The General Education Program at CSU, Bakersfield, provides a liberal arts education that builds a vibrant learning community connecting faculty and students across the university. It promotes student success by structuring educational activities that purposefully contextualize, reinforce, and integrate knowledge. Students have opportunities throughout the curriculum to reflect upon and apply what they learn through a variety of high-impact practices. The new program continues to provide disciplinary breadth through courses in the Natural Sciences (Area B), the Arts and Humanities (Area C), and the Social Sciences (Area D) but adds the following new dimensions.

Themes: Interdisciplinary Integration

Students and faculty engage in broad, interdisciplinary themes woven throughout lower-division and upper-division GE coursework, as well as co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.  Themes provide CSUB students with a strategically defined cohort of fellow students, explicitly designed opportunities to practice integrative and interdisciplinary learning, and robust, collaborative partnerships. Students are encouraged to gain a depth of knowledge by pursuing a thematic minor through GE coursework. Themes also provide a common focus of conversation among faculty, which can be used to help build and deepen relationships across schools.

 

Foundational Skills: Contextualizing and Reinforcing

The General Education Program focuses on teaching and reinforcing the foundational skills (oral and written communication, critical thinking, and quantitative reasoning) that are core to a liberal arts education. Faculty meet regularly to further facilitate common learning experiences for students. Three-unit courses in oral communication, written communication, critical thinking and quantitative reasoning will connect with a Theme through use of relevant examples and/or assignments to contextualize student learning.

 

Guidepost Series: Reflecting and Applying

A series of guidepost courses in the first, junior, and senior years provides touchstones throughout the students' college experience to synthesize their learning within the broad topics of acculturation, skill development and self-reflection.

 

Note: For detailed information, including GE area descriptions, criteria, and learning outcomes, please refer to the GE Compendium.