General Requirements
Liberal Studies Requirements (General Education Common Core)
Kentucky State University is the Commonwealth’s unique public liberal studies institution. Liberal studies comprise the traditional subjects of the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Included are courses in mathematics, poetry, history, politics, literature, languages, fine arts, philosophy, psychology, biology, chemistry, and economics, among others.
A liberal studies foundation prepares students to think clearly, to argue persuasively, to write with clarity and liveliness, and to gain both a cultural and historical perspective on the human experience as well as an in-depth knowledge in at least one area of human thought. Liberal studies spark curiosity and broaden vision. Liberal studies education provides the tools by which people come to understand the world, one another, and themselves. The Liberal Studies (General Education Core) Requirements are distributed across programs in the College of Humanities, Business, and Society and the College of Agriculture, Community, and the Sciences. Each student who enters Kentucky State University with the intention to earn a baccalaureate degree must satisfy the General Education/Liberal Studies Requirements. Liberal studies courses serve as a foundation for many other courses. In addition to the requirements of the student’s major field of study, General Education/Liberal Studies Requirements constitute a carefully designed program of courses to be selected from the various academic offerings of the University. A number of choices are included in these general requirements and students are encouraged to carefully consider the alternatives available to them.
Expected Student Learning Outcomes
In order to make the goals of liberal studies at Kentucky State University clear and specific, the faculty has adopted a set of four liberal arts learning outcomes. After completing the general education requirements at Kentucky State University, students will be expected to demonstrate:
Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical World
Through study in the sciences and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts, the KSU student will engage with big questions, both contemporary and enduring, through study of core texts and primary source material.
Intellectual and Practical Skills
The KSU student will develop multiple literacies and skills, including reading comprehension, inquiry and analysis, critical and creative thinking, written and oral communication, quantitative literacy, information literacy, technological literacy, and teamwork and problem solving. The KSU student will practice these skills extensively, across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance. The student will judge the validity of information gained through the research process, including use of digital resources.
Personal and Social Responsibility
The KSU student will obtain including civic knowledge and readiness for engagement—locally and globally—and become actively involved with diverse communities and real-world challenges.
Integrative and Applied Learning
The KSU student will be able to perform cross-disciplinary synthesis and advance thought across general and specialized studies. The KSU student will demonstrate this learning through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems across disciplines.