General Education Program Requirements

Courses in this category develop students proficiency in English, Arabic, and/or Greek, enhancing their writing, speaking, and research abilities. English courses emphasize academic, advanced, and technical communication, equipping students with critical reading, writing, and research skills. Arabic courses offer both foundational language learning and deeper cultural engagement, enabling students to communicate effectively and explore identity through language. Greek as a Foreign Language introduces students to the essentials of communication in Greek while fostering cultural awareness.

After completing the Understanding Communication requirements, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate the ability to write, speak and communicate in standard Arabic or Greek.
• Demonstrate competence in written and spoken English.
• Apply information literacy to find, critically evaluate, and incorporate material for effective oral and written delivery.
• Apply drafting and editing strategies to compose work that reflects critical thinking and appropriate understanding of conventions of genre and usage.

Writing in the Discipline (WID) courses equip students with the skills to write effectively within their chosen fields. Taught by faculty in their discipline, these courses help students engage with subject-specific writing conventions and critical inquiry. Students learn to communicate ideas clearly, develop arguments using discipline-appropriate genres, and use writing as a tool for learning. WID courses emphasize revision, feedback, and structured writing processes, ensuring students gain practical experience in producing professional, academic, and public-facing texts relevant to their field.

This requirement does not carry separate ECTS credits; instead, it is embedded within courses students already take in their major.

After completing Writing in the Discipline requirements, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate the rhetorical flexibility to compose effective, discipline-specific writing for academic, professional, and public audiences.
• Use writing for inquiry to engage in the intellectual practices of the discipline.

Courses in this category enable students to explain how the natural phenomena in basic physical and biological systems work. They emphasize the process of science: how our understanding of the natural world advances by conception, testing, and refinement of hypotheses, and how logic, observation, and experimentation are used to disprove and support rival explanations, and how science and technology advance each other. The laboratory addresses the practice of science, professionalism in the discipline, and the diverse means of collecting and interpreting empirical data.

After completing the GE requirements within the -Understanding the World- category, students will be able to:

• Illustrate common scientific methods of inquiry.
• Explain fundamental concepts in physical and biological sciences (the living world as well as earth and planetary systems).

Students are introduced to mathematical methods for solving problems in a wide range of contexts. Courses meeting this requirement teach fundamentals in critical thinking, analytical reasoning, computer programming, statistical inference, or data analysis and interpretation.

After completing the Quantitative Reasoning requirement, students will be able to:

• Understand the scope and limitations of applying these methods
• Demonstrate quantitative reasoning through mathematical methods such as analytical, symbolic, statistical, or computational ones

Students are introduced to different forms of cultural expression and to various historical moments. Courses in this category promote students’ analytic, critical, dialogical, and reflective abilities, and seek to develop informed and thoughtful understandings of culturally diverse intellectual, literary, and artistic traditions, both past and present. This includes disciplines such as literature, philosophy, history, archaeology, fine arts, and art history.

After completing Our Cultures and Histories requirements, students will be able to:

• An Understanding Our Cultures and Histories course should cover at least two of the four learning outcomes stated above.
• Analyze and discuss primary works using approaches that are grounded in the humanities.
• More fully understand diverse intellectual, literary, or artistic traditions and their impact on the formation of human goals, values, and cultures.
• Create and/or reflect on different forms of cultural expression such as visual art, music, theater, and literature.
• Demonstrate initiative and good practice in responsible research through engaging with the ideas of others and correctly citing their contributions to our thought.

Courses in this category enable students to analyze and understand human behavior at the individual, group, institution, societal, or cultural level as well as empirically investigate issues and problems in the social sciences.

After completing the GE Societies and Individuals requirements students will be able to:

• Our Societies and Individuals course should cover at least two of the three learning outcomes stated above
• Examine human activities and its interrelationship with organizational, societal, political, economic, and cultural contexts.
• Apply empirical methodology ethically to critically explore issues and problems in the context of Societies and Individuals.
• Evaluate and apply evidence-based social, political, and economic policies and programs.

Courses in this category introduce students to different modes of ethical thought and their applications. They allow students to identify and reflect on the values embedded in behaviors as well as those to which they themselves are committed.

After completing the Human Values requirements, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate the ability to write clearly about ethical issues using the theories mentioned.
• Analyze primary historical texts in ethical theory.
• Reflect on values embedded in written works on moral theory with an eye for their application in the modern context.

This requirement introduces students to the theory and practice of meaningful community engagement. Students will explore what it means to participate ethically and effectively in civic and social contexts, drawing on frameworks such as reciprocity, social innovation, and global citizenship.

After completing these requirements, students will be able to:

• Reflect critically on the field experience, the engagement (collaboration) structures and the outcomes achieved (during and at the end of the interaction).
• Co-design a community-centered initiative that identifies and evaluates a community concern in collaboration with a community partner.
• Engage with the community partner to ensure a reciprocal relationship, which recognizes, respects, and values the knowledge perspective and resources that each partner contributes to the collaboration. (Minimum of 15- 20 hours).

The Social Inequalities and History of Ideas thematic requirements challenge students to engage with complex societal and intellectual traditions. Courses in Social Inequalities examine systemic disparities related to gender, nationality, race, and class, encouraging students to critically reflect on their own positionality and explore solutions for social change. History of Ideas courses engage students in interdisciplinary approaches to primary texts and global concerns, fostering a deep understanding of intellectual, literary, and artistic traditions while promoting responsible research and critical inquiry.

After completing Social Inequalities requirements, students will be able to:

• Apply conceptual knowledge to propose strategies with the explicit goal of effecting change and reducing social inequality.
• Identify various forms of social inequalities such as gender, nationality, race, and class and understand the systemic nature of these inequalities, their causes, and consequences.
• Reflect on the global and local manifestations of social inequalities and one’s own positionality, including any vulnerabilities or privileges

The Social Inequalities and History of Ideas thematic requirements challenge students to engage with complex societal and intellectual traditions. Courses in Social Inequalities examine systemic disparities related to gender, nationality, race, and class, encouraging students to critically reflect on their own positionality and explore solutions for social change. History of Ideas courses engage students in interdisciplinary approaches to primary texts and global concerns, fostering a deep understanding of intellectual, literary, and artistic traditions while promoting responsible research and critical inquiry.

After completing History of Ideas requirements, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate initiative and good practice in responsible research through engaging with the ideas of others and correctly citing their contributions to our thought.
• View and analyze primary works using approaches that are interdisciplinary and grounded in the humanities.
• Examine closely topics that are of global and contemporary concern.
• Develop a critical understanding of diverse intellectual, literary, or artistic traditions.

This category prepares students for academic success and global engagement. In their first year, students participate in a non-credit workshop series covering essential skills such as time management, stress management, presentation skills, academic integrity, and critical thinking. Additionally, all students must complete a residency at the American University of Beirut in Beirut, Lebanon ensuring cultural immersion and a broadened global perspective.

The General Education Free Elective offers students the flexibility to explore academic interests across the breadth of the General Education curriculum. Students may choose any approved General Education course from any category to fulfill this requirement. This elective encourages intellectual curiosity, interdisciplinary exploration, and the development of skills and perspectives beyond the student’s major field of study.