General Education provides the foundation of liberal learning upon which Wittenberg realizes its primary purpose, as emphasized in its mission statement, of imparting knowledge, inspiring inquiry, and encouraging independent thought. General education informs the more specialized study of the major and the minor and provides the basis for both lifelong learning and participation in Wittenberg’s learning community. In addition, the Wittenberg student has the opportunity to develop, assess, and clarify spiritual beliefs and ethical values, gain an appreciation of human diversity, and define the role of the educated citizen in the world community and in the individual’s particular society.

By achieving the specific goals of general education, a student acquires a basis for understanding varied domains of knowledge and experience and for appreciating the power and limitations of the ways of knowing that characterize each domain. A student develops the analytic and expressive skills necessary to engage creatively in exchanging ideas and assimilating information and gains an awareness of the interconnectedness of academic disciplines and the relation between various areas of inquiry and specialized courses of study.

The university offers a variety of courses especially designed to ensure that a student has sufficient opportunity to develop these skills and achieve these understandings. A minimum number of these courses, distributed with reference to learning goals, is required for a bachelor’s degree. Courses that may be applied to the general education learning goals have been designated with an appropriate letter code in the course number. A list of approved general education courses (as of the publication date of the catalog) is printed following the appropriate general education learning goal description. This list is subject to change and a current list of these courses is available in the Registrar’s Office. There are also a number of topics courses offered each semester by various departments, which have been approved to meet a general education learning goal. Students should consult the current Master Schedule of Classes published each semester by the Registrar’s Office for a list of these topics courses or visit the website's open course listing.

While some courses may be designated to meet two different learning goals, students may use such courses to fulfill only ONE of these designations, NOT both. The only exceptions to this policy are writing-intensive and mathmatical-reasoning courses, which may be used to meet other general education learning goals.

To complement and support this academic program, the university provides a wide range of co-curricular activities and events that address particular components of Wittenberg’s mission. These include lectures, performances, religious events, counseling, athletics, and recreational activities.

The general education learning goals and requirements are divided into three groups: Foundations, Arts and Sciences, and Co-Curricular Activities.

Foundations

This category contains those goals and requirements that provide an essential foundation for successful college study. They include writing, mathematics, languages, speaking, research, and computing.

Writing

The student should achieve a level of competence in writing that provides the necessary foundation for subsequent college work and further learning and should also strengthen writing with continued practice.
Requirements:

1. Demonstrate competence in writing. Competence may be demonstrated in two ways: (1) by completing English 101E during the first two semesters, with a minimum grade of C- or S or by transferring in a comparable course from an accredited institution; (2) by earning a score of 4 or higher on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Language and Composition or by scoring a 740 or higher on the SAT II Writing Test.
2. Demonstrate continuing proficiency in writing: All students are required to earn a grade of “S” for their writing proficiency in seven courses designated as “writing intensive,” at least two of which must be taken as part of the student’s major. Failure to demonstrate such proficiency will result in no credit for writing proficiency in that course. A student may earn graduation credit for the course even if the grade for writing proficiency is NC, but the student may not graduate until an S has been earned in seven writing-intensive courses.

Mathematics

The student should achieve a level of competence in mathematics that provides the necessary foundation for subsequent college learning and should also strengthen problem-solving and reasoning skills through continued use.
Requirements:

1. Demonstrate competence in mathematics. Competence may be demonstrated by completing one course (four semester hours) during the first three semesters in mathematics, statistics, or computer science that meets the foundational mathematics goal with a minimum grade of C- or S; or by earning a sufficiently high score on an examination administered on campus by the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. Quantitative courses are designated with a “Q” in the course number.
2. Complete one additional mathematical-reasoning-intensive course. Mathematical-reasoning-intensive courses may be used to meet other general education learning goals. Mathematical-reasoning courses are designated with a “M” or “Z” in the section number throughout the Master Schedule of Classes published each semester by the Registrar’s Office.

Foreign Language

The student should achieve the degree of competence in a foreign language necessary to encounter another culture on its own terms and to enhance understanding of the structure of the language itself.

Requirement: Demonstrate competence in a foreign language. Competence may be demonstrated by completing a foreign language 112 course at Wittenberg and earning a minimum grade of C- or S, or by earning a sufficiently high score on an examination administered on campus by the Foreign Languages and Literatures Department. Competence in a language that is taught at Wittenberg, but which the student studied at another institution, can be demonstrated only by taking Wittenberg’s on-campus competency examination. (Competency examinations are offered only twice each year; the student should contact the Foreign Languages and Literatures Department for information about scheduling.) The student who wishes to demonstrate competence in a language not taught at Wittenberg must consult with the Chair of the Foreign Languages and Literatures Department and arrange to demonstrate competence by achieving a predetermined score on a standardized examination or through another means of evaluation acceptable to the Chair.

Courses are designated with “F” in the course number.
CHIN 112F Elementary Chinese II
FREN 112F Intermediate French
GERM 112F Intermediate German
GREE 112F Intermediate Classical Greek
JAPN 112F Beginning Japanese II
LATN 112F Intermediate Latin
RUSS 112F Elementary Russian II
SPAN 112F Beginning Spanish II

SPAN 150F Intermediate Spanish

Speaking

The student should be able to speak effectively within and before groups.

Requirement:
No specific course is required. The student meets this goal through some general education courses and through the major.

Research

The student should be able to use the library to acquire information and to explore ideas and should understand the role of technology in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information.

Requirement:
No specific course is required. The student meets this goal through some general education courses and through the major.

Computing

The student should be able to use a computer to help perform a variety of learning activities and should understand the power and limits of computing.

Requirement:
No specific course is required. The student meets this goal through some general education courses and through the major.

Arts and Sciences

This category moves beyond foundations toward an understanding of how different academic disciplines contribute to our growing body of knowledge.

Students are required to complete courses from five areas of learning that are defined by their methods or approaches: The Natural World; Social Institutions, Processes, and Behavior; Fine, Performing, and Literary Arts; Religious and Philosophical Inquiry; and Western Historical Perspectives. Most students take eight courses of four or five semester hours each to meet these requirements. In doing so, students must choose courses from eight different departments. In instances in which students take course work in more than two departments to fulfill an eight-semester-hour requirement (as is possible in the Arts), they must take courses from six other departments for the remaining six courses.

Students are required to complete one course from a sixth area of learning, Non-Western Cultures, which is defined by subject matter rather than by method or approach.

In addition, the Arts and Sciences requirements introduce students to the diversity of human experience and to the inter- and transdisciplinary nature of knowledge. These learning goals transcend the disciplinary and methodological limits of the areas and subject matters in this category.

The Diversity of Human Experience

Students should gain an appreciation for and understanding of the role of human diversity in contemporary culture.

Requirement:
No specific course is required. Students meet this goal through the Arts and Sciences courses and through the majors.

Integrated Learning

Students should gain an understanding of connections between differing modes of inquiry, experience learning as a shared enterprise, and see the relationship between the world of learning and their lives.

Requirement:
A Wittenberg Seminar during the first semester for all entering students.. Note: Transfer students do not take a Wittenberg Seminar, but must complete another approved Integrated Learning course. Integrated Learning courses for transfer students are designated with an “L” in the course number.

The Natural World

Students should gain an understanding of the natural world through scientific inquiry and see the relations among science, technology and contemporary culture.

Requirement:
At least eight semester hours in courses that meet the Natural World goal, one of which must include laboratory experience. Non-laboratory courses are designated with a “N” in the course number.  Laboratory courses are designated with a “B” in the course number.

Social Institutions, Processes and Behavior

Students should achieve, through empirical and analytic methods, an understanding of human behavior, relationships and institutions.

Requirement:
Eight semester hours in courses that meet the Social Institutions, Processes and Behavior goal.  Courses are designated with a “S” in the course number.

Fine, Performing, and Literary Arts

Students should gain an understanding of aesthetic experience and of how the arts enrich and express the human spirit.

Requirement:
Eight semester hours in the creation, study, or performance of dance, literature, music, theatre, and/or the visual arts.  Courses are designated with an “A” in the course number.

Religious and Philosophical Inquiry

Students should gain an understanding of how central questions about reality, knowledge and value are pursued in religious and/or philosophical traditions.

Requirement:
Four semester hours in religion or philosophy course work that satisfy the goal. Courses are designated with an “R” in the course number.

Western Historical Perspectives

Students should gain an understanding of the histories of the peoples and cultures of Europe and/or of the post-Columbian Americas.

Requirements:
Four semester hours of coursework that satisfy the goal. Courses are designated with a “H” in the course number.

Non-Western Cultures

Students should gain an understanding of the diversity of non- Western cultures through a study of the history, institutions, or traditions of one or more of these cultures.

Requirement:
Four semester hours devoted to the study of a culture or cultures outside the Western tradition. Courses are designated with a “C” in the course number.

Co-Curricular Activities

These goals support two components of the university’s purpose to develop “in harmony” the qualities that characterize “wholeness of person:” service to the community and care for the body. By practicing service to the community, students can discover connections between academic studies and responsible membership in a community. By participating in disciplined physical activity, students can perceive the benefits of personal wellness to lifelong learning.

Physical Activity

Students should gain an appreciation of the relation between physical activity and personal well-being by participating in appropriate physical activities consistent with the student’s physical ability.

Requirement:
Only two semester hours of physical activity courses can count toward the degree (students who wish to enroll for additional physical activity courses can do so, but must register for zero credit).  Courses are identified with a “P” in the course number.

Community Service

Students should gain an understanding of the role, responsibility and challenge of service in community life through participation, experience and reflection.

Requirement:
Successful completion of Community Service 100 (0 semester hours): Twenty-seven hours of direct service and three hours of reflection on the service experience. The Community Service Office coordinates the community service requirement and serves as a liaison between students and community sites. Students should register for Community Service 100 and successfully complete it before their senior year.