By participating in this small group colloquia, students will be able to demonstrate self-awareness and Mastery of their affective ability in receiving and responding to social communication and expressing the values necessary to acquire facts, concepts, and principles of the humanities. A special outcome of this course is the student’s ability to communicate and express their individuality.

Provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate self-awareness and Mastery of the complex levels of the affective skills required in group learning, while introducing them to the facts, methods, theories and interdisciplinary integration of the social sciences. A special outcome of this course is that students demonstrate an awareness of their personal values and ability to tolerate differences with their peers.

At the completion of this colloquium students will be able to demonstrate self-awareness and Mastery of the affective skills to maximize understanding of the facts, methods and theories of the natural sciences, and scientific findings, within the framework of their own cultural values and world view.

At this level of participation in a colloquium, students will be able to demonstrate a comprehensive awareness and Mastery of their affective skills, the effectiveness of learning groups, and a clear understanding of the liberal arts and sciences; select a direction for further study; and demonstrate depth, quality and confidence in their oral and written communication, and a clear overarching philosophy and world view.

The goal of the Perceptual Development course is to broaden and sharpen sensory mechanisms that contribute to the richness and depth of meaning in a student’s perceptions. Perception is a mental ability that gives meaning to experience. Students are provided with structured experiences received through the senses (vision, olfaction, touch, hearing, taste), and perception is the process by which all this sensory information is synthesized with memory.

The Physical Development courses focus on the kinesthetic, body awareness, and muscular sensibility of the student and its contribution to the mastery of motoric functions. It is concerned with the relation between cognitive competency and effective action. A physically healthy and developed individual can learn and adapt easily to their environment. The practice of carefully organized physical movements is the way to prepare students for long-term physical competency and mastery of their sensorimotor coordination which has its manifestation in affect and cognition. Course includes: Aerobics (GS31231), Karate (GS31232), Yoga (GS31233), Modern Dance (GS31234), Puerto Rican Folkdance (GS31235), Mambo/Salsa (GS31236), Basketball/Volleyball, Tennis (GS31237)

The development of instrumental skills is the third level of the Generic Studies, learning-by-experience curriculum. Here the sensorimotor coordination emphasized in the Perceptual and Physical Development courses is further enriched with cognitive and affective content. Introduction to basic computer usage, technology and information management provides the means by which sensorimotor competencies are developed. Course includes: Computer Lab I (GS32367)

The development of Complex skills is the fourth level of the Generic Studies, learning-by-experience curriculum. Here the sensorimotor coordination emphasized in the Perceptual and Physical Development courses is further enriched with cognitive and affective content. The subject matter to be assimilated via structured experiments will cover basic concepts in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Course includes: Natural Science Lab I (GS32350).

Here the sensorimotor coordination is further enriched with cognitive and affective content on a more specialized level calling for student participation and synthesis in a creative process of Artistic Expression. Courses includes: The Arts (GS32376/GS32576), Music (GS32471), Drama I (GS32472), Drama II (GS32572). Logs are required.

This course will review basic concepts of algebra by an introduction to linear equation and inequalities; operation with polynomials; factorization of polynomials; solving polynomials equations, and graphing linear equations.

This course will introduce topics on advanced algebra, trigonometry, and system of equations.

Concepts, principles and processes in the development of mathematics in Western culture. Topics: Greek mathematics, non-euclidean geometries, algebraic structure; modern methods and symbolic logic.

This course will introduce students to the Natural Sciences. Discussions will focus on basic concepts of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Students will be exposed to the way scientists think and work through the scientific method.

This course reflects the multi-layered construction of social systems and the way social science disciplines interact with each other. Topics include: the study and scope of the social sciences; the physical bases of culture; language, beliefs and values; race and ethnicity; the socialization process; personality; society and social interaction; family; religion and social stratification.

Students will be able to demonstrate effective use of language without sacrificing their own culture. Organization and grammar is given special attention in order to strengthen students’ writing skills. The course also focuses on studying essays as models of rhetorical style.

Student will be able to demonstrate basic research skills, information retrieval and reporting, and development of documented conclusions using more refined writing skills. The written expression of process and meaning will be given special attention.

This course, to be taken only after completing English Composition I and II, prepares students to write to academic audiences about the humanities and the arts, literature and the social sciences by using persuasive writing techniques based on practical reasoning or informal logic, and formal use of rhetoric. Writing is persuasive when it attempts to advance a claim with a given audience for reasons acceptable to the audience. Students learn how to create dialectical/rhetorical argument; how to analyze, evaluate and generate arguments; how written, oral, and visual rhetoric are used in the academic disciplines and professions concerned with human behavior and social institutions.

This course will survey the history of the United States from the colonial period to the Civil War. Topics include: The Puritan at Jamestown: the first permanent settlements; the primitive political and social structure of colonial America; the introduction of slavery, the conflict between elected assemblies and the governors, the revolutionary period: Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence, the Constitutional convention, the Louisiana Purchase; Democracy in America, immigration, Jacksonian democracy, the revolution in transportation and communications; the Mexican War.

The second part of the American History course sequence considers the unfolding of events from the Civil War to the present day, including reconstruction; the conflicts between Native Americans and “Settlers”, and significance of the frontier; America as a “melting-pot”; the United States in two World Wars; northward immigration of African-American and the Civil Rights movement. The Cold War, Vietnam, women’s rights and feminism; technology as burden and blessing, and global concern of the United States in the twenty-first century; September 11 and its aftermath.

By completing this course students will be able to demonstrate self-awareness and mastery in the use of critical intellectual skills in understanding the basic facts, concepts, and theories of the Humanities disciplines. This course will require the completion of one set of twelve instructional modules from a list provided by the department. (History, Literature, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Languages, Performance Arts).

By completing this course students will be able to demonstrate self-awareness and mastery in the use of critical intellectual skills in understanding basic facts, methods, and theories of the Social Sciences. This course will require the completion of one set of twelve instructional modules from a list provided by the department. (Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science, Economics).

By completing this course students will be able to demonstrate self-awareness and mastery in the use of critical intellectual skills in understanding basic facts, methods, and theories of the Natural Sciences. This course will require the completion of one set of twelve instructional modules from a list provided by the department. (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics).

By completing one elective course from the three clusters (I, II, III), students will be able to demonstrate a growing awareness and competency with the cognitive science approach to the generic principles of the liberal arts and sciences. (Interdisciplinary)