General Education Categories

The Writing and Critical Inquiry (WCI) Program introduces students to intellectual inquiry at the University with a focus on academic writing. The seminar is devoted to rigorous practice in writing as a discipline itself and as an essential form of inquiry in postsecondary education. 

WCI also enables students to develop competence in oral communication and information literacy, with critical thinking and reasoning forming the bedrock of students’ communication in all formats and in their production and consumption of information.

Students must complete U UNI 110 (or A ENG 110) with a grade of C or better, or an S, by the end of their second semester at UAlbany. In addition, students must meet advanced writing requirements as established by the department or program within which they are enrolled as a major.

WCI Program Learning Objectives

In WCI students will:

1. approach writing as an individual process of textual production, a form of inquiry, and a social practice;

2. apply rhetorical principles to assess various rhetorical situations and complete varied discipline-based writing tasks;

3. develop competence in writing effectively for a variety of purposes, to different audiences, and in different media (including traditional, digital, and multi-media formats);

4. develop awareness of the diverse, cultural, context-bound, and evolving nature of written English; and

5. learn appropriate concepts and develop a lexicon for discussing and analyzing writing and writing situations.

General Education Learning Objectives

Successfully completing WCI satisfies the SUNY General Education Framework requirement in Written and Oral Communication, as well as the core competencies in Critical Thinking and Information Literacy. Students will:

1. communicate effectively in college-level forms, orally and in writing, in ways that engage relevant audiences;

2. make sustained efforts to revise and improve this oral and written communication;

3. clearly describe an issue or problem, gather relevant data and research, and develop well-reasoned analysis, arguments, and conclusions;

4. identify, analyze, and evaluate ideas, arguments, and information in their own or others’ work, demonstrating an awareness of authority, perspective, bias, and intended effect;

5. demonstrate an understanding of the ethical dimensions of information use, creation, and dissemination.

Any appropriate lower-division undergraduate course, including Honors College courses, may qualify as the equivalent of Writing and Critical Inquiry, provided that the course is approved as such by the General Education Committee and the Undergraduate Academic Council.

Such courses must be similar in intent to Writing and Critical Inquiry and therefore must emphasize writing as an essential part of academic inquiry and provide students with opportunities for regular and sustained practice in writing in a variety of appropriate forms in different media, for appropriate purposes and audiences.

For additional information, visit the Writing and Critical Inquiry Program website.

Note: All students matriculating Fall 2023 will be required to fulfill a requirement for Diversity: Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice. This requirement is in lieu of the Challenges for the 21st Century category (see below).

Approved courses will explore the factors that help form group and individual identity involving, at minimum, race, class, and gender. Courses will also examine the roles of social and cultural systems in shaping inequalities and investigate the various ways social justice actions can work and have worked to challenge these systems and inequalities. 

SUNY Learning Objectives for Diversity: Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Courses

Students will:

1. describe the historical and contemporary societal factors that shape the development of individual and group identity involving, at minimum, race, class, and gender;

2. analyze the role that social structures and systems play in the creation and perpetuation of the dynamics of power, privilege, oppression, and opportunity;

3. apply the principles of rights, access, equity, and autonomous participation to past, current, or future social justice action.

Note: SUNY requires that approvable courses in this category address all three aspects of identity listed: race, class, and gender. Courses may address other aspects of identity, but they must do so in addition to race, class, and gender.

Approved courses introduce students to or extend their knowledge of precalculus, calculus, discrete mathematics, probability, statistics and/or data analysis. Courses may be offered in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and in other departments that have expertise in quantitative reasoning and data analysis and that offer appropriate courses, particularly in statistics or discrete structures.

A student who has achieved a score of 85 or above on the Regents “Math B” Exam (former “Mathematics Course III” Exam) or on a recognized standardized examination indicating readiness to enter precalculus will be considered to have fulfilled this requirement.

Learning Objectives for Mathematics: Calculus, Statistics, and Logic

Students will demonstrate mathematical skills and quantitative reasoning, including the ability to:

1. decipher, interpret, and draw conclusions from formal mathematical models such as formulas, graphs, tables, or schematics;

2. represent mathematical information symbolically, visually, numerically, or verbally as appropriate to mathematical, statistical, or logical analysis;

3. the ability to employ appropriate mathematical computations, statistical techniques, or logical methods to solve problems and/or draw conclusions from data.

Approved courses show how understandings of natural phenomena are obtained using the scientific method, including data collection, hypothesis development, employment of mathematical analysis, and critical evaluation of evidence.

Courses provide an overview of major principles and concepts underpinning a discipline's current base of knowledge and discuss major topics at the current frontiers of disciplinary knowledge.

Courses show how answers to fundamental questions in science can change the world in which we live and often explore how social issues can influence scientific research.

Opportunities for scientific inquiry within laboratory and/or field settings may be provided.

Approved courses generally fall into one of three categories:

1. introductions to scientific disciplines, designed for majors, non-majors, or both;

2. introductions to disciplinary subfields, designed for majors, non-majors, or both;

3. courses open to majors and non-majors on broad topics that are addressed by one or more scientific disciplines and which may focus on the application of science to practical issues.

Learning Objectives for General Education Natural Sciences Courses

Students will demonstrate scientific reasoning applied to the natural world, including:

1. an understanding of the methods scientists use to explore natural phenomena, including observation, hypothesis development, measurement and data collection, experimentation, evaluation of evidence, and employment of data analysis or mathematical modeling;

2. application of scientific data, concepts, and models in one or more of the natural sciences;

3. an understanding of the major principles and concepts that form the basis of the knowledge covered in the course and a command of the relevant terminology appropriate for basic discourse in the discipline or disciplines of the course.

Approved courses are concerned with defining and disputing that which is understood to be quintessentially "human:" studying language, texts, thought, and culture; their definition, interpretation, and historical development; and their reflection of human values, beliefs, and traditions.

Courses in a variety of disciplines explicate the underlying assumptions, methods of study, practices, theories, and disputes appropriate to those disciplines.

Approved courses generally fall into one of three categories (all open to majors and non-majors):

1. introductions to basic materials and methods in the disciplines;

2. introductions to subfields or groupings of materials in the disciplines;

3. literature and culture courses taught in a foreign language higher than the third-semester level.

Learning Objectives for General Education Humanities Courses

Students will:

1. demonstrate knowledge of the conventions and methods of at least one of the humanities;

2. recognize and analyze nuance and complexity of meaning through critical reflections on text, visual images, or artifacts;

3. demonstrate an understanding of the objects of study as expressions of the cultural contexts of the people who created them;

4. understand the continuing relevance of the objects of study to the present and to the world outside the university.

Approved courses provide theory and instruction on the role of institutions, groups and individuals in society. The focus of these courses is on the interaction of social, economic, political, geographic, linguistic, religious, and/or cultural factors, with emphasis on the ways humans understand the complex nature of their existence.

Courses include discussion of skills and practices used by the social sciences: data collection, hypothesis development, employment of mathematical analysis, and critical evaluation of evidence. Opportunities to experience social science methods in the field may be provided.

Approved courses generally fall into one of three categories:

1. introductions to the various disciplines of the social sciences;

2. introductions to disciplinary subfields, designed for majors, non-majors, or both;

3. courses open to majors and non-majors on broad topics that are addressed by one or more social scientific disciplines.

Learning Objectives for General Education Social Sciences Courses

Students will:

1. describe major concepts and theories of at least one discipline in the social sciences;

2. demonstrate an understanding of the methods social scientists use to explore questions about social phenomena, such as observation, hypothesis development, measurement and data collection, experimentation, evaluation of evidence, employment of mathematical analysis, employment of interpretive analysis;

3. understand human conduct and behavior as subject to rigorous and systematic scientific inquiry, as opposed to uncritical thinking about social phenomena.

Approved courses provide instruction in or about a medium of creative expression. Courses may focus on the physical practice and techniques of the medium, on its critical and theoretical interpretation, on its historical development, or on a combination of these approaches. Courses explicate the methods used to study and critique the medium as a vital element of personal or cultural expression and exchange.

Approved courses generally fall into one of five categories (for majors and/or non-majors) about the development and interpretation of a medium:

1. introductions to the disciplines;

2. introductions to subfields in the disciplines;

3. courses on the physical practice of a medium (studio art, creative writing, music composition or performance, dance, and theatre acting, directing or stagecraft);

4. instructional courses on the skills and methods required and their critical evaluation;

5. courses focused upon performance.

Learning Objectives for General Education Courses in the Arts

Students will:

1. demonstrate an understanding of the history and/or practice of at least one principal form of artistic expression and the creative process inherent therein;

2. understand the function and meaning of form;

3. acquire the vocabulary necessary to continue to learn about how art is made and interpreted.

Approved courses focus on specific narratives or themes in the history of the United States, including political, economic, social, cultural, and/or intellectual dimensions, and emphasizing the diversity of individuals and communities that make up the nation.

All courses will feature an explicitly historical organization; address topics of national, as opposed to regional or local, import; and consider a topic of sufficient specificity for the course to be coherent, but over a period long enough to ensure that the historical dynamic is clearly visible.

Students should acquire knowledge of substance and methods for comprehending the narratives or themes presented and develop civic understanding for engaging in the diverse and pluralistic society which comprises the public life of the United States.

Learning Objectives for General Education U.S. History and Civic Engagement Courses
Students will:

1. demonstrate an understanding of the history and society of the United States, including the diversity of individuals and communities that have shaped the nation;

2. understand the role of individual participation in U.S. communities and government;

3. understand the relationships between the United States and other parts of the world;

4. apply historical and contemporary evidence to draw, support, or verify conclusions.

Approved courses develop students’ understanding of the history, cultures and/or traditions of any region, nation, or society beyond the United States.

These courses are offered in a variety of disciplines, and they include courses taught in a foreign language beyond the elementary level that address histories, institutions, economies, societies, and cultures beyond those of the United States.

Learning Objectives for General Education Courses in World History and International Perspectives

Students will:

1. demonstrate knowledge of a broad outline of world history and/or the development of the distinctive features of at least one civilization or culture, other than that of the United States, in relation to other regions of the world;

2. demonstrate an understanding of the structures and systems of, and interrelationships among civilizations and cultures within historical and/or contemporary contexts, and their impact on wellbeing and sustainability.

The SUNY General Education Framework explains the reference to "sustainability" in this way:

“Sustainability is meant to be interpreted broadly as in the sustainability of a culture, civilization, nation, etc. as in the UN Sustainable Development Goals which include access to education, economic vitality, etc.

The goal was not to restrict narrowly the type of impact on wellbeing and sustainability. Instead, we wanted faculty to be able to select an impact in these broad areas appropriate to the content of their courses.

For example, the environment quickly comes to mind when thinking about sustainability. However, an investment and finance course might consider the impact of the World Bank on sustaining economies and reducing poverty.”

Approved courses will be at least 3 credits in a language other than English. This requirement is also considered satisfied for students who have:

• completed three or more years of a foreign language in high school with a course grade in the third year of 85, or B, or better

• passed a Regents “Checkpoint B” Examination or a Regents-approved equivalent in a foreign language, with a score of 85 or above (Note: This exam is no longer offered, but scores earned during the period the exam was offered will be honored.)

• earned a score of 530 or better on an SAT II Subject Test in a foreign language (Note: This exam is no longer offered, but scores earned during the period the exam was offered will be honored.)

• demonstrated competency in a language other than English, including languages not currently offered for formal instruction at this university. Students may demonstrate competency by:

  • taking a language proficiency test through the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), Brigham Young Foreign Language Achievement Testing Service (FLATS), College Level Examination Program (CLEP), or Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (Defense Language Proficiency Test, DLPT), and providing documentary proof of proficiency at the Elementary I level (i.e., one college semester of instruction)

  • providing documentary proof of legal residence or citizenship in a country whose official language is a language other than English

Note: Students interested in being inducted into Phi Beta Kappa are required to complete language courses at a more advanced level than is required by the University’s General Education program.

Learning Objectives for Languages Other Than English

Students will:

1. exhibit basic proficiency in the understanding and use of a language other than English;

2. demonstrate knowledge of the distinctive features of culture(s) associated with the language they are studying.

Note: All students matriculating Fall 2023 will be required to fulfill a requirement for a course in the Diversity: Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice category (see above). This requirement is in lieu of the UAlbany Category of Challenges for the 21st Century category applicable to students matriculating prior to Fall 2023.

The courses in the category of Challenges for the 21st Century address a variety of issues focusing on challenges and opportunities in such areas as cultural diversity and pluralism, science and technology, social interaction, ethics, global citizenship, and others, and may include interdisciplinary approaches.

Courses in this category will be expected to address the historical roots and contemporary manifestations of challenges that lie ahead as students move into the world beyond the University at Albany.

Learning Objectives for General Education Challenges for the 21st Century Courses

Students will:

1. develop knowledge and understanding of the historical roots, contemporary manifestations, and potential future courses of important challenges students may encounter as they move into the world beyond the university;

2. demonstrate familiarity with these challenges in areas such as cultural diversity and pluralism, science and technology, social interaction, ethics, global citizenship, and/or others; 

3.  integrate an understanding of how challenges often affect individuals and societies simultaneously in many of these areas;

4. cultivate an appreciation for interdisciplinary approaches to understanding contemporary and future challenges.