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Nov 24, 2024
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2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog
University Core Curriculum
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University Core Curriculum requirements
The University Core Curriculum is designed to ensure that all UNT students graduate with breadth of knowledge gained through their general education classes as well as depth of knowledge gained from courses in their major area of study. The core curriculum at UNT requires that students study in the “foundational component areas” of communication, mathematics, life and physical sciences, language, philosophy and culture, creative arts, American history, government/political science, and social and behavioral sciences. In addition, the UNT core curriculum includes 6 semester credit hours of core option classes. These classes help students further develop important and fundamental skills that will help them be successful in all their classes and will prepare them for their lives after college. These “core objectives” are Critical Thinking, Communication Skills, Empirical and Quantitative Skills, Teamwork, Personal Responsibility, and Social Responsibility. Through the Core, students will gain an enthusiasm for learning and an intellectual capacity that they will use throughout their lives.
Statement of Purpose
Through the Texas Core Curriculum, students will gain a foundation of knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world, develop principles of personal and social responsibility for living in a diverse world, and advance intellectual and practical skills that are essential for all learning.
Core Objectives
- Critical Thinking Skills, including creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information
- Communication Skills, including effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication
- Empirical and Quantitative Skills, including the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions
- Teamwork, including the ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal
- Personal Responsibility, including the ability to connect choices, actions and consequences to ethical decision-making
- Social Responsibility, including intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities
The UNT Core Curriculum complies with the mandates of the 1997 Texas Legislature regarding requirements for state-assisted institutions.
Individual academic programs may require courses contained in parts of the University Core Curriculum. Students who wish to take courses that will fulfill both core and major requirements simultaneously should check with academic advisors for assistance in selecting core courses.
Students may also choose to use core courses to meet the minimum number of advanced hours required by their degree.
Note: Additional courses are under review for inclusion in the University Core Curriculum.
Requirements
Note: Texas Common Course Numbering System (TCCNS) numbers, when applicable, are indicated in parentheses following the UNT course number and title. Some courses may have additional equivalents. See the Courses of Instruction section of this catalog for additional information about the TCCNS.
Communication (English Composition and Rhetoric), 6 hours
Developing Critical Thinking, Communication Skills, Teamwork, and Personal Responsibility
Courses in this category focus on developing ideas and expressing them clearly, considering the effect of the message, fostering understanding and building the skills needed to communicate persuasively. Courses involve the command of oral, aural, written and visual literacy skills that enable people to exchange messages appropriate to the subject, occasion, and audience. The student may choose from the following courses, usually taken in sequence (ENGL 1310 followed by ENGL 1320 , for example):
Group 1
One course from the following, usually taken first in the sequence: Group 2
One course from the following, usually taken second in the sequence: Note
(ENGL 2311) may be substituted for ENGL 1320 upon approval of the school/college.
A grade of C or better is required for courses applied toward this requirement. See your advisor for assistance.
Mathematics, 3 hours
Developing Critical Thinking, Communication Skills, and Empirical and Quantitative Skills
Courses in this category focus on quantitative literacy in logic, patterns and relationships. Courses involve the understanding of key mathematical concepts and the application of appropriate quantitative tools to everyday experience.
The student may choose from the following courses:
Life and physical sciences, 6 hours
Developing Critical Thinking, Communication Skills, Empirical and Quantitative Skills, and Teamwork
Courses in this category focus on describing, explaining and predicting natural phenomena using the scientific method. Courses involve the understanding of interactions among natural phenomena and the implications of scientific principles on the physical world and on human experiences.
This requirement may be satisfied by earning 6 semester hours in two laboratory sciences that meet the science requirement of the student’s degree program. The student may choose from the following courses:
American History, 6 hours
Developing Critical Thinking, Communication Skills, Social Responsibility, and Personal Responsibility
Courses in this category focus on the consideration of past events and ideas relative to the United States, with the option of including Texas History for a portion of this component area. Courses involve the interaction among individuals, communities, states, the nation, and the world, considering how these interactions have contributed to the development of the United States and its global role.
Texas state law requires that the university may not award a baccalaureate degree or a lesser degree or academic certificate unless the student has credit for 6 semester hours in American History. A student is entitled to submit as much as 3 hours of credit, or its equivalent, in Texas History in partial satisfaction of this requirement. The university may determine that a student has met the requirement by work transferred from another accredited college or upon successful completion of an advanced standing examination. The student may satisfy the entire 6-hour American/Texas history requirement by advanced standing examination.
This requirement may be satisfied by earning 6 hours credit from the following courses:
Government/Political Science, 6 hours
Developing Critical Thinking, Communication Skills, Social Responsibility, and Personal Responsibility
Courses in this category focus on consideration of the Constitution of the United States and the constitutions of the states, with special emphasis on that of Texas. Courses involve the analysis of governmental institutions, political behavior, civic engagement, and their political and philosophical foundations.
Texas state law requires that the university not award a baccalaureate degree or a lesser degree or academic certificate unless the student has completed 6 hours of credit in American Government to include consideration of the constitutions of the United States and Texas. The university may determine that a student has met the requirement in whole or in part on the basis of credit transferred from another accredited college or upon successful completion of an advanced standing examination. The university may grant as much as 3 hours of credit toward satisfaction of this requirement for substantially equivalent work in an approved senior ROTC unit. The student may satisfy the entire 6-hour political science requirement by advanced standing examination. Transfer students who have completed both GOVT 2305 and 2306 or their equivalents have satisfied this requirement. Transfer students who have only completed one of these two courses, GOVT 2305 or 2306, should consult with their academic advisor to determine which course is required to complete this requirement.
This requirement may be satisfied by earning 6 hours credit from the following courses:
Creative Arts, 3 hours
Developing Critical Thinking, Communication Skills, Teamwork, and Social Responsibility
Courses in this category focus on the appreciation and analysis of creative artifacts and works of the human imagination. Courses involve the synthesis and interpretation of artistic expression and enable critical, creative, and innovative communication about works of art.
This requirement may be satisfied by 3 hours credit in any of the following:
Language, Philosophy and Culture, 3 hours
Developing Critical Thinking, Communication Skills, Social Responsibility, and Personal Responsibility
Courses in this category focus on how ideas, values, beliefs and other aspects of culture express and affect human experience. Courses involve the exploration of ideas that foster aesthetic and intellectual creation in order to understand the human condition across cultures.
This requirement may be satisfied by 3 hours credit in any of the following:
Social and Behavioral Sciences, 3 hours
Developing Critical Thinking, Communication Skills, Empirical and Quantitative Skills, and Social Responsibility
Courses in this category focus on the application of empirical and scientific methods that contribute to the understanding of what makes us human. Courses involve the exploration of behavior and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions and events, examining their impact on the individual, society and culture.
This requirement may be satisfied by 3 hours credit in any of the following: Core Option Courses, 6 hours
Developing Critical Thinking, Communication Skills, and other core objectives related to an associated foundational component area
Core Option courses are designed to help students further develop the tools necessary for full engagement in the undergraduate experience. Students must complete an additional six hours of coursework from the courses above or from Core Option A or Core Option B courses listed below. Please note that only three hours of this requirement may be satisfied by courses designated as Core Option B. Students should consult with their academic advisor to determine whether specific Core Option courses are necessary to make timely degree progression in their chosen field of study.
Notes
* Course offered for Honors College students only.
*** Course offered for elementary education students only.
Inclusion of specific courses within core categories is subject to final approval.
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