Jul 30, 2025  
DRAFT 2025-2026 SCRIPPS CATALOG 
    
DRAFT 2025-2026 SCRIPPS CATALOG

Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Humanities


Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Programs of Study

Scripps College

Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Humanities

Scripps College has a long and distinguished tradition in teaching in the Humanities. New students must fulfill their general education requirement in the Humanities by taking the Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Humanities (Core). The Core is a sequence of two courses designed to encourage increasingly sophisticated and focused interdisciplinary investigation of a broad range of historical and contemporary issues. Core classes are taught by faculty members drawn from each of the college’s academic divisions (arts, letters, natural sciences, and social sciences).

During the first semester, all first-year students take Core A, in which students may select from a wide range of topics.   Core A courses will be interdisciplinary, and students will be introduced to different kinds of materials and academic discussions of complex topics.  Students will also develop skills in academic writing, including constructing, supporting, and revising arguments.

In the second semester of the first year, students choose from a range of Core B courses which will continue to develop skills from Core A. Core B courses will place a greater emphasis on research methods and information literacy. All sections will culminate in an end-of-semester project developed over the course of a significant portion of the semester. The culminating work for Core B sections will be showcased at an event at the end of the semester.

 

Learning Outcomes of the Program in Core A

Department Goals and/or Objectives

Goals are broad statements that describe what the program wants to accomplish

  1. The cohort of first-semester students build intellectual community through shared academic experiences.
  2. Students are introduced to interdisciplinary approaches to addressing issues of historical and contemporary interest.
  3. Students develop analytical reading skills.
  4. Students develop academic discussion skills.
  5. Students develop writing skills that emphasize argumentation and textual analysis.

 

Student Learning Outcomes

Outcomes describe specific knowledge, abilities, values, and attitudes students should demonstrate

  SLO1: Students feel they have shared academic experiences that built community.

SLO2: Students are able to discuss a variety of issues from different disciplinary perspectives.

SLO3: Students display a comprehension of course materials (i.e., the claims, arguments, interpretations of texts and lectures).

SLO4: Students display a capacity to present and to respond to claims and arguments in discussion.

SLO5: Students display a capacity to present and to respond to claims and arguments in writing.

 

Learning Outcomes of the Program in Core B

Department Goals and/or Objectives

Goals are broad statements that describe what the program wants to accomplish

  1. Students continue to develop skills in analytical reading, academic discussion, and academic writing.
  2. Students are introduced to and develop skills in independent academic research and information literacy.
  3. Students formulate and execute a substantial project.

 

Student Learning Outcomes

Outcomes describe specific knowledge, abilities, values, and attitudes students should demonstrate

  SLO1: Students demonstrate analytical skill in discussion of reading

SLO2: Students demonstrate skill in academic writing.

  SLO3: Students acquire information literacy and demonstrate research skills.

SLO4: Students complete a substantial project.

 
   

Programs

Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Programs of Study