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The Uncommon Core

Core Details

Find information on the classes you'll need to take and general information about the curriculum.


First Year: Ask

First Year Students: You will learn how to ask good questions and how to explore them in different disciplines. You will start to think about what questions really interest you. Perhaps 'What makes a meaningful life?', 'What role should morality play in business and politics?', or 'How should humans treat the environment?' You will take the following courses (keep in mind that depending on your major, you may not be able to take all these courses in the first year):

Second Year: Explore

Second Year Students: This is your year of exploring. In consultation with your Professors and Advisor you will decide on a question that you would like to pursue in your Integrative Studies. You'll also probably want to explore one or more Experiential Learning Pathway in this year. Here's what you'll take:

Third Year: Integrate

Third Year Students: This is your year of integration. After taking (or at the same time as) your third and last Integrative Studies course, you sign up for the Core Milestone Experience. Here you'll look at all the artifacts and reflections you archived in P@N--from your P-EQ and IS courses, and from your Experiential Learning. You'll sign up for:

Fourth Year: Apply

Fourth Year Students: This is your year of application. If there are parts of the Core Curriculum that you still need to complete, you can do it now. But ideally, this is when you apply the skills and knowledge that you gained through the Core in your major area of study. Also, you may want to sign up for another Experiential Learning Pathway to see how what you have learned in the classroom can be applied to real world problems and issues.

Learn more about the Core curriculum, here.



Note: Transfer students will take a Core & Portfolio Workshop(CPW) (0 credits) in place of ACS 101.

Note: One of these courses will be a a First Year Seminar.

Unsure of which core to follow? Find out here.

First Year Seminar

One of your Perspectives-Enduring Questions courses taken your first semester (you can request which one) will be a smaller seminar that includes strategies to develop speaking skills, extra focus on how the course fits into the larger structure of the core, and off-site activities to get to know your classmates and professor.

Academic and College Success (ACS 101)

First-year students work together to build community, discuss the transition to college, and hone study and time-management skills. Learn more about ACS class.


You take two writing classes because crafting sound, persuasive arguments for different audiences is such a critical skill:


Some programs require two classes in the same foreign language. Studying a foreign language is recommended for all students to make you more marketable and skillful in our increasingly interconnected global world. You can even study a language in a place where it's the dominant language. All students are encouraged to study abroad.

Perspectives Enduring Questions

You choose one course from each of eight liberal arts subject areas. Each course introduces you to the subject through exploring a perspectives enduring question.

Integrative Studies

Three upper-level courses of your choosing help you explore the question YOU want to explore. How do you pick your three "IS" courses? Find out more here.

Start to explore Faculty-created Integrative Studies cluster here.

Experiential Learning

A hands-on learning experience that allows you to apply what you’re learning in your Integrative Studies and your major courses. There are seven pathways for Experiential Learning: course-based service learning; student leadership; internship; co-curricular service; study abroad; field work (student teaching, practica, clinicals); and Creative Activity, Research, & Scholarship.


Enjoy a wellness class such as yoga or compete on a sports team.

Core Milestone Experience

The seminar where you put it all together: You reflect on and integrate your learning, and you create a project to showcase your Integrative Studies to your classmates.


You create your own electronic portfolio to archive and compile your work in the core, to help you reflect and convey it to others. Learn more. Core Milestone Experience (CME)

Tools for students and advisors to prepare for CME:

Frequently experienced problems: a document sharing some common questions and concerns of students going into CME.

Project ideas: a document detailing various types of possible projects- meant as a starting point.

CME Primer video: a quick intro into what the course is all about.

Examples of Student CME Projects: real student projects that were recently completed.
 Uncommon Core Diagram

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