Education Department

General Education Department

Mission

The General Education Department’s Core Curriculum is the foundation of North American University’s mission. NAU’s GE faculty prepare all students with essential competency in reading, writing, and reasoning with a firm grounding in ethics. The GE Department ensures that alumni will demonstrate and apply knowledge in their chosen majors as well as develop the following skills:   

  • Critical Thinking Skills (CT) – creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information (THECB)
  • Communication Skills (COM) – effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication (THECB) 
  • Empirical and Quantitative Skills (EQS) – manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions (THECB)
  • Teamwork (TW) – ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal (THECB)
  • Social Responsibility (SR) – intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities (THECB)

36 Credit Hour Requirement  

Students seeking an undergraduate degree are required to complete 36 semester credit hours of general education courses. The General Education Program provides students with a high-quality education enabling them to acquire, analyze, interpret, and synthesize information and knowledge; to communicate effectively in writing and speech; to reason critically, symbolically, quantitatively and scientifically; to recognize ethical issues; to appreciate diversity; to utilize information technology effectively; and to develop artistic skills.   

Courses  

The General Education requirements do not include remedial courses which may need to be taken before completing some of the subject areas listed below. All MATH and ENGL courses numbered R300 - R301 (non-credit courses) must be completed within one year.  

In addition to the General Education requirements listed below, all incoming freshmen students are required to take FRSH 1311 Freshman Seminar and this will be considered as a required elective, part of Elective courses listed under each department.  

FRSH 1311 Student Success Seminar (3 cr.)  

ENGL R300 Basic Writing 
ENGL R301 Development of Reading Skills 
MATH R300 Fundamentals of Mathematics 
MATH R301 Intermediate Algebra

Students must pass the remedial courses within one year. Failure to pass the remedial courses will result in expulsion from the University. Please see the section on College Readiness in this catalog for more information.

At least two of the following:

ARTS 1311 Art Appreciation (3 cr.)
ENGL 2315 Survey of British Literature I* (3 cr.)
ENGL 2316 Survey of American Literature I* (3 cr.)
ENGL 2317 Survey of British Literature II* (3 cr.)
ENGL 2318 Survey of American Literature II* (3 cr.)
ENGL 2319 Survey of World Literature* (3 cr.)
HIST 1311 U.S. History I** (3 cr.)
HIST 1312 U.S. History II** (3 cr.)
HIST 2311 World History (3 cr.)
HIST 2314 History of Texas** (3 cr.)
MUSI 1306 Music Appreciation (3cr.)
PHIL 1311 Introduction to Logic & Critical Thinking (3 cr.)
PHIL 1312 Professional Ethics (3 cr.)
PHIL 1313 Introduction to Philosophy (3 cr.)

*Students in ELA concentration can’t count these courses in the General Education area since they are required to take these courses in their concentration area.
** All undergraduate students are required to take one HIST course from this category.

At least two of the following:

ECON 2311 Principles of Macroeconomics* (3 cr.)
ECON 2312 Principles of Microeconomics (3 cr.)
GOVT 2311 U.S. Government I** (3 cr.)
GOVT 2312 U.S. Government II** (3 cr.)
PSYC 2311 General Psychology (3 cr.)
SOCI 2311 Introduction to Sociology (3 cr.)

*Undergraduate students in Business Administration are required to take ECON 2311 as one of the courses in this category.
**All undergraduate students from this category are required to take one GOVT course.

At least two of the following:

BIOL 1311 Introductory Biology* (3 cr.)
BIOL 1312 Nutrition* (3 cr.)
GEOG 2311 Human Geography (3 cr.)
GEOG 2312 Regional Geography in the World* (3 cr.)
GEOL 1311 Earth Science* (3 cr.)
MATH 1311 College Algebra* (3 cr.)
MATH 1313 Pre-calculus* (3 cr.)
MATH 2314 Calculus I* (3 cr.)

*All undergraduate students are required to take one MATH course and one natural science (BIOL 1311, BIOL 1312, GEOG 2312, or GEOL 1311) course from this category.

At least three of the following:

COMM 1311 Fundamentals of Communication* (3 cr.)
ENGL 1311 Composition and Rhetoric I* (3 cr.)
ENGL 1312 Composition and Rhetoric II* (3 cr.)
SPAN 1311 Elementary Spanish (3 cr.)

* All undergraduate students must take COMM 1311, ENGL 1311, and ENGL 1312 to fulfill their General Education 36-credit-hour requirement.

NAU General Education Department