College Distribution Requirements

CALS College Distribution Requirements

UPDATE: All students matriculating into CALS in Fall 2010 and forward must complete one Human Diversity (D) course here at Cornell.

The purpose of the distribution requirement is to provide a broad educational background and to ensure a minimum level of competency in particular skills. Through study of the physical and life sciences, students develop their understanding and appreciation of the physical sciences, enhance their quantitative reasoning skills, and gain an appreciation of the variability of living organisms. The social sciences and humanities give students perspective on the structure and values of the society in which we live, and prepare them to make decisions on ethical issues that will affect their work and role in society. Written and oral expression is designed to help students become competent and confident in the use of oral and written communication to express themselves and their ideas.

Please Note: Credits received for independent study, field, teaching, research, work experience, and internships cannot be used to fulfill the distribution requirement. Courses judged to be review or supplemental in the discipline, such as 00 level courses, will not be counted in the distribution areas.

Physical and Life sciences (18 credits in 3 or more disciplines)	Social Sciences and Humanities (4 courses of 3 or more credits, to include one course in the D category)	Written & Oral Expression (9 credits, of which 6 must be written expression)
INTRODUCTORY LIFE SCIENCES/BIOLOGY (at least 6 credits) ANSC 1100 BIOG 1440, 1105, 1106, 1107 (summer), 1108 (summer), 1140, 1500 BIOMI 1120 BIOMG1350 BIOEE1610 BIOEE1780 HORT 1115 BIOPL 2400, 2410, 2450 (summer), 1120, 2470, 2490, 1120 BIOSM (summer) 1610, 1650, 1780 CSS/BIOMI 1120 EAS 1560 ENTOM 2020 PLPA 2013, 2015	At least one course must be completed from three different categories No more than two courses in the same department will be counted towards the distribution A list of courses that can be applied towards the humanities and social sciences distribution can be found on DUST.	WRITTEN (at least 6 credits) First Year Writing Seminars AEM 2000 BIOAP 6100 (2 credits) COMM 2310, 3030, 3040, 3060, 3020 DSOC 4800 ENGL 2800, 2810, 2880, 2890, 3820-3850, 3880, 3890 SOC 3620 STS 3020
CHEMISTRY/PHYSICS (at least 3 credits) Any course(s) offered through the chemistry or physics department.	CATEGORIES: Cultural Analysis (CA) Human Diversity (D)* Historical Analysis (HA) Knowledge, conditions, and Moral Reasoning (KCM) Literature and the Arts (LA) Social and Behavioral Analysis (SBA) Foreign Language (FL)	ORAL BIOAP 6100 (2 credits) COMM 2010 ENTOM 3350 ILRLR 2300 PMA 3815
QUANTITATIVE LITERACY REQUIREMENT (an approved math course)	* For freshman entering in Fall 2009 and later, and all students matriculating into CALS in Fall 2010 and later, one course MUST be taken at Cornell in the Human Diversity (D) category. Detailed descriptions follow.
OTHER PHYSICAL & LIFE SCIENCES COURSES AEM 2100,4100 ASTRO BIOLOGY (Except BIOG 2000, BIONB 4310, BIOSM 2040) BTRY/Statistics EAS (except 2900) Mathematics PHYS ANSC 1120 & NTRES 3140 ANSC 1100, 2120, 2150, 2210, 2400, 3200, 3700, 3920 ANTHR 4495 AEM 2100 BEE 4590 CSS 1900, 2110, 2600, 3150, 3170, 4050, 4140, 4440 DSOC 2020 ENTOM 2010, 2100, 2120, 2150, 2410, 2600, 3070, 3150, 3310, 3440, 3690, 4440, 4550, 4630 FDSC 2000 HORT 2200, 2430, 3170, 4260, 4400, 4450, 4490, HADM 2201, 2010 IARD 2020, 4050, 4140, 4495 ILRST 2100, 3100 NS 1150, 1220, 3200, 3310, 3320, 3410, 4310, 4410, 4520, 4444 NTRES 1101, 2010, 2100, 3100, 3130, 3220, 3260, 4130, 4200, 4201, 4220 PAM 2100 PLBR 2010, 2250, 4010, 4030, 4050 PLPA 2010,2950, 3010, 3090, 3190, 3290, 4010, 4020, 4330,4480 PSYCH 3500 SEA SNES 1101 STSCI 2100, 2200, 4080, 4500, 5010, 5020, 5951, 5990, 6000 SOC 3010/6010 TOX 3070

*Please note effective Fall 2006 the college distribution requirements will be updated to reflect the Social Science & Humanities category descriptions below. Please click here if you would like to see a description of the old distribution requirements.

SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES: CATEGORY DESCRIPTIONS

Cultural Analysis (CA)
These courses 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), power and politics (states, colonialism, inequality).

Historical Analysis (HA)
These courses interpret continuities and changes--political, social, economic, diplomatic, religious, intellectual, artistic, scientific--through time. The focus may be on groups of people, dominant or subordinate, a specific country or region, an event, a process, or a time period.

Knowledge, Cognition, and Moral Reasoning (KCM)
These courses 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.

Literature and the Arts (LA)
These courses 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.

Social and Behavioral Analysis (SBA)
These courses 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).

Foreign Language (FL)
These courses are taught by the following departments: Africana Studies and Research Center (AS&RC – language only), Asian Studies (BENGL, BURM, CHIN, HINDI, INDO, JAPAN, KHMER, KOREA, SANSK, TAG, THAI, and VIET), Classics (CLASS – language only), German Studies (GERST – language only, DUTCH, and SWED), Linguistics (LING – languages only), Near Eastern Studies (NES - languages only), Romance Studies (CATAL, FRROM, ITALA, PORT, QUECH, and SPANR), and Russian Studies(RUSSA, HUNGR, POLSH, SEBCR, and UKRAN).

Human Diversity (D)

These courses address several of the College's stated goals for undergraduate education, specifically, the expectation that in the course of earning a degree, students will enhance their abilities to communicate with people of different cultural perspectives; to listen carefully and respectfully to the views of others, especially views with which they disagree; and to employ ethical reasoning in judging ideas, actions, and their implications. These courses explore the challenges of building a diverse society, and/or examine the various processes that marginalize people and produce unequal power relations in terms of race, nationality, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, gender, age, or economic status.