Curriculum Components

The Liberal Arts Curriculum is structured around three broad objectives of a liberal arts education:


Below, we present each component of the curriculum in further detail. Descriptions of the requirements (in yellow) are exact quotes from the proposed catalog language. 

I. Foundational Coursework

1 Big Questions Seminar

Description of the Requirement

Students take one Big Questions Seminar, preferably in the first semester. Big Questions Seminars focus on complex questions that have no simple or obvious answers. These can include, but are not limited to, the deep enduring questions that humanity has grappled with for ages or emerging questions of today. Big questions often transcend disciplinary boundaries. Thus, many Big Questions Seminars illustrate how multiple disciplines or multiple fields within a discipline approach the seminar’s focal question, and some are co-taught by faculty from different fields. These seminars are designed to facilitate students’ transition to the intellectual environment of a college classroom and to develop students’ intellectual and practical skills (e.g., inquiry and analysis, critical and creative thinking, written and oral communication, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, teamwork, problem solving).

What Changes and Why

Framing of Seminar Topics: Students currently take one first-year seminar, typically during their first semester at Lehigh. The topics of first-year seminars are intended to be focused and non-traditional, rather than providing introductions to traditional disciplines within the College. In Big Questions Seminars, we add an explicit focus on big questions. A hallmark of a liberal arts education is the capacity to think broadly, creatively, and in an integrative way about big questions. The Big Questions seminars provide a deliberate way to introduce first-year students to this aspect of the liberal arts experience. Questions spark curiosity and tap into students’ intrinsic motivation to learn. Thus, a big questions format will be highly engaging to students and will provide an effective introduction to the kind of college-level inquiry we expect students to practice throughout their time at Lehigh. 

Multidisciplinarity: The proposal encourages multi- or interdisciplinarity in Big Questions Seminars -- either through co-teaching across disciplines or illustrating how multiple disciplines or multiple fields within a discipline approach the seminar’s focal question (e.g., through including readings/content from more than one discipline, inviting a guest speaker or discussion leader from outside the instructor’s discipline). We emphasize multidisciplinarity here for a few reasons. Interdisciplinarity is an important part of Lehigh’s identity and the identity of CAS. There is also a trend within the broader higher education landscape to increase interdisciplinarity in research, courses, programs, and degrees. This is because many of the world’s most pressing issues cannot be understood or addressed solely through the lens of a single disciplinary perspective and because exposure to multiple disciplinary perspectives on an issue enriches students’ learning experience.

Co-Teaching: In the current first-year seminar system, co-teaching occurs occasionally and no formal system is in place for how instructors receive course credit. The proposal encourages faculty from different disciplines to partner in the development and teaching of Big Questions Seminars. The curriculum embraces co-teaching as an ideal way to engage students in how multiple disciplines approach a big question. The proposal provides for a robust form of co-teaching in which both instructors are fully engaged in developing course content, delivering course material, and participating in class meetings, and ensuring that both faculty members receive credit for instructing a full course. Note that co-teaching is an option, not a requirement, in the Big Questions Seminars.

Enrollment Caps: First-year seminars are currently capped at 19 students. Big Questions Seminars taught by a single instructor will also be capped at 19 students. Given justifiable concerns about the number of faculty required to teach seminars in a co-teaching capacity, co-taught seminars may be capped higher at the discretion of the Dean’s Office and in consultation with the instructors. 

Double-Dipping Rules: Currently, first-year seminars may be used to satisfy distribution requirements and, in some cases, requirements in the major or minor. Big Questions Seminars may be used to satisfy major or minor requirements and may be used to satisfy one encounter (see below). However, given the ideally multidisciplinary nature of Big Questions seminars, they may not be used to satisfy Disciplinary Perspectives. 

2 First-Year Writing courses: WRT 001 and 002

Description of the Requirement

Students take two designated courses in their first year that focus on pre-disciplinary writing, including engaging thoughtfully with the writing process, practicing clear academic writing and argument, analyzing and practicing persuasive strategies, practicing critical thinking, improving rhetorical capacities, and developing information literacy skills. Students who qualify based on AP or IB Exam scores may opt to take an honors path, which consists of one designated advanced first-year writing course. Multilingual learners who qualify based on testing conducted by the International Center for Academic and Professional English take two courses taught by language specialists and tailored specifically for multilingual learners. 

What Changes and Why

Course Labels: ENGL 001 + 002 / ENGL 011 are redesignated as “Writing” or WRT 001 + 002 / WRT 011 to highlight the focus on instruction in pre-disciplinary writing rather than the academic discipline of English. 

Placement Procedures: Currently, students receive credit for ENGL 001 + 002 based on AP, IB, SAT, and ACT scores. Some of these tests measure reading, vocabulary, and grammar, and do not measure students’ writing directly. The result of the current placement procedure is three-fold: (1) a significant proportion of students have no formal introduction to writing at the college level, (2) in effect, ENGL 011 cannot function as an honors-level writing course, and (3) students may be advancing to upper division courses without adequate preparation in writing. Under the proposed curriculum, credit for WRT 001 + 002 will only be given based on scores from exams that directly assess writing (AP, IB), and students who receive credit for WRT 001 + 002 will be required to take WRT 011. These changes ensure that all Lehigh graduates will take at least one First-Year Writing course, and that most students will take two. They allow WRT 011 to genuinely function as an honors-level First-Year Writing course. Furthermore, these changes highlight writing’s role as an essential building block of a liberal arts education, and position writing as a foundational means through which students learn and discover. 

1 Mathematics course

Description of the Requirement

Students take 1 course in Mathematics that focuses on developing logical skills, problem solving, and/or computation. Example courses include logic, proof writing, discrete mathematics, calculus, linear algebra, and statistics. 

What Changes and Why

Course Offerings: The committee encourages the Mathematics Department to offer more courses that engage students in the full range of topics above. While many of the science and engineering departments will continue to require calculus, one to two more non-calculus course options could be designed to engage students from the humanities, arts, and social sciences.

II. Disciplinary Perspectives

Description of the Requirement

The liberal arts tradition in education includes a deep commitment to intellectual breadth. Each academic discipline provides a unique lens through which we can understand the world. Scholars and practitioners in distinct disciplines frame questions differently, utilize different sources of knowledge, and practice different methods of inquiry. These include interpretive and analytical modes of inquiry, creative and expressive forms of inquiry, and scientific approaches to studying both the natural and social worlds. 

To explore diverse disciplinary perspectives and how their distinct lenses and tools can be used to understand the world, students take at least 2 courses and 7 credits in each of the 4 areas below:

Human Experience, Language, and Arts:

Courses in this category utilize analytical, critical, and interpretive forms of inquiry and focus on the human condition in different historical, cultural, linguistic, religious, philosophical, artistic, and literary contexts. 

Courses in this category utilize creative and/or expressive forms of inquiry and focus on communication and artistic practice. 

The Natural and Social Sciences:

Courses in this category utilize scientific forms of inquiry and focus on natural phenomena in the world around us and the nature of life, matter, and the universe. The lab enables students to practice scientific forms of inquiry and gain firsthand experience with natural and physical phenomena.

Courses in this category utilize social scientific modes of inquiry and focus on human behavior, culture, and society, and forms of social, political, and economic organization. 

What Changes and Why

Disciplinary Areas: The proposed curriculum increases the total number of required courses by two by subdividing the former Humanities area into two distinct categories: Interpreting and Understanding Human Experience and Creating and Expressing through Arts and Languages. By requiring that students take courses in Interpreting and Understanding Human Experience, the proposal amplifies the value of the interpretative and literature-based forms of inquiry. By requiring coursework in Creating and Expressing through Arts and Languages, the proposal aligns with recommendations from the MLL Department and from the AAD, Music, and Theater Departments to promote the study of languages and performing and visual arts. This change aims to accomplish the broader goal of creating opportunities for CAS students to develop breadth of knowledge by engaging with diverse disciplinary perspectives and tools. 

Credit Requirements: The proposed curriculum requires 7 credits in each area instead of 8. This is intended to increase flexibility for students and to accommodate transfer and study abroad courses that are often offered for 3 credits instead of 4. Given that most broadly accessible courses in CAS are offered for 4 credits, most students will likely still earn 8 credits in each disciplinary perspective.  

Designating Courses: The proposed curriculum specifies the following guidelines regarding designating courses within the Disciplinary Perspectives: 

Within the Disciplinary Perspectives, designations are applied when the learning outcomes of a course authentically match both the subject matter and methodology for that perspective. Courses designated within the Disciplinary Perspectives are broadly accessible to CAS students. Many but not all designated courses are at lower levels (000-, 100-, or 200-level) and have few prerequisites. A Disciplinary Perspectives designation can be applied to a course offered for any number of credits.  

This includes two key changes as compared to the current process of designating courses within the distribution areas. First, the proposed curriculum clearly specifies that designations are made “when the learning outcomes of a course authentically match both the subject matter and methodology” of a given disciplinary perspective as defined above. This helps communicate the rationale behind study in each area and allows for departments to have offerings in more than one category. Second, in the proposed curriculum, designations are only applied to courses that are broadly accessible to CAS students -- meaning that they are available to take without major/minor restrictions and without significant prerequisites. This ensures that students can use these designations to find broadly accessible courses that they can take to satisfy the Disciplinary Perspectives. 

Double Dipping Rules: The current curriculum specifies that “courses taken to satisfy a major program may be used to satisfy distribution requirements in only one distribution area.” Thus, if a major requires courses in multiple distribution areas (e.g., NS and SS), students can use major courses to satisfy the requirements in one area only (e.g., NS), and must take additional courses outside of the major to satisfy requirements in the other (e.g., SS). The proposed curriculum removes this overlap rule: There is no limit to the number of Disciplinary Perspectives that may be fulfilled by courses taken to satisfy major requirements. Thus, if a major requires courses in multiple Disciplinary Perspectives (e.g., Investigating the Natural World and Investigating the Social World), the student can satisfy both Disciplinary Perspectives using those major courses. 

Descriptive Language: The proposed curriculum replaces the opaque and misleading labels for individual areas of study (e.g., “Humanities”) with more transparent and active labels (e.g., “Interpreting and Understanding Human Experience”). By using more descriptive labels and more transparent, active language, the proposal more clearly articulates the rationale behind these requirements.

III. Encounters

Description of the Requirement

Across coursework in the Disciplinary Perspectives and in students’ individual program of studies (e.g., major, minor, free electives), students must satisfy 3 encounters in each of the following areas:  Writing (W), Quantitative Reasoning (Q), and Contemporary Challenges (CC). 

Encounters are opportunities within courses that emphasize and build capacity in central themes or skills present across the curriculum. The encounters system is based on the premise that students develop a richer and more complete mastery of focal skills and themes when there are multiple opportunities to practice and learn about them infused throughout the curriculum.

Encounters may be fulfilled through W-, Q-, and CC-designated courses throughout the curriculum, including courses completed for majors, minors, free electives, and courses in the Disciplinary Perspectives. 

Writing Encounters

Through courses designated as Writing Encounters (W), students practice engaging thoughtfully in the process of writing, learn about discipline-specific styles of writing, and build confidence in their own writing abilities. 

Quantitative Reasoning Encounters

Through courses designated as Quantitative Reasoning Encounters (Q), students practice interpreting quantitative information, learn about applications of quantitative reasoning within disciplines, and build confidence in their own quantitative abilities. 

Contemporary Challenges Encounters

Through courses designated as Contemporary Challenges Encounters (CC), students grapple with complex, large-scale challenges of the modern world, including the themes of social difference and power, sustainability, and conflict and security. 


Within the Encounters, courses designated as W, Q, or CC may include both those that are broadly accessible to all CAS students and those that are more advanced or restricted to students in specific major or minor programs. Big Questions Seminars and courses offered for 1-2 credits may be designated as satisfying up to one encounter.  All other courses offered for 3-4 credits may be designated as satisfying up to two encounters. 

What Changes and Why

Writing Encounters

Replacing WI with W Encounters: Students currently take one junior-year writing intensive (WI) course, often in their major. WI courses have fairly stringent requirements (e.g., 30 pages of writing, instructor feedback by the end of the third week of classes). Significant writing also occurs outside of WI courses, but is not recognized or highlighted in the curriculum as important. The proposed curriculum removes the WI designation and replaces it with a Writing Encounter designation (W). Under the proposed curriculum, writing experience is spread across the curriculum and students take at least 3 courses with more flexible, less-intensive guidelines. This model provides students with multiple opportunities to use writing as a mode of learning and allows students to continue to grow as writers as they develop expertise within and beyond their majors. 

The curriculum provides the following guidelines for designating W encounters:

Courses designated W have a specific learning outcome dedicated to developing writing skills. Writing is a focal component of the course, either through at least one substantial module or assignment dedicated to developing writing skills or through several writing assignments occurring throughout the course. W encounters should provide opportunities for feedback and revision or improvement through a sequence of similar assignments.

Quantitative Reasoning Encounters

Adding Q Encounters: This proposal adds to the curriculum the new requirement that students take 3 courses that are Q-designated. Quantitative reasoning, or competency and comfort with numerical data, is a critical 21st-century learning outcome that is important for success in the workplace, in the sciences, and in everyday life. Individuals with strong quantitative skills are able to accurately interpret quantitative information and effectively create and communicate arguments supported by quantitative data. The practice of quantitative skills occurs across disciplines, including the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Thus, Q encounters provide opportunities for students to interpret and use quantitative information in multiple authentic contexts, across diverse disciplines, and at multiple points in their academic programs. 

The curriculum provides the following guidelines for designating Q encounters:

Courses designated with a Q have a specific learning outcome dedicated to developing quantitative reasoning skills. Quantitative reasoning is a focal component of the course, either through at least one substantial module or assignment dedicated to developing quantitative reasoning or through several assignments or activities occurring throughout the course. Q encounters should guide students to interpret or use numerical information properly, or to understand and justify the models and algorithms necessary to do so.

Contemporary Challenges Encounters

Adding CC Encounters: This proposal adds to the curriculum the new requirement that students take at least 3 courses addressing contemporary challenges. There is a growing trend within higher education to create curricular opportunities that challenge students to understand the complexity of the modern world. Feedback from our own survey of CAS Departments and Programs suggested that we should modernize by thinking less in terms of disciplines alone and more in terms of preparation for the modern world. The Contemporary Challenges requirement offers a structure for accomplishing this goal. The proposed approach also recognizes the dynamic nature of contemporary challenges and the fact that they evolve over time. We propose that a set of 2-4 contemporary challenges is adopted for a period of 5-10 years. That set of challenges is then evaluated and revised or replaced. The magnitude of revision could range from subtle modifications within the wording of an existing challenge to a more significant change, such as entirely replacing a topical area. The timeframe between revisions should be long enough to reflect an institutional commitment to the topic, but not so long that the topics become mundane or irrelevant. Such a system ensures that the curriculum remains current without requiring the need for major curriculum revision. The initial set of challenges described below was selected based on (1) the urgency of these concerns in modern society, (2) the need for education in these areas in order to equip students to foster an equitable, just, sustainable, and harmonious society, (3) the strengths of these areas within CAS faculty’s teaching and scholarship, and (4) the alignment of these issues with larger university initiatives (i.e., the Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Plan, the Sustainability Strategic Plan). 

The curriculum provides the following guidelines for designating CC encounters:  

Courses designated with a CC have a specific learning outcome dedicated to addressing and building comprehension of complex, critically important, large-scale and/or socially significant contemporary issues.  A key feature of contemporary challenges is that they are dynamic and evolve over time. Thus, the College of Arts and Sciences faculty establish a set of focal contemporary challenges, and re-evaluate them periodically to ensure the topics remain current. The three current challenges are (1) Social Difference and Power (analysis of social identity and structural inequities in the distribution of resources, power, and status); (2) Sustainability (analysis of the complex convergence of environmental, social, and economic factors impacting our planet, communities, and current and future generations); (3) Conflict and Security (analysis of the causes and consequences of conflict and cooperation at the interpersonal, organizational, national, and global level).  Courses with a specific learning outcome dedicated to one of these three topics are assigned the CC attribute.

Guidelines for Satisfying Encounters: Courses designated as encounters will exist across the curriculum and are intended to be fulfilled through courses taken in students’ majors, minors, or in the Disciplinary Perspectives. 

The catalog also specifies the following: 

If a course carries multiple Encounters designations, students may apply all of them toward satisfying Encounters requirements. 

Additional Policies on Navigating the Liberal Arts Program 

The following five statements outline the overarching policies that govern how the Liberal Arts Program interacts with other parts of a student’s academic program. Statement 1 specifies how the Liberal Arts Program interacts with focused areas of study, most notably removing the rule restricting overlaps between Majors and the Disciplinary Perspective. Statements 2-4 clarify how aspects of the Liberal Arts Program interact with each other. Statement 5 outlines how transfer courses can satisfy aspects of the Liberal Arts Program, which is consistent with current practice.

Courses within the Liberal Arts Program may also be used to satisfy requirements of majors, minors, and other programs. 

Big Questions Seminars and courses used to satisfy requirements in the Disciplinary Perspectives may also fulfill requirements for Encounters. 

If a course carries multiple Encounters designations, students may apply all of them toward satisfying Encounters requirements. 

First-Year Writing and courses taken to fulfill the Mathematics requirement may not be used to satisfy requirements in the Disciplinary Perspectives or as W, Q, or CC Encounters.

Transfer and study abroad courses may be used to satisfy any aspects of the Liberal Arts Program provided that the courses meet the criteria described in the Designating Courses section.