The distinguishing quality of a university education is the intersection and blend of career preparation and life enrichment. Through the Core Curriculum, ULM joins these two purposes together, and both of these aspects of a good university experience were uppermost in the minds of the faculty and administrators when they established the new Core Curriculum. In fact, several principles have guided the building of ULM’s common core.
One fundamental concern was the desire to provide ULM students with opportunities to explore the interrelationship of knowledge in our increasingly complex, global society. Thus, an emphasis was placed upon offering courses that have an interdisciplinary content or that can be paired with other disciplines in challenging, informative ways to reveal the links that various endeavors of study possess. Students thus will have the freedom to explore different avenues of inquiry and to see how various kinds of knowledge connect.
Another governing principle was to expand our literary and cultural offerings to include the examination of the people, values, and societies of both Eastern and Western civilizations. This step was taken in the knowledge that a global perspective is a necessity for today’s students who will live and work in a world economy and in an ever-changing international environment.
A third key objective was to develop the writing, research, and communication skills of our students and to integrate these skills with a knowledge of the humanities and the sciences, particularly the areas of literature, the social sciences, the fine arts, history and mathematics.
Yet another effect of the creation of our Core Curriculum is that the resulting commonality of academic experiences of the student population will enable those students who want to transfer between majors the ability to do so more easily.
Above all, the Core Curriculum has been established to serve the long term educational needs of ULM students. Accordingly, we offer our undergraduate students this broader, stronger educational foundation that was created and adapted from the general education requirements of the Louisiana Board of Regents General Education guidelines. The Board of Regents requirements stipulate that a minimum of 39 hours of credit in certain areas of English composition, mathematics, the natural sciences, the humanities, the fine arts, the social/behavioral sciences, and computer literacy must be earned by students pursuing a B.A. (Bachelor of Arts), B.S. (Bachelor of Science), or a Bachelor’s (non-designated) degree. (For a complete list of the Louisiana Board of Regents Statewide General Education Requirements, see here ). ULM’s Core Curriculum, which requires that a total of 42 hours of credit be earned in various fields of study, adheres to and meets the stipulations of the Board of Regents requirements. By adding a common interdisciplinary university capstone course which emphasizes the development of thinking skills, writing, and research and by focusing upon first-year and sophomore courses which will best prepare students for advancing to the courses in their majors, the Core Curriculum ensures that ULM’s students will be intellectually well-equipped to complete their chosen programs of study, as well as to find a meaningful place in today’s rapid-paced, integrated world.
ULM Common Core Curriculum
Foundation Courses
It is imperative that undergraduate students entering ULM are provided with a strong academic foundation upon which to build their future college careers. Ultimately, this structure, which follows many national trends, brings a much needed breadth and commonality to the ULM academic experience and makes it easier for students to transfer between majors.
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University Seminar (1 Hour)
The one-hour credit earned for this course will not count toward the total number of hours required to complete a degree. |
This course is designed to maximize the student’s potential to achieve academic success and to adjust responsibility to the individual and interpersonal challenges presented by collegiate life. |
Core English Composition 6 Hours
ENGL 1001
ENGL 1002
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The goal of these introductory composition courses is to encourage the development of proficiency in writing. |
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Core Humanities 9 Hours
ENGL 2003 , ENGL 2004 (World) ENGL 2005 , ENGL 2006 (U.S.)
HIST 1011 , HIST 1012 (World) HIST 2001 , HIST 2002 (U.S.)
Six hours must be taken as a sequence of two courses in either Literature or History. The remaining three hours must be taken in the other discipline’s alternative field (i.e., one course in either the U.S. or the World area).
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The goals of the Humanities courses are to encourage an understanding of the literature, history, language, culture, and belief systems of nations and to improve the written and oral skills of students. |
Core Fine Arts 3 Hours
ART 1009 , ART 2001 , ART 2002 , ART 4011 *
DANC 3001
MUSC 1001 , MUSC 1091
MSED 3035 *
THEA 1091
Choose one from the above list.
*ART 4011 and Music Education 3035 are for Elementary Education majors only. |
Fine arts courses help students understand and appreciate visual art, drama, and music. Students learn about the creative process and the nature of art. Each fine arts course should includefirst-hand experiences with works of art, music, or theater. |
Core Mathematics 6 Hours
MATH 1011 , MATH 1012 , MATH 1013 , MATH 1014 , MATH 1016 , MATH 1018 , MATH 1031 , MATH 1032
Six hours of approved mathematics classes from the 1000 level or higher must be selected from the above list. |
Students may not use both MATH 1014 and MATH 1031 to satisfy the mathematics core requirement. Students may not use both MATH 1012 and MATH 1013 to satisfy the mathematics core requirement. |
Core Natural/Physical Sciences 9 Hours
BIOL 1001 , BIOL 1010 ; BIOL 1020 , BIOL 1022 ; BIOL 1014 , BIOL 1015
ATMS 1001 , ATMS 1002
CHEM 1001 , CHEM 1002 ; CHEM 1007 , CHEM 1008
GEOL 1001 , GEOL 1002
PHYS 2003 , PHYS 2004 ; PHYS 2007 , PHYS 2008
PSCI 1001 , PSCI 1002
*Integrated Science courses are for Elementary Education majors only.
PHYS 2001 is an approved course which may be taken to satisfy three hours of the nine hour requirement. |
Six hours must be from an approved sequence of two courses in either biological or physical science. Three hours must be from the other area. |
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Core Social Sciences 6 Hours
Group I:
ECON 1003
GEOG 1001 or GEOG 1002
POLS 1001
SOCL 1001 or SOCL 1002
**HONR 3001
Group II:
ECON 2001
*PSYC 2001
POLS 2001
ANTS/ANTG 2007
**HONR 3001
*Note: PSYC 2001 and PSYC 2003 or PSYC 2005 may be used to satisfy this requirement for Education majors.
**Note: Due to the variety of topics covered by this class Group determination will vary. Students taking HONR 3001 for 6 hrs of Social Science credit must gain approval from both ULM Honors Council and degree College to verify variation in disciplines.
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Six hours of approved Social Science courses are required. Three hours must be selected from each Group, but the two selections must represent different disciplines. |
| Requirements |
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Core University Capstone 3 Hours
The University Capstone is an advanced, thematic, interdisciplinary course that is intended to give students an opportunity to refine, synthesize, and demonstrate the knowledge and skills acquired during their earlier core experiences. This course will give substantive attention to critical thinking, methods of inquiry, written and oral communication skills, and computer literacy. In this research-driven course, students will be taught explicitly over the course of the semester to identify, reconstruct, analyze, and critique reasoned claims.
This course must be taken within the student’s last 60 hours of credit.
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| Total Core Curriculum Hours 42 Hours |
Core Curriculum Guidelines
1. Students must complete all of the courses in the Core Curriculum (a total of 39 hours) before they enroll in the University Capstone course.
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5. Transfer credit will not be accepted for the Capstone requirement. |
| 2. The student’s work in a major or minor may count toward meeting the University Core. |
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6. All freshman students are required to take the University Seminar for one credit hour (the course will not count toward any degree program and will be nontransferable).
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3. Transfer students can apply equivalent hours earned at other universities to meet ULM core requirements (equivalency to be determined by the appropriate department head and the Board of Regents’ Statewide Student Transfer Guide and General Education Articulation Matrix).
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7. In the absence of a compelling reason, degree programs should refrain from defining or limiting student choices within the menu of prescribed general education courses. |
| 4. No course used to fulfill University core curriculum requirements may be taken Pass/Fail. |
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8. ETV courses may not be used to satisfy core curriculum requirements. |
Core Curriculum Abbreviations Used in Degree Plans or Programs of Study
Some degree plans specified that certain courses must be taken from within a menu of the sets of courses in the core curriculum. For those that did so, first the specific course will be listed in the degree plan, followed by the appropriate abbreviation which indicates which requirement is being fulfilled by the specified required core curriculum course. For example, if MATH 1013 and MATH 1031 must be taken by Computer Science majors, then the requirement will be listed as “MATH 1013 cm, MATH 1031 cm”. The core curriculum abbreviations which have been used are as follows:
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ce |
Core English Composition |
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ch |
Core Humanities |
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cf |
Core Fine Arts |
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cm |
Core Mathematics |
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cnp |
Core Natural/Physical Science |
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cs |
Core Social Science |
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uc |
University Capstone |
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