General Curriculum

The Associate of Arts general curriculum is for adult students who wish to pursue their own educational goals.

Requirements for the General Curriculum

In addition to IFSM 201 (required), students may choose related courses from several disciplines, explore several interests at once, or choose a variety of courses from UMUC's offerings. Students in this program accept responsibility for developing a curriculum that meets their specific objectives. They are encouraged to seek assistance from an academic advisor in arranging their curriculum as appropriate to their personal interests and future educational plans.

Recommended Sequence

The following course sequence will fulfill all the requirements for the AA in general studies. Since some recommended courses fulfill more than one requirement, substituting courses for those listed may make it necessary to take additional courses to meet degree requirements. Students should consult an academic advisor whenever taking advantage of other options. Information on alternate courses (where allowable) to fulfill general education requirements (in communications, arts and humanities, behavioral and social sciences, biological and physical sciences, mathematics, and library research) may be found on the GER page.

General Curriculum Courses

First Courses
(to be taken within the first 18 credits)
Note: Placement tests are required for math and writing courses.

LIBS 150 Information Literacy and Research Methods (1)

WRTG 101/101X Introduction to Writing (3)

MATH 103 College Mathematics (3)
or a higher-level math course

Introductory Courses
(to be taken within the first 30 credits)

HIST 142 Western Civilization (3)
or HIST 157 History of the United States Since 1865
or other ARTH or HIST course to fulfill the general education requirement in arts and humanities for the historical perspective (discipline must differ from other humanities course)

BIOL 101 Concepts of Biology (3)
and BIOL 102 Laboratory in Biology (1)
or BIOL 103 Introduction to Biology
or other course(s) to fulfill the general education requirement in biological and physical sciences with related laboratory

WRTG 291 Expository and Research Writing (3)
or other course to fulfill the general education requirement in communications/ writing

GVPT 170 American Government (3)
or other ANTH, BEHS, ECON, GEOG, GVPT, PSYC, SOCY, or eligible AASP, CCJS, GERO, or WMST course to fulfill the first general education requirement in behavioral and social sciences

IFSM 201 Introduction to Computer-Based Systems (3)

Curriculum course (3)
(to be selected based on educational and career goals)

Additional Required Courses
(to be taken after first and introductory courses)

PSYC 100 Introduction to Psychology (3)
or SOCY 100 Introduction to Sociology
or other course to fulfill the second general education requirement in behavioral and social sciences (discipline must differ from first)

NSCI 100 Introduction to Physical Science (3)
or ASTR 100 Introduction to Astronomy
or other course to fulfill the general education requirement in biological and physical sciences

PHIL 140 Contemporary Moral Issues (3)
or a foreign language course or other course to fulfill the second general education requirement in arts and humanities (discipline must differ from first)

SPCH 100 Foundations of Speech Communication (3)
or SPCH 101 Introduction to Public Speaking
or other course to fulfill the general education requirement in communications/writing or speech

Curriculum Course (3)
(to be selected based on educational and career goals)

Elective Courses
(chosen from any courses to complete the 60 credits for the degree) (13)

Total credits for AA with general curriculum (60)

Information based on the UMUC Europe Undergraduate Catalog 2008-2009. (pdf 4.9MB)

Last updated: 20 March 2009