Please note that these degree requirements are for students entering during the Fall 2009 semester or after. The degree requirements prior to Fall 2009 are available here.
To complete the Drew B.A. degree, students must earn at least 128 credits, of which at least 48 must be completed at Drew. Students must complete 64 intermediate and upper-level credits, of which at least 32 credits must be at the upper level. All students must complete a major and fulfill the requirements of the general education program. For graduation, a student’s cumulative grade point average, both overall and in the major, must be at least 2.0.
General Education Requirements
Principles and Objectives
A Drew education challenges students to take intellectual risks, to develop curiosity and creativity, and to ask and explore difficult and complex questions. At Drew, a liberal arts education means depth of knowledge acquired in a major field of study, breadth of knowledge gained by exploring widely across a rich and varied curriculum, and the acquisition of competencies that are broadly applicable in a range of academic and professional settings. As part of a Drew liberal arts education, students also engage the world beyond the gates of the university, taking what they have learned in the classroom and applying it in a different context, local or global. The general education curriculum is designed to give students flexibility and choice; it asks students to shape an education that deeply engages them and readies them for a life after Drew of continued learning, community involvement, and professional leadership.
Fulfilling the General Education Requirements
Drew’s general education requirements are designed to structure a student’s academic program through four years. Some courses – the College Seminar, College Writing, The Common Hour – are designed to be taken in the first year, while others are meant to be taken later, like the writing intensive courses, or in the senior year, like the major capstone. Any single course may be used to fulfill no more than two general education requirements. Any single course may not, however, fulfill more than one breadth requirement.
I. The First-Year Experience
The College Seminar (2 credits)
Taken by all entering students in their first semester, the College Seminar emphasizes critical inquiry, analytical and creative thinking, critical reading, intellectual engagement with faculty and peers, and writing to learn. Designed by each faculty member around a topic of his or her choice, the seminars are lively discussion classes in which students begin to acquire, to develop and to practice the skills associated with inquiry in the liberal arts. The seminars also begin to introduce students to appropriate uses of information from academic and non-academic sources. Students are co-enrolled in the College Seminar and the College Writing course and are housed in residence halls in proximity to the other members of their seminar to allow for continuation of seminar discussion and interaction beyond the classroom.
The Common Hour ( 1,1 credits)
Meeting one hour each week during the fall and spring of the first year, the Common Hour creates a shared experience for the entire first-year class. Throughout the Common Hour, students work with advanced undergraduate peer mentors, one of whom is assigned to each seminar group. Common Hour activities include major speakers and cultural activities, a multi-session Campus Life Seminar, academic planning and advising activities, a career planning seminar, and opportunities to meet regularly in small groups with the peer mentors. The Common Hour is graded on a pass/no credit basis. Completion of DoNUT (Drew On-line Network User Training) is required as part of the Common Hour.
College Writing (2-4 credits)
In College Writing I and II students develop and practice the advanced literacy skills necessary for a liberal arts education. Students develop their critical reading, writing, and research skills, and strengthen all aspects of the writing process from invention to editing. The courses build on the sense of intellectual community developed in the College Seminar and serve as a bridge between the first year writing sequence and the writing intensive and writing in the majors courses that follow. Students in each section of College Writing are co-enrolled in one of three or four other courses, creating writing-focused learning communities.
II. Breadth of Knowledge
An educated person never loses the capacity to wonder and to be curious, to question and explore experience from varying perspectives. Thus a broad grounding in the diverse disciplines that constitute the arts and sciences is a hallmark of a liberal arts education; it also prepares students to grasp the richness and complexity in seemingly disparate bodies of knowledge and to become actively engaged and informed citizens of the world.
The function of acquiring breadth in learning is both to bring greater enjoyment to life and to enhance our ability to function meaningfully in our work, society, and personal lives. Each student should select breadth courses in consultation with the advisor, considering how those courses can complement the work of the major or open to him/her new fields of interest or knowledge. Breadth courses represent opportunities to investigate the riches of the curriculum and to make connections between and among different disciplines.
Natural Sciences (4 credits) [BNS]
Courses in this category introduce students to the physical and life sciences and to the nature of scientific inquiry and the scientific method (hypothesis development, experimental design, observation, data analysis and interpretation)
Social Sciences (4 credits) [BSS]
Courses in this category introduce students to the study of how social norms, cultural values and social institutions shape societal and individual human behavior. They also examine various methodological and disciplinary approaches to the study of societies and individuals as well as social problems and conditions.
Arts (4 credits)[BA]
Courses in this category introduce students to the creative process and to theoretical and analytical approaches to the process of making a work of art. In these courses, students experience the arts as a means to explore and understand the interplay between imagination and technique in the production of works of art, whether music, visual art, writing, performance, or design.
The Humanities (4 credits) [BH]
Courses in this category introduce students to the philosophical, historical, religious studies and literature disciplines which investigate human experience by studying how events, texts, time periods, traditions, beliefs and values have shaped our understanding of the past and present. These courses approach this investigation primarily through: reading and analysis of primary documents, examination of change over time, and use a comparative approach..
Interdisciplinary Studies (4 credits) [BI]
Courses in this category introduce students to fields which examine an area, topic or question by bringing the approaches and content of two or more disciplines to bear and/or developing new and distinct methods and approaches in the process of this inquiry. These courses ask students to follow a similar practice in course assignments and activities.
Satisfying the Breadth Requirements
- Breadth courses may be 2 or 4 credits, but students must complete 4 credits in each of the five areas.
- No single course may be used to fill more than one breadth area.
- A student’s five breadth courses must be chosen from at least four different departments or programs.
- Breadth courses may be counted to fulfill a major requirement or another General Education requirement. Only one of the five breadth courses may also fulfill a major requirement;
III. Liberal Arts Proficiencies
Students develop the following fundamental liberal arts proficiencies as part of their Drew education; these proficiencies lay the essential foundations for future study, employment and participation as a citizen in a democratic society and an increasingly globalized world. Each proficiency is introduced early and strengthened throughout the student’s four years.
Writing
In addition to College Writing 1 and College Writing 2(if a student’s placement requires it), students take a Writing in the Major course or sequence and two writing intensive courses, one of which may be taken in the major field.
Writing in the Major field (2-4 credits) [WM]
Writing in the Major courses are designed to introduce students to the conversations in the field and invite them to join those conversations using the writing and documentation styles and formats appropriate to the discipline. The purpose of these courses is to teach students to understand and practice the kinds of writing that are specific to the discipline they are studying and to strengthen their information literacy skills in the field. For this reason, no two majors’ courses look the same; however, all of these courses and course sequences share the same broad goals. Writing in the major courses are most commonly taken in the sophomore year or the first semester of the junior year. Students should consult the requirements in their major departments for their specific requirements.
Writing Intensive Courses (8 Credits)
Writing Intensive (WI) courses build on the academic literacy skills taught in College Writing and expand those skills. They require students to use writing as a mode of learning and as a way of entering scholarly conversations about topics presented in a course. WI courses may not require any more pages of writing than regular sections of the same course; however, they do require that faculty spend some class time on the discussion of writing and give sufficient written feedback on student writing and that students use such feedback to rethink, revise, and improve their writing. This process of writing, engaging with feedback from instructors and peers, and revising is the heart of the writing-intensive course experience.
Quantitative Literacy (8 credits) [Q]
Quantitative literacy is a fundamental liberal arts proficiency that Drew students develop by completing two courses (8 credits) designated as quantitative literacy courses [Q]. These courses introduce and develop quantitative methods and skills. They place these methods and skills in a broader context through applications to other disciplines. The introduction and application of quantitative techniques is a significant component of any course designated as [Q] even if the primary focus of the course is not mathematical. Credit awarded for a Drew [Q] course as a result of an AP exam count as completion of 4-credit of the quantitative requirement.
Foreign Language
In an increasingly globalized world, competency in more than one language is essential. Studying language contextually in the classroom and then applying language in real-world experiences prepares students for a wide variety of professional, educational and personal opportunities. Drew offers language instruction in ten languages: Ancient Greek, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Latin, Russian and Spanish. Students at Drew are required to achieve a level of language competency equivalent to the first three semesters of foreign language training at the college level.
Satisfying the language requirement
Students must complete a language through the intermediate level (courses numbered 30). Students starting a language at Drew will require three semesters of language study to reach this proficiency level. It is highly recommended that these three semesters be completed consecutively. This requirement may also be satisfied by:
- placing beyond the third semester of language instruction on a Drew foreign language placement test;
- receiving a score of 680 or higher on the SAT II in a foreign language;
- receiving a score of 4 or 5 on the appropriate Advanced Placement examination.
All students planning to continue a language they have studied in high school must take the summer language placement test to determine their placement and the appropriate language course(s) that they will need to take to fulfill the requirement.
Information Literacy
Information literacy, as defined by the Middle States Association, is an intellectual framework for identifying, finding, understanding, evaluating and using information [textual, visual, quantitative, aural, etc.]. It includes determining the nature and extent of needed information; accessing information effectively and efficiently; evaluating critically information and its sources; incorporating selected information in the learner’s knowledge base and value system; using information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose; understanding the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the use of information and information technology; and observing laws, regulations, and institutional policies related to the access and use of information.
Students acquire proficiency in information literacy throughout the curriculum but with particular emphasis in the writing course sequence and through writing and capstone experiences in the disciplines.
IV. Global and Local Citizenship
Taken together, the language requirement and the diversity requirement detailed below, prepare students to be fully engaged citizens of a complex and increasingly globalized world.
Diversity
Through two diversity courses, one U. S. focused and one with an international or transnational focus, students come to understand the historical and/or contemporary concepts used to interpret and compare cultures within the United States and abroad and learn to assess the myriad ways in which countries and cultures--both past and present--encounter, affect, and exchange with one another. Many of these courses also explore visual, aural, kinetic, and literary representations of difference as they respond to and reshape the cultures that produce them. Through these courses, students explore historical and/or contemporary similarities and differences in the dynamics and types of social inequities between the United States and other countries and re-examine the contexts and experiences of their own lives and how these shape their encounters with others.
Diversity courses are available at all levels of study (introductory, intermediate, and advanced) and may also satisfy other general education, department or program requirements. While some diversity courses may be listed as fulfilling both U.S. and International/Transnational requirements, a student must take two different courses to fill the two categories; one course may not be double-counted for both. Many DIS pre-departure and on-site courses, as well as other study-abroad and off-campus programs and internships fulfill the international/transnational requirement. Students are encouraged to complete at least one of their two diversity courses within their first two years at Drew.
V. Off-Campus Experience (0-16 credits)
Each student plans an off-campus experience as part of her/his undergraduate education. This experience might be an internship, Drew International Seminar, a full-semester domestic or international off-campus program, a teaching or language practicum, a community-based learning course, an off-campus research experience, an international summer language program, a service learning program, or a community service project. The experience should be chosen in consultation with the adviser and should grow out of academic work the student has completed by the time he/she does the off-campus experience Experiences may be 0-16 credits (i.e. from a non-credit bearing service experience to a semester abroad);
- Students must complete at least 40 hours on-site for 0-credit bearing experience;
- At the end of the experience, students must complete a process of reflection. This takes the form of formal or informal writing saved in their writing portfolios, but it might include, in addition, group discussions and participation in colloquia or other presentations for the campus community.
Depth of Study: The Major Field
In order to achieve depth of knowledge in at least one field or discipline, each student is required to complete a disciplinary or interdisciplinary major. Students wishing to develop depth in more than one field have the option of completing a minor or a second major.
Students should select their major in consultation with their advisers. Students may declare the major at any time after completion of the College Seminar and must declare a major by the end of their second year.
Except in certain special circumstances, no more than eight credits may be counted toward two majors or in both a major and a minor.
Capstone in the Major
All students must complete a credit-bearing Capstone in their major field, usually in the senior year. The Capstone is the culmination of a student’s work in the major, with the goal of promoting and demonstrating coherence, synthesis, and purpose in the discipline. In addition, the Capstone Experience offers the opportunity to link focused study of a particular major with the Principles and Objectives of a Drew General Education. The specifics of the capstone are defined within each major; double majors must complete the capstone in each major.
Special Major
Students wishing to develop a course of study not available through existing majors and minors have the option of creating a special major. A student interested in proposing a special major works with an appropriate faculty member who agrees to act as the major advisor. Together, they develop a proposal for a coherent course of study in the special major area, usually inter- or multi-disciplinary in nature. Special majors are approved by the Committee on Academic Policy and Curriculum. Students contemplating a special major should begin this process no later than the first semester of the sophomore year; majors must be proposed and approved by the end of the sophomore year. Detailed guidelines for developing a special major are available from the office of the Associate Dean for Curriculum and Faculty Development.
Optional Minors
The College offers many disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields. While a minor is not required for graduation, many students choose to add a minor to their program of study as it allows them to pursue a field outside of their major in some depth. In choosing a minor, students should consider how it enhances the breadth of their overall course of study and how it might articulate with their chosen major field. Drew offers the following types of minors:
Disciplinary Minors
Most disciplines that offer a major also offer a minor.
Interdisciplinary Minors
Interdisciplinary fields draw together courses from several departments, sometimes in dialogue with interdisciplinary core offerings, in order to explore a topic or area. The College offers Interdisciplinary Minors In Archaeology, Arts Administration and Museology, Asian Studies, Biochemistry, Business, Society and Culture, Dance, Environmental Studies and Sustainability, European Studies, Jewish Studies, Holocaust Studies, Latin American Studies, Linguistic Studies, Middle East Studies, Russian Studies, Public Health, Western Heritage, World Literature, Women’s and Gender Studies and Writing.
Student-Designed Minors
A student-designed minor allows students to pursue a particular interest and explore an area not represented in the regular curriculum. In consultation with a faculty sponsor, students may design a minor of six courses (24 credits including no more than 4 credits at the introductory level) that is composed of courses focused on a particular topic, problem or theme. The faculty sponsor must approve the minor, which is then submitted for approval to the Associate Dean of Curriculum and Faculty Development. Student-Designed minors must be approved by the Committee on Academic Policy and Curriculum.
