To achieve the goals of raising fundamental questions about human existence, encountering these questions in a meaningful context and encouraging significant integration, students must complete the Humanities Base and a thematic cluster as part of their General Education requirements.

Humanities Base

General Education raises a set of questions that challenges students to develop and formulate their own conception of what it means to be human. These questions may be considered in any number of disciplines, but they are essential to the humanities. Consequently, all undergraduates must complete, preferably during their first year, a Humanities Base of one course in each of the following disciplines:

Students in the CORE Program take ASI 111 and ASI 112 to satisfy the history, religious studies, and philosophy requirements in the Humanities Base, as well as complete the second of the two courses for the Historical Study domain of knowledge.

Thematic Clusters

To facilitate an integrated view of the domains of knowledge and to encourage students to understand the broad world around them, all undergraduates must complete one thematic cluster. A thematic cluster is a series of courses from the domains of knowledge, focusing on an issue central to the human condition. To fulfill the thematic cluster requirement, students must complete a minimum of three approved courses in a single cluster, representing three different domains of knowledge. For the purpose of thematic clusters, philosophy and religious studies are considered separate domains of knowledge. Students will receive specific information about thematic clusters from their faculty advisors. Students must have the approval of their advisors before selecting and registering for a thematic cluster. The Guide to the University of Dayton General Education Program describing all approved clusters and their course offerings is distributed to all students at http://portfolio.udayton.edu.

Completing General Education Requirements

At the maximum, students could enroll in as many as seven thematic cluster courses in the appropriate domains of knowledge. These courses, combined with the Humanities Base, would fulfill all General Education requirements. In most cases, however, students will have to complete some domain of knowledge requirements outside of the courses serving a thematic cluster. With their advisors' approval, students may elect to take any designated General Education course within the appropriate domain to help satisfy requirements. Many of the courses listed as approved courses under a domain of knowledge will also serve the same purpose as a course in a thematic cluster. You can view courses that have been approved by the University for General Education credit by visiting Portfolio at: http://portfolio.udayton.edu

Each department determines whether its majors are free to choose from among all the approved nonrestricted courses, or are to choose from among a limited number of approved courses, or are required to take only specific approved courses. The University has approved some courses for certain majors exclusively, and those courses are, therefore, restricted to those majors for General Education credit. Students should consult their advisors to learn which courses are permissible in their own majors.