Foundation Areas
- Critical Thinking and Writing (CTW) 1 & 2 (A two-course themed sequence)
- Cultures and Ideas (C&I) 1 & 2 (A two-course themed sequence)
- Mathematics
- Religion, Theology, & Culture 1
- Second Language
This page provides students with a comprehensive list of the courses that satisfy each Foundations requirement. All incoming first year students are pre-enrolled into at least one Foundations Core course prior to their Summer advising and registration appointment.
Critical Thinking and Writing (CTW) 1 & 2
Goals: Critical Thinking, Complexity, Communication
Meta-Goals: Information Literacy and Intentional Learning
Learning Objectives In the first course, students will:
| 1.1 |
Read and analyze texts for audience, speaker/writer, purpose, message, and context |
| 1.2 | Compose rhetorically effective nonfiction texts for different audiences in different modes of presentation |
| 1.3 | Compose texts that resist overly simplistic binary thinking by engaging various perspectives about topics and/or texts |
| 1.4 | Use writing processes as tools for learning and discovery |
Learning Objectives In the second course, students will:
| 2.1 | Locate and select information that genuinely considers multiple, credible perspectives |
| 2.2 |
Demonstrate an engaged, ethical approach to the use of sources, including accurate citation |
| 2.3 |
Compose texts that effectively integrate sources for a clear purpose, audience, and occasion in different modes of presentation |
| 2.4 |
Use writing and information literacy as tools for learning and discovery |
Cultures and Ideas (C&I) 1 & 2 (A two-course themed sequence)
Goals: Global Cultures, Arts & Humanities, Critical Thinking, Perspective
Learning Objectives In the first course, students will:
| 1.1 | Identify significant elements of the cultures examined. |
| 1.2 | Recognize the complexity of the cultures examined. |
| 1.3 | Analyze and/or interpret significant objects, texts, ideas, issues and/or events in their historical contexts, using at least one disciplinary method. |
| 1.4 | Examine and analyze both shared and diverse human experiences across cultures and historical periods in order to comprehend the relevance of the past to the cultural present. |
Learning Objectives In the second course students will:
| 2.1 | Make connections between the cultures and objects, texts, ideas, issues, and/or events examined in C&I 1 and 2. |
| 2.2 | Demonstrate understanding of the complexity and/or larger contexts of the cultures examined. |
| 2.3 | Question and/or evaluate the effects cultural understanding has on the interpretation of the objects, texts, ideas, and/or events. |
| 2.4 | Examine and analyze both shared and diverse human experiences across cultures and historical periods, demonstrating awareness of their relevance to students’ own world view, cultural assumptions, and values. |
Mathematics
Goals: Critical Thinking, Mathematics & Quantitative Reasoning, Communication, Complexity
Learning Objectives Students will:
| 1.1 | Demonstrate their problem solving skills, including their ability to interpret problem situations; choose among several potentially appropriate mathematical methods of solution; persist in the face of difficulty; and present full and cogent solutions that include appropriate justification for their reasoning. |
| 1.2 | Demonstrate their ability to approach mathematical ideas or problems from multiple perspectives (e.g., by using the internal connections between geometry, algebra, and numerical computation; applying the connections between theory and applications; or distinguishing between a formal proof and less formal arguments and understanding the different roles these play in mathematics). |
| 1.3 | Demonstrate an understanding of mathematical content (including the limits to its application) that goes beyond mere fluency in using mathematical symbols, language, and formulas. |
BUSINESS students complete the following, depending on when they enrolled. More information is available from the Leavey School of Business website.
- Students who were enrolled (or had been enrolled) at SCU prior to June 1, 2024, must take MATH 30 and 31 or MATH 11 and 12. There will be no changes or exceptions to this requirement.
- Students starting at SCU on or after June 1, 2024 must take one mathematics course: MATH 11 or 30. Additionally, students majoring in Economics (whether in Business or Arts & Sciences) or Finance must take a second calculus course (MATH 12 or 31).
ENGINEERING students must take MATH 11 and MATH 12.
LIFE SCIENCE students take MATH 35 and MATH 36.
ARTS AND SCIENCES (except Life Science majors) students select any course from this list.
Mathematics (MATH)
4 The Nature of Mathematics
6 Finite Mathematics for Social Science
8 Introduction to Statistics
11 Calculus & Analytic Geometry I
12 Calculus & Analytic Geometry II
30 Calculus for Business
35 Calculus for Life Sciences I
36 Calculus for Life Sciences II
Religion, Theology, & Culture 1
Goals: Global Cultures, Critical Thinking, Complexity, Religious Reflection
Learning Objectives Students will:
| 1.1 | Describe and compare the central religious ideas and practices from at least two locally or globally distinct cultures or communities. |
| 1.2 | Use critical approaches to reflect on their own beliefs and the religious dimensions of human existence. |
Students choose one course from the list below.
Classics (CLAS)
5 Mediterranean Religious Traditions
Engineering (ENGR)
16 Values in Technology
Religion and Society (RSOC)
7 South and Southeast Asian Traditions
8 Jews, Judaism, and Film
9 Ways of Understanding Religions
10 Asian Religious Traditions
11 Asian Christianity
12 Latinos & Lived Religion in U.S.
14 Exploring Living Religions
15 Mapping Living Religion
16 Ecstatic Experience, Film, and Religion
19 Egyptian Religious Traditions
Scripture and Tradition (SCTR)
11 Controversies in Religion: Ancient & Modern
15 Texting God
19 Religions of the Book
Theology, Ethics, and Spirituality (TESP)
2 Magicians, Athletes, & God
4 The Christian Tradition
16 Religion, Science and Ecology
Second Language
Goals: Communication, Perspective
Learning Objectives Students will:
| 1.1 | Demonstrate skill in the use of the modern or classical language for authentic communicative purposes, as appropriate to the language. |
| 1.2 | Demonstrate an understanding of and sensitivity to the cultural products, practices, and perspectives exhibited in the language studied. |
Students satisfy this requirement by completing a course at the level required by their major (consult degree progress report for your required level):
B.A. and B.S. (Social Sciences) students need to complete the 3rd course of any first year language, i.e., Elementary Language III.
B.S. (Natural Sciences and Mathematics) students need to complete the 2nd course of any first year language, i.e., Elementary Language II.
B.S. (Engineering) students fulfill requirement by two years of high school study in a second language.
B.S.C. (Leavey School of Business) students need to complete the 2nd course of any first year language, i.e., Elementary Language II.
ARABIC (ARAB)
21 Intermediate Arabic I
22 Intermediate Arabic II
23 Intermediate Arabic III
50 Intermediate Arabic Conversation
CHINESE (CHIN)
21 Intermediate Chinese I
22 Intermediate Chinese II
23 Intermediate Chinese III
100 Advanced Chinese I
101 Advanced Chinese II
102 Advanced Chinese III
127 Chinese History and Culture
CLASSICS, including GREEK and LATIN (CLAS)
CLAS 2 - Elementary Latin II
CLAS 3 - Elementary Latin III
CLAS 21A - Greek Myth in Introductory Greek
CLAS 22A - Elementary Greek II
CLAS 23A - Elementary Greek III
CLAS 101 - Intermediate Latin
CLAS 123 - Roman Comedy
CLAS 153 - Euripides
FRENCH (FREN)
21 French Language and Francophone Cultures I
21A Close Encounters of a Different Kind: Tales and Legends from the Francophone World
22 French Language and Francophone Cultures II
22A Language, Film, & Youth Culture
50 Intermediate French Conversation
100 Introduction to French and Francophone Studies
101 Introduction to Literary and Cultural Analysis
102 Advanced French III
103 Critical Writing in French
103A (W)rites of Passage: French Writing Workshop
104 The Art of Story-Telling: Creative Writing Workshop
105 Across Language Borders: Interpretation and Translation
106 Oral Communication in French
108 French for a Global Marketplace
110 Contemporary France: Cultures, Society and Politics
111 Introduction to the Francophone World
113 Sub-Saharan African/Caribbean Women Writers
114 Literatures and Cultures of the Maghreb
115 French Literature & Culture I
116 French Literature & Culture II
117 French Orientalism: Representation of Otherness in Literature, Cinema, and Visual Arts
150 The French Revolution in a Global Context
171 20th-Century France: War, Memory, and Trauma
172 Introduction to French Cinema
173 Immigration, Race, and Identity in Contemporary France
174 French and Francophone Novels and Films: Culture, Gender, and Class
175 Transnational Cinema
176 French Perspectives on Social Justice
182 Women in French Literature
183 20th- and 21st-Century French Women Writers
185 Sociolinguistics: The Francophone World
186 Politics of Love
GERMAN (GERM)
21 Intermediate German I
22 Intermediate German II
23 Intermediate German III
100 Advanced German I
101 Advanced German II
106 Advanced German Conversation
108 German Business Culture and Institutions
110 History of German Civilization
111 Contemporary German Civilization
112 German in the Media
113 German Film: From Fassbinder to Fatih Akin
140 German Fairy Tales
150 20th Century Novel
160 The German Novelle
174 German Novels and Films
182 Women in German Literature: Authors and Characters
ITALIAN (ITAL)
21 Intermediate Italian I
22 Intermediate Italian II
50 Intermediate Italian Language & Culture
100 Introduction to Italian Culture
101 Italian Food Culture
102 Made in Italy and Italian Entrepreneurship
106 Advanced Italian Conversation
108 Translation Workshop
113 Introduction to Italian Cinema
114 Contemporary Italian Culture
120 Italian Literature and Culture I
121 Italian Literature and Culture II
125 Colloquium: Italian Literature and Culture
154 Nature and the Italian Literary Imagination
180 Novecento Italian Literature of the 20th Century
182 20th-Century Italian Women Writers
183 Women in Italian Cinema: The Impact of Globalization
187i Destination Italy: Immigration in Film and Literature
JAPANESE (JAPN)
21 Intermediate Japanese I
22 Intermediate Japanese II
23 Intermediate Japanese III
100 Advanced Japanese I
101 Advanced Japanese II
102 Advanced Japanese III
113 Readings in Japanese I
114 Readings in Japanese II
115 Readings in Japanese III
SPANISH (SPAN)
21 Crossing Boundaries (Intermediate)
21A News and Culture in the Hispanic World (Intermediate)
21EL Intermediate Spanish I. Experiential Learning
22 Latino Cultures and Identities in Contemporary Film (Intermediate)
22A Gender, Identity and Food Cultures in Latin America
22B Spanish, Technology, & Culture
22EL Immigration Stories: Cultural, Political, and Personal Narratives (Intermediate)
23 Activism and Social Justice in the Spanish-speaking World (Intermediate)
23EL Experiential Learning (Intermediate)
100 Introduction to Cultural Analysis in Spanish
101 Introduction to Literary & Cultural Analysis
101M Introduction to Literary & Cultural Analysis: Migration
102 Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
103 The Structure of Spanish Words and Phrases
107 Writing Workshop
108 The Art of Narrative Nonfiction: Creative Writing Workshop
110 Oral Communication in Spanish
112 Mexican Culture
113 The Revolution in Mexican Culture
114 Culture and Society of the U.S-Mexico Border
123 Contemporary Spanish Culture
125 Colloquium: Spanish Literature and Culture
130 Survey of Latin American Literature I
131 Survey of Latin American Literature II
132 Hispanic Voices for Social Change
133 Mexican American Literature
135 Colloquium: Latin American Literature and Culture
136 Contemporary Latin American Short Story
137 Latin American Cultures and Civilizations
138 Hispanic Poetry
139 Haunted Literature: Ghosts and the Talking Dead in Latin American Narrative
143 Detective Short Story
146 Latin American Documentary
147 Cinema, Politics, and Society in Latin America
148 20th-Century Latin American Women Writers
156 Representations of the Migrant Condition in Contemporary Spain
165 Cervantes: Don Quijote
170 Spanish & the Community
175 History of the Spanish Language
176 Spanish and Latinxs in the United States