Granite State College

General Education

Requirements for all degree programs at Granite State College include General Education. General Education provides a solid foundation for the more specialized studies of a chosen major. Degree Candidates at Granite State College will take courses in these General Education categories in fulfillment of their degree:

  • Critical Thinking
  • Written Communication
  • Quantitative Reasoning
  • Oral Communication*
  • Information Technology Literacy
  • Global Perspectives
  • Arts and Culture
  • History and Politics
  • Literature and Ideas
  • Science**
  • Social Science

*Bachelor's degree students only; not required of Associate degree students.

**2 courses required for the Bachelor's degree

Note: Associate degree students choose:

  • 1 course in Arts and Culture OR in Literature and Ideas.
  • 1 course in History and Politics OR in Social Science.

Associate degree students will normally fulfill four required areas within the first 20 credit hours of study: Critical Thinking, Written Communication, Information Technology Literacy, and Quantitative Reasoning.

Bachelor's degree students will normally fulfill all five core general education requirements within the first 30 credit hours of study: Critical Thinking, Written Communication, Quantitative Reasoning, Oral Communication, and Information Technology Literacy.

Decisions regarding the transfer of credits, testing, and choices for new learning must be based on the outcomes for each area in general education.

  • No learning experience less than 3 credits may be used.
  • Only one course with an applied focus can be used. Applied courses focus on the practical use of subject matter rather than emphasis on theoretical concepts.

Critical Thinking
Learners will:

  • demonstrate effective critical thinking by evaluating the validity of claims and information.
  • apply critical thinking in crafting arguments and solving problems.

Course:
CRIT 500 Critical Thinking

Written Communication
Learners will:

  • recognize and use the conventions appropriate for particular writingsituations and audiences.
  • organize, draft, revise, and edit writing.

Course:
ENG 500 The Writing Process

Quantitative Reasoning
Learners will:

  • employ mathematical reasoning and skills of estimation and analysis to arrive at reasonable conclusions.
  • conduct operations necessary to solve quantitative problems.

Courses:
MATH 502 Contemporary College Mathematics
MATH 504 Introduction to Statistics
MATH 505 College Algebra
MGMT 504 Business Statistics

Oral Communication
Learners will:

  • listen well, respond appropriately, and communicate effectively with a given audience.

Courses:
COMM 550 Interpersonal Communication
COMM 551 Small Group Communication
COMM 553 Presentational Communication

Information Technology Literacy
Learners will:

  • demonstrate proficiency in using the tools of an information society.
  • conduct research responsibly; critically evaluate informational technologies.

Courses:
CMPL 511 Software Tools
CMPL 612 Advanced Software Tools

Self-Directed Learning (optional)
The learner will be able to

  • articulate and evaluate personal and academic strengths and weaknesses.
  • identify and employ appropriate learning strategies in the achievement of learning outcomes.
  • set and periodically evaluate personal, academic, and/or career goals and objectives using self-reflection as well as feedback from others, e.g., mentors,
    • peers, and instructors.
  • access, evaluate, and utilize information from a variety of sources toward the completion of projects, reports, and other learning goals.
  • develop, implement, and evaluate specific learning outcomes for independent learning projects.
  • reflect on and evaluate one’s own thinking processes and assume personal responsibility for achieving learning outcomes and career goals.

Arts and Culture
Learners will:

  • articulate criteria for aesthetic judgment and interpretation of meaning in art.
  • realize, in an applied context, what it means to communicate effectively in an artistic medium or a non-native language.

Approved courses: (In transfer, a minimum of 3 crdeits is required)

ARTS 501 Introduction to Drawing
ARTS 503 Introduction to Watercolor Painting
ARTS 510 Introduction to Ceramics
ARTS 511 Introduction to Sculpture
ARTS 515 Introduction to Photography
ARTS 518 Experiencing the Arts
ARTS 520 Creative Process in Art
ARTS 521 Art and Craft: Creating the American Experience
ARTS 524 The Viewer and the Visual Arts
ARTS 525 Art and Craft of Film
ARTS 526 Modern America and the Movies
ARTS 530 Fundamentals of Acting
ARTS 537 Creative Process in Music
ARTS 538 Understanding and Experiencing Music
ARTS 550 Art History: Western World
ARTS 551 Survey of World Architecture-GP*
ENG 604 Creative Writing
HUMN 502 American Popular Culture
HUMN 550 Intro to American Sign Language
HUMN 551 Intermediate American Sign Language
HUMN 560 Spanish I-GP*
HUMN 561 Spanish II-GP*
HUMN 646X Creativity: the Untapped Potential

*Meets Global Perspectives Requirement.

Literature and Ideas
Learners will:

  • name some of the major questions that have been posed about the meaning and value of human life and activity.
  • survey the diversity of particular intellectual traditions and works of literature.

Approved courses:(In transfer, a minimum of 3 credits is required)
CRIT 600 Advanced Critical Thinking
ENG 510 Survey of American Literature
ENG 512 British Literature I
ENG 513 British Literature II
ENG 555 Perspectives on Children's Literature
ENG 620 Multicultural Perspectives Through Literature-GP*
ENG 621 Philosophical Issues Through Literature
ENG 622 Nature Writing and the Environment
ENG 624 Women's Literature
ENG 625 Readings in World Literature-GP*
ENG 632 Autobiography as Literature
ENG 633 Short Fiction
ENG 634 Major American Poets
ENG 638 A, B, C The Modern Novel: British, Global (GP*), or North American
ENG 640 Shakespeare
HUMN 504 Comparative Religions-GP*
HUMN 505 Introduction to Ethics
HUMN 507 Introduction to Philosophy

*Meets Global Perspectives requirement.

History and Politics
Learners will:

  • recognize major periods and movements within human history.
  • critically analyze both the context(s) for historical developments and the particulars of history.

Approved courses:
CRIM 607 Constitutional Law
HIS 502 Great Civilizations-GP*
HIS 510 U.S. History to 1865
HIS 511 U.S. History: 1865 to Present
HIS 512 European History: Renaissance through the Industrial Revolution
HIS 513 European History: The 19th and 20th Centuries
HIS 601 Maritime History and Culture of New England
HIS 602 History of New England
HIS 611 Regions of the World: History and Current Issues-GP*
HIS 618 History of World War II -GP*
HIS 627 Vietnam War: Historical Perspective-GP*
POL 550 American Government and Politics
POL 554 Law and Society
POL 577 Campaigns, Elections, and Political Parties
POL 578 International Relations and Public Policy
SOSC 570 Introduction to Historical Archeology

*Meets Global Perspectives requirement.

Social Science
Learners will:

  • recognize how individual development, human behavior, and social values are shaped by groups and institutions.
  • define research and employ methods used by social/behavioral scientists.

Approved courses:
ECO 512 Principles of Economics
ECO 600 International Economics-GP*
POL 554 Law and Society
PSY 501 Intro to Psychology
PSY 508 Child Development
PSY 509 Human Development
PSY 550 Grief and Loss
PSY 510 Infant and Toddler Development
PSY 511 School Age and Adolescent Development
PSY 521 Language Acquisition
PSY 602 Theories of Personality
PSY 607 Developmental Perspectives on Adolescence
PSY 608 Social Psychology
SOC 501 Intro to Sociology
SOC 504 Sociology of the Media
SOC 553 Social Problems
SOS 557 Violence in American Society
SOC 560 Gender and Race in the US
SOC 601 Society and the Individual
SOC 603 Work and Society
SOSC 500 Intro to Anthropology-GP*
SOSC 562 Intro to Gender Studies
SOSC 600 Cultural Geography-GP*
SOSC 602 Men and Women in Cross-Cultural Perspectives-GP*
SOSC 604 Dynamics of Family Relationships
SOSC 605 Stress: Its Impact on the Family
SOSC 606 Addictions and Family Dynamics

*Meets Global Perspectives requirement.

Science
Learners will:

  • recognize and employ the methods of scientific inquiry.
  • develop a general knowledge of laws and theories in at least one branch of science.

One course with an applied focus can be used.  Applied courses focus on the practical use of subject matter rather than emphasize theoretical concepts.

Approved courses:
SCI 501  Current Topics in Biology
SCI 502  Nutrition Concepts and Controversies
SCI 505  Human Biology
SCI 506  Physiology of Wellness
SCI 507  Introduction to Human Genetics
SCI 508  Issues in Women's Health
SCI 509  Diseases of the 21st Century-GP*
SCI 510  Concepts in Physics
SCI 511  Observational Astronomy
SCI 512  Introduction to Astronomy
SCI 513  Introduction to Meteorology
SCI 515  Introduction to Geology
SCI 516  Earth Planet
SCI 518  Physical Geography
SCI 520  Introduction to Oceanography
SCI 522  Biogeography: World Distribution of Plants and Animals
SCI 528/529 Natural History of Northern New England
SCI 530  Plant Propagation and Growth
SCI 531  Applied Botany
SCI 532  Field Botany of the White Mountains
SCI 534  Bird Ecology and Migration
SCI 540  Environmental Heritage
SCI 541  Environmental Pollution and Protection
SCI 542  Current Issues in Forestry
SCI 600  The Human Brain

*Meets Global Perspectives requirement.

Note: There may be additional courses that will fulfill general education requirements. See your academic advisor for information.