience (FYE) designation.

In courses with this designation, students explore thematic areas while also gaining a greater sense of self, a deeper appreciation of the Morehouse experience, and a deeper commitment to servant leadership. Students enhance their intellectual skills through reading, writing and discussion-based pedagogy. As part of this course, students also attend Crown Forum as a group, conduct service-learning projects, and engage common sets of readings on Africa and its Diaspora.

All incoming students are required to complete two (2) three-hour general education thematic area courses with the FYE designation. Students select from a list of FYE designated courses in different disciplines. The first seminar is taken in the first term of enrollment. The second seminar is taken the term following the successful completion of the first seminar.

In addition to meeting other program-level student learning outcomes, students taking courses with the FYE designation:

• Draw upon Africana traditions to inform and inspire a lifelong commitment to leadership, equity, social justice, and global citizenship.
• Apply the habits of academic success, scholarship, professionalism, service, and accountability.
• Identify and explore problems through service-learning experiences developed in partnership with communities in Africa and its Diaspora.

Students must complete:

• Two Courses with the FYE designation: students must pass two (2) courses with the FYE designation from different disciplines. *** (See below table for FYE requirement.) ***
• Departments and programs are encouraged to require students to take an additional FYE designated course to full the requirements of the major.
• This requirement cannot be earned by placement/examination. All incoming students must complete this requirement.