7 General Education at The University of Arizona

What is a general education?

College administrators, faculty, students, and policymakers have long debated the purpose of a college degree. This debate engages in issues such as transforming students into educated and engaged participants in a democratic society and providing them with workforce training that offers a pathway to personal economic prosperity (Bear & Skorton). This discussion around the purpose of higher education has shaped the courses offered on college campuses, including the Gen Ed curriculum, as a solution to deliver on these educational goals. A general education includes courses that cover a variety of topics, genres, skills, and research designed to provide you with a breadth of knowledge to complement the depth of knowledge you will explore in your coursework for your major(s) and minor(s). Your Gen Ed courses are your opportunity to explore many areas of study while your major and minor classes serve as your specialization.

What makes the UA’s General Education program unique? 

The majority of colleges and universities in the United States include a Gen Ed curriculum, courses, and requirements for earning a degree — from the most elite liberal arts colleges to smaller state universities, as well as community colleges (Bowen). At many colleges and universities, Gen Ed courses are organized around a set of guiding principles and outcomes that students will find personal, academic, and professional value in completing. Gen Ed programs come in a variety of offerings: some require every student to take the same series of courses, while others allow for a flexible model where students have more choice. At UA, faculty, staff, and students have designed a purposeful Gen Ed program that is focused on perspective-taking and interdisciplinarity, which is unlike most other Gen Ed programs out there. In addition, the UA Gen Ed program allows you to choose courses you find meaningful that also align with your personal and professional interests, with opportunities to develop the skills needed to tackle important issues facing our communities.

What excites me about our Gen Ed program is that it is designed for you to learn and practice skills such as communicating effectively, thinking critically about complex problems, and fostering teamwork. These are essential skills for all of us as we work and live in communities. When I’m teaching a class that includes working on a team project, I often ask students, “Who has ever felt like the person who ends up doing everyone’s work at the last minute?” All but one or two hands go up. Then I ask, “Who here has been the person who does not do the group project and leaves the rest of us with all of the work?” The group often laughs, and sometimes one person is brave enough to admit that there have been moments when they haven’t been the best team player. I point this out because that group member who left you to put it all together at the last minute will still manage to get a job after college just like you, and you may end up working with them.  Dealing with difficult people is challenging and takes practice. Gen Ed courses can be that space for you to practice these crucial skills, enabling you to find success on any career path and as a member of different communities.

Why should you care? 

If you are still reading this, at this point you may be saying to yourself, “Yeah, Devon, that sounds good, but what does that mean for me? I’ve got a lot to do between work, school, and maybe spending time with people I care about, all while trying to drink enough water and get some sleep.”

There will inevitably be some courses that — based on the course description — surprise you in terms of what you learn about yourself. For example, maybe you don’t see yourself as an artist, so taking a course focused on the ways in which artists from various communities around the world have depicted social movements doesn’t immediately resonate with you. I often don’t see myself as an “artist” in that sense either. I like to create stuff, but I have never compelled anyone to think deeply about social unrest with my hand-lettered birthday cards. However, a big part of my day-to-day work includes generating messages that help me communicate important ideas to students like you or my colleagues around campus. Whether designing a new PowerPoint presentation for an upcoming meeting or outlining a new class activity with my colleagues, these projects require me to practice thinking like an artist: to inspire people to think and feel a certain way to convey the message I am hoping to communicate to my audience. The Gen Ed courses and the faculty who teach them will challenge you to reflect and make connections between what you’ve learned in these courses and your day-to-day life. For example, maybe you’re deciding to go in a new direction in your career, or you’re talking to your aunt that you don’t see often and a controversial topic arises. You can approach these difficult moments using the critical thinking, civic knowledge, and reflecting skills that you’ve practiced throughout your Gen Ed experience, which equip you to handle complicated situations.

From proposing climate change solutions to complex environmental justice issues, to mentoring prospective Wildcats at Tucson-area middle schools as they pursue their dreams of going to college like you, the opportunities available to you through your Gen Ed courses can help you make the most out of your college degree before you graduate. The Gen Ed program will provide you with the time and space over the next few years to develop skills, knowledge, and tools needed throughout your life, no matter your major or career goals. By building in time to reflect, learn from your peers, and apply those insights to your next semester of classes, our hope is that these cumulative experiences spark your enthusiasm to continue growing as a lifelong learner long after you complete your college degree. These experiences may inspire you to create change in your local communities, take risks in your career, and share your wisdom with your friends, family, and future generations. It’s up to you to name your academic and professional interests, and pick courses that will provide you with the necessary knowledge, skills, and insights to drive your future learning endeavors.

Works Cited

Bowen, Stephen. “Reality check: What’s in a name? The persistence of “General Education.” Peer Review: Creating Shared Responsibilities for General Education and Assessment, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004. https://www.aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/reality-check-whats-name-persistence-general-education

Bear A., and Skorton D., editors. “2. Higher Education and the Demands of the Twenty-First Century.” The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513036/

About the author

name: Devon L. Thomas

Devon grew up near Rochester, New York and currently works as the coordinator for UNIV 301 in the Office of General Education. In addition to her work, she likes baking desserts for her family, walking her dog Moe, and rock climbing with friends on Mt Lemmon. Learning from failure is necessary while rock climbing or when a dessert doesn’t turn out as expected, which has helped her build confidence to try new things at work and in life.