Undergraduate Catalog Archives Archive of the 2010-2011 Base Catalog Policies Degree Requirements The old Fall 1999 CoreSelect from the pop-down menu or scroll down.
- return to top -
Senate Bill (SB) 148, enacted in 1997 by the 75th Texas Legislature, requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to adopt rules that include "a statement of the content, component areas, and objectives of the core curriculum" which each institution is to fulfill by its own selection of specific courses.
The University of Houston has adopted the core curriculum guidelines described below. These are predicated on the judgment that a series of basic intellectual competencies (reading, writing, speaking, listening, critical thinking, and computer literacy) are essential to the learning process in any discipline and thus should inform any core curriculum and indeed, all of undergraduate education. Although students can be expected to come to college with some experience in exercising these competencies, they often need further instruction and practice to meet college standards and, later, to succeed in both their major field of academic study and their chosen career or profession.
Reading:
Reading at the college level means the ability to analyze and interpret a variety of printed materials-books, articles, and documents. A core curriculum should offer students the opportunity to master both general methods of analyzing printed materials and specific methods for analyzing the subject matter of individual disciplines.
Writing
Competency in writing is the ability to produce clear, correct, and coherent prose adapted to purpose, occasion, and audience. Although correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation are each a sine qua non in any composition, they do not automatically ensure that the composition itself makes sense or that the writer has much of anything to say. Students need to be familiar with the writing process including how to discover a topic and how to develop and organize it, how to phrase it effectively for their audience. These abilities can be acquired only through practice and reflection.
Speaking
Competence in speaking is the ability to communicate orally in clear, coherent, and persuasive language appropriate to purpose, occasion, and audience. Developing this competency includes acquiring poise and developing control of the language through experience in making presentations to small groups, to large groups, and through the media.
Listening
Listening at the college level means the ability to analyze and interpret various forms of spoken communication.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking embraces methods for applying both qualitative and quantitative skills analytically and creatively to subject matter in order to evaluate arguments and to construct alternative strategies. Problem solving is one of the applications of critical thinking; it is used to address an identified task.
Computer Literacy
Computer literacy at the college level means the ability to use computer-based technology in communicating, solving problems, and acquiring information. Core-educated students should have an understanding of the limits, problems, and possibilities associated with the use of technology, and should have the tools necessary to evaluate and learn new technologies as they become available.
- return to top -
All bachelor's degrees require completion of a core curriculum. Further information on core eligibility and on courses that satisfy core curriculum requirements can be obtained by consulting the current class listings, an academic advisor, or the core curriculum website, www.uh.edu/academics/corecurriculum).
I. Communication
(6 hours English rhetoric/composition)
The objective of a communication component of a core curriculum is to enable the student to communicate effectively in clear and correct prose in a style appropriate to the subject, occasion, and audience.
The following courses satisfy the core requirements in Communication. See the current Class Schedule, published each semester, for prerequisites and other restrictions, additions, and deletions.
II. Mathematics
(3 hours college-level algebra or equivalent)
The objective of the mathematics component of the core curriculum is to develop a quantitatively literate college graduate. Every college graduate should be able to apply basic mathematical tools in the solution of real-world problems.
The following courses satisfy the core requirements in Mathematics. See the current class listings for prerequisites and other restrictions, additions, and deletions.
III. Institutionally Designated Option:
Mathematics/Reasoning
(3 hours)
The University of Houston includes in its core curriculum courses that build students' skills in mathematical and logical thinking, including approved courses in mathematics, logic, computer science, statistics, and music theory.
The following courses satisfy the core requirements in Mathematics/Reasoning. See the current class listings for prerequisites and other restrictions, additions, and deletions.
IV. American History
(6 hours)
The objective of the history component of a core curriculum is to increase students' knowledge of how historians discover, describe, and explain the behaviors and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, events, and ideas. Such knowledge will better equip students to understand themselves and the roles they play in addressing the issues facing humanity.
The following courses satisfy the core requirements in American History. See the current class listings for prerequisites and other restrictions, additions, and deletions.
The objective of a government component of a core curriculum is to increase students' knowledge of and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, events, and ideas. Such knowledge will better equip students to understand themselves and the roles they play in addressing the issues facing humanity.
The following courses satisfy the core requirements in Government. See the current class listings for prerequisites and other restrictions, additions, and deletions.
The objective of the humanities in a core curriculum is to expand students' knowledge of the human condition and human cultures, especially in relation to behaviors, ideas, and values expressed in works of human imagination and thought.
Through study in disciplines such as literature and philosophy, students will engage in critical analysis, form aesthetic judgments, and develop an appreciation of the humanities as fundamental to the health and survival of any society.
Humanities courses require substantial writing (at least 3000 words, including at least one piece of work done outside of class and returned to the student prior to the end of the semester or term with the instructor's written evaluation of grammar, style, and content).
The following courses satisfy the core requirements in Humanities. See the current current class listings for prerequisites and other restrictions, additions, and deletions.
VII. Visual and Performing Arts
(3 hours)
The objective of the visual and performing arts in a core curriculum is to expand students' knowledge of the human condition and human cultures, especially in relation to behaviors, ideas, and values expressed in works of human imagination and thought.
Through study in the visual and performing arts, students will engage in critical analysis, form aesthetic judgments, and develop an appreciation of the arts as fundamental to the health and survival of any society.
Critically oriented Performing/Visual Arts courses require substantial writing (at least 3000 words, including at least one piece of work done outside of class and returned to the student prior to the end of the semester or term with the instructor's written evaluation of grammar, style, and content). Experientially oriented Performing/Visual Arts courses require graded assignments in a performing or visual art.
The following courses satisfy the core requirements in Visual and Performing Arts. See the current current class listings for prerequisites and other restrictions, additions, and deletions.
VIII. Natural Sciences
(6 hours)
The objective of the study of a natural sciences component of a core curriculum is to enable the student to understand, construct, and evaluate relationships in the natural sciences, and to enable the student to understand the bases for building and testing theories.
The following courses satisfy the core requirements in Natural Sciences. See the current current class listings for prerequisites and other restrictions, additions, and deletions.
IX. Social and Behavioral Sciences
(6 hours, of which 3 hours must be writing intensive*)
The objective of a social and behavioral science component of a core curriculum is to increase students' knowledge of how social and behavioral scientists discover, describe, and explain the behaviors and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, events, and ideas. Such knowledge will better equip students to understand themselves and the roles they play in ad-dressing the issues facing humanity.
Writing intensive courses require substantial writing (at least 3000 words, including at least one piece of work done outside of class and returned to the student prior to the end of the semester or term with the instructor's written evaluation of grammar, style, and content).
The following courses satisfy the core requirements in Social and Behavioral Sciences. See the current class listings for prerequisites and other restrictions, additions, and deletions.
- return to top -
Core Curriculum Requirements
Hours
Communication Mathematics Mathematics/Reasoning U.S. History American Government Humanities Visual/Performing Arts Natural Sciences Social Behavioral Sciences, of which three hours must be writing intensive
- return to top -
Catalog Publish Date: August 19, 2010
This Page Last Updated: August 6, 2009
Effective Date of Archive: January 13, 2011
