Liberal Studies Policy for Students Entering Fall 2020 through Spring 2024

The College of Engineering Distribution Requirements

• At least six courses chosen from the 13 categories listed below totaling a minimum of 18 credits;
• These courses must come from at least three of the six groups outlined below (Note: Courses which are assigned multiple liberal studies categories (i.e., CA-AS, HA-AG), may only be applied towards one of those categories);
• No more than two courses may be chosen from Group 6 (CE);
• At least two courses must be at the 2000 level or higher

Notes:

a. If you enroll in a course that does not have an approved liberal studies category designation, but the course is cross-listed and/or combined with a course that does have an approved liberal studies category designation, then the course without the designation will also be approved for liberal stuides credit in the same categories as the cross-listed/combined course.

b. Students can (if needed) use the formerly assigned categories from the College of Arts & Sciences from the 2023-24 academic year (CA-AS, LA-AS, HA-AS, SBA-AS, KCM-AS) for the Fall 2024 semester ONLY. To determine which liberal studies category a course was assigned previously, please review the course description in the Spring 2024 Class Roster at classes.cornell.edu and/or the 2023-2024 courses of study available at courses.cornell.edu.

Group 1: Cultural Analysis, Literature and the Arts, Social Differences

Cultural Analysis (CA)

Courses in this area study human life in particular cultural contexts through interpretive analysis of individual behavior, discourse, and social practice. Topics include belief systems (science, medicine, religion), expressive arts and symbolic behavior (visual arts, performance, poetry, myth, narrative, ritual), identity (nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality), social groups and institutions (family, market, community), and power and politics (states, colonialism, inequality).

Literature and the Arts/Literature, the Arts and Design (LA/LAD)

Offerings in this area explore literature and the arts in two different but related ways. Some courses focus on the critical study of artworks and on their history, aesthetics, and theory. These courses develop skills of reading, observing, and hearing and encourage reflection on such experiences; many investigate the interplay among individual achievement, artistic tradition, and historical context. Other courses are devoted to the production and performance of artworks (in creative writing, performing arts, and media such as film and video). These courses emphasize the interaction among technical mastery, cognitive knowledge, and creative imagination.

Arts, Literature, and Culture (ALC)

Courses in this area examine arts, literature, and culture in various contexts. Students gain insights into the interplay of individual or collaborative creativity and social practice, and understand the complexities of the expression of the human condition. Topics include the analysis of artworks and literary texts, and the belief systems of social groups, cultures, and civilizations; they also focus on artistic expression itself (in creative writing, performing arts, and media such as film and video).

Social Difference (SCD)

Courses in this area examine social differences relevant to the human experience. Social categories include class, race, ethnicity, indigeneity, nationality, language, religion, gender, sexuality, and ability as objects of study. Students develop a deeper understanding of these categories and their intersections. Topics may include: how hierarchies in power and status shape social differences; how social, economic and political systems can impact the interpretation of social differences; and how differences attributed to various groups are explained.

Group 2: Historical Analysis

Historical Analysis (HA)

Courses in this area interpret continuities and changes—political, social, economic, diplomatic, religious, intellectual, artistic, and scientific—through time. The focus may be on groups of people, dominant or subaltern, a specific country or region, an event, a process, or a time period.

Historical Analysis (HST)

Courses in this area train students in the analysis of documentary, material, and oral evidence about social phenomena, institutions, events and ideas of the past. Students learn to evaluate and critically assess differing analyses and interpretations of former times so that they may acquire a better understanding of the origins and evolution of the present. Questions addressed in HA courses include why and under what circumstances changes have occurred in how people have interacted with one another and with the environments in which they live.

Group 3: Ethics, Cognition, and Moral Reasoning

Knowledge, Cognition, and Moral Reasoning (KCM)

Offerings in this area investigate the bases of human knowledge in its broadest sense, ranging from cognitive faculties shared by humans and animals such as perception, to abstract reasoning, to the ability to form and justify moral judgments. Courses investigating the sources, structure, and limits of cognition may use the methodologies of science, cognitive psychology, linguistics, or philosophy. Courses focusing on moral reasoning explore ways of reflecting on ethical questions that concern the nature of justice, the good life, or human values in general.

Ethics and the Mind (ETM)

Courses in this area investigate the human mind and its capacities, ranging from cognitive faculties shared by humans and animals such as perception, to language and abstract reasoning, to the ability to form and justify ethical values. Courses investigating the mind may use the methodologies of psychology, linguistics, or philosophy. Those focusing on ethics explore ways of reflecting on questions that concern the nature of justice, the good life, or human values in general. Many courses combine these topics and methodologies.

Group 4: Social Science and Global Citizenship

Social and Behavioral Analysis (SBA)

Courses in this area examine human life in its social context through the use of social-scientific methods, often including hypothesis testing, scientific sampling techniques, and statistical analysis. Topics studied range from the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes of individuals to interpersonal relations between individuals (e.g., in friendship, love, conflict) to larger social organizations (e.g., the family, society, religious or educational or civic institutions, the economy, government) to the relationships and conflicts among groups or individuals (e.g., discrimination, inequality, prejudice, stigmas, conflict resolution).

Social Sciences (SSC)

Courses in this area examine social, economic, political, psychological, demographic, linguistic, and relational processes. Topics include understanding how different social contexts, for example neighborhoods, families, markets, networks, or political organizations, shape social life. Students learn to identify, describe, and explain the causes and consequences of social phenomena using quantitative and/or qualitative evidence based on systematic observation of the social world. They also learn to link evidence to theory through rigorous and transparent reasoning, and/or reflect critically on the concepts through which people make sense of the social world.

Global Citizenship (GLC)

Courses in this area examine the history, culture, politics, religion, and social relations of peoples in different parts of the world, as well as their interactions. They encourage students to think broadly about the global community and their place within it, beyond the boundaries of their particular national or cultural group, and cultivate skills of intercultural engagement that are vital to their role as global citizens. These courses introduce students to global challenges such as war and peace, social and economic inequalities, international migration, and environmental sustainability, and encourage students to think critically about international responses to these challenges.

Group 5: Foreign Languages (not literature courses)

Foreign Languages (not literature courses) (FL)

Courses in this area teach language skills, inclusive of reading, writing, listening, and spoken non-English languages, at beginning to advanced levels.

Group 6: Communications in Engineering

Communications in Engineering (CE)

(No more than two courses from this category can be used to satisfy the liberal studies requirement). Courses in this area explore communication as a way of acting in the world. The primary aim is to provide students with the opportunity to practice performing a range of engineering-related communication skills within specific genres (e.g., proposals, reports, journal articles, oral presentations). Each of these genres potentially engages a wide variety of audiences and, depending on the particulars of context, each may have multiple purposes. The secondary aim is to enable students to be aware of the choices they make as communicators and to be able to articulate a rationale for those choices.