Description of the Core

UNC’s new Liberal Arts Core, designed to implement the short-term recommendations made in 2005 by the Council on the University Experience, replaced UNC’s old General Education program for all students entering UNC in Fall 2006 and afterwards.

Here’s a comparison between the Liberal Arts Core and the old General Education program advisers might find useful:

 

Component The Liberal Arts Core1 The Old Gen Ed Program
Writing

Area 1
Communication
6 hours

  1. Elementary Composition
  2. Intermediate Composition

Category 1
Composition
6 credits

  1. Elementary Composition
  2. Intermediate Composition
Mathematics

Area 2
Mathematics
3 hours

Category 2
Mathematics
3 credits

Physical Activity

 

Category 3
Physical Activity
1 credit

Humanities and Social Sciences

Area 3
Arts and Humanities
6-9 hours

  1. Arts
  2. Literature and Humanities
  3. Ways of Thinking
  4. Foreign Languages

Category 4
Arts and Letters
6 credits

  1. Fine Arts
  2. Foreign Language
  3. History
  4. Literature
  5. Philosophy

Area 4
History
3 hours2,3

Category 5
Social Sciences
6 credits

  1. Anthropology
  2. Economics
  3. Geography
  4. Political Science
  5. Psychology
  6. Sociology

Area 5
Social/Behavioral Sciences
3-6 hours2,3

  1. Economic and Political Systems
  2. Geography
  3. Human Behavior and Social Systems
Natural Science

Area 6
Physical/Life Sciences
7 hours2,3

Category 6
Science and Mathematics
7 credits

  1. Earth Sciences
  2. Life Sciences
  3. Mathematical Sciences
  4. Physical Science
International, Multicultural, and Interdisciplinary Studies

Area 7
International Studies
One course4

Category 7
Interdisciplinary, International, and Multicultural Studies
3 credits

  1. Interdisciplinary and International Studies
  2. Multicultural Studies

Area 8
Multicultural Studies
One course4

Electives
Enough additional courses from Areas 1-8 or the special list of interdisciplinary studies electives to bring the total to at least 40 hours.

Other  

Enough additional courses from Categories 4-7 to bring the total to at least 40 hours

Notes:
1Hours indicated are minimums.
2Courses taken in Areas 3, 4, and 5 of the Liberal Arts Core must total at least fifteen hours, and three of those hours must be in Area 4.
3The state considers history a social science so far as gtPathways is concerned; UNC has decided to make it a separate area.
4Some of the courses in Areas 7 and 8 in the Liberal Arts Core (starred in the Catalog) simultaneously count towards the satisfaction of requirements in Areas 3, 4, or 5.

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For more information about the differences between the old General Education program and the Liberal Arts Core contact the chair of the LAC.