The Hood College Core Curriculum

The Core Curriculum is required of all students and consists of Foundations and Methods of Inquiry areas. Students entering with an A.A., AAT or A.S. degree from an accredited institution in the State of Maryland are exempt from the Foundation and Methods of Inquiry areas of the Core with the exception of the Global Perspectives requirement which may be fulfilled with appropriate transfer courses. Students without the associate degrees mentioned, but entering with at least 56 credits may be eligible for the A.A. equivalency noted later in this section. Any students transferring fewer than 56 credits or those students with A.A., AAT, or A.S. degrees will follow the regular requirements for the core and should refer to the requirements listed for their major.

The purpose of the Core Curriculum is to provide students with the basic skills needed to pursue a liberal arts education, to expose them to a variety of modes of inquiry in different disciplines, and to promote critical reflection about global perspectives.

Two parts comprise the Core Curriculum: Foundation and Methods of Inquiry.

Foundation (19-22 credits)

The Foundation section of the core presents the fundamental skills necessary to pursue a liberal arts education. Upon satisfactory completion of this requirement, students will be able to write with clarity in English; solve basic mathematical problems and demonstrate some ability to interpret and present numerical data; realize the relationship between physical activity and wellness, and be able to design at least one physical activity program for improving wellness; function successfully using the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) of a foreign language and develop awareness of a foreign culture.

English Composition (3-4 credits):

English composition courses at Hood College give students a strong foundation in the writing skills they will need for future success. In these courses, students respond to a variety of reading and writing assignments, all designed to expand their critical reading skills and their ability to communicate ideas in clear, coherent, and persuasive writing. Composition courses emphasize frequent writing and rewriting; courses may include classroom discussions, writing laboratories, and small group and individual conferences between students and instructors. Students will explore various writing contexts, purposes, and audiences. Students will learn grammar, sentence structure, and effective paragraph and essay development. Students will demonstrate fluency in language, style, and source conventions.
ENGL 100Elements of Composition

4.0

ENGL 110-139Writing About Literature

3.0

A grade of C- or above is required to fulfill the Composition requirement.

First-Year Seminar (3 credits)

The ability to communicate well on a college level is crucial to success at Hood. With that in mind, the First-Year Seminar program offers students an opportunity to sharpen academic reading and writing skills in small classroom settings. All first-year seminars are reading and writing intensive and will help students refine their abilities in these areas as well as in critical thinking, information literacy and class discussion.

Each seminar is limited to 15 students, which will allow class members to work closely with their professor and peers. The seminar topics have broad appeal while reflecting the varied interests and expertise of the faculty who teach them.

All incoming first-year students are required to take a first-year seminar course during their first fall semester at Hood as a Core requirement.   

Students admitted to Hood prior to Fall 2015 and students admitted as transfers are exempt from the First Year Seminar core requirement.

Students who withdraw or receive an F in a first-year seminar during the fall semester must take the first-year seminar in the spring in order to satisfy the Core requirement. Students who fail or withdraw a second time will repeat the course again each spring until they pass the course.

FYS 101First-Year Seminar

3.0

Quantitative Literacy (3-4 credits)

(QL) is a habit of mind. It involves using elementary mathematical tools to interpret and manipulate quantitative data arising in a variety of contexts. It is marked by computational fluency, and by competence and comfort in working with numerical data. Those who are quantitatively literate can create arguments supported by data and can communicate those arguments in many ways – using tables, graphs, mathematical expressions, and words.

A course that satisfies the QL section of the Core Curriculum should have as its main focus the use of mathematics to solve real-world problems. In those courses, using data and appropriate technology, students will collaborate to solve multi-step problems and effectively communicate their reasoning to others

ECMG 212Statistics for Economics & Management

3.0

ENSP 103Intro to Geographic Information Systems

4.0

MATH 111Mathematics Everywhere

3.0

MATH 112Applied Statistics

3.0

MATH 112WWorkshop Statistics

3.0

MATH 201Calculus I

4.0

MATH 213Statistical Concepts and Methods

4.0

PH 202Biostatistics in Public Health

3.0

PSY 211Elementary Statistics

3.0

SOC 261Quantitative Methods for the Social Sciences

3.0

Foreign Language (8 credits):

Completion of an elementary (101 and 102) Arabic, French, German or Spanish course sequence or exemption through a placement test. Students are exempt from the Foreign Language Core requirement if placed by exam, but choose not to enroll, in a 201 or above foreign language course. No credit is earned.

Note: American Sign Language will not satisfy this requirement.

International students for whom English is a foreign language may meet the requirement by placing into 100-level English. If, however, English is the official language of the country, a foreign language is required.

Health and Wellness (2-3 credits):

The physical education core requirement may be completed in one of two ways:

Complete two credits of activity courses:

PE 100-199

 

or complete one 3-credit course from the following:

PE 225Health Maintenance: Stress Assessment and Control

3.0

PE 227Women's Health Issues

3.0

PE 228Life Wellness and Health

3.0

PE 229Military Fitness

3.0

PE 250Introduction to Exercise Physiology

3.0

Athletes who participate in intercollegiate sports may be exempted from all or part of the 2-credit physical education activity option. A 1/2 credit of exemption will be granted for each season of participation. No credit is earned for these exemptions.

Students who participate in the United States Army Reserve Officers Training Program (ROTC) may be exempted from all or part of the 2-credit physical education activity option. A ½ credit of exemption will be granted for completing each of the following courses: MSCI 101, MSCI 102, MSCI 201, MSCI 202.

Methods of Inquiry (25-28 credits)

There are seven areas within Methods of Inquiry. These include: Literary Analysis, Visual and Performing Arts, Scientific Thought, Historical Analysis, Social and Behavioral Analysis, Philosophical Inquiry and Global Perspectives.

Courses designated as GP fulfill both Global Perspectives and the Methods of Inquiry area under which they are listed.

The seven Methods of Inquiry categories are:

Global Perspectives (3 credits)

Students will take one 3- or 4-credit course designated as GP and these courses may fulfill other core or major requirements.

Courses that fulfill the Global Perspectives portion of the core promote critical reflection about global perspectives in one of the following ways:

  1. critically examining a work, discourse or institution of global significance in its historical context and suggesting ways it has influenced world cultures, ideas or issues or

  2. describing the cultural, ideological or institutional structures that transcend two or more national, cultural or continental boundaries and critically considering how two or more different communities divergently experience the world shaped by such global structures.

  3. Study abroad for at least one full semester would fulfill this requirement.

Students admitted to Hood prior to Fall 2014 are exempt from the Global Perspectives core requirement.

AFPS 353Contemporary African Political Thought

3.0

ART 219Art of Three Faiths

3.0

ART 231Archaeology of Native North America

3.0

ART 250Art of Asia

3.0

ARLS 354Mesoamerican Art and Archaeology

3.0

CMA 209Mass Media and Revolution

3.0

CSIT 302Impact of Computers on Society

3.0

ECON 317Economics of Development

3.0

ECON 320The Economics of Gender

3.0

ECON 324International Trade

3.0

ENGL 463/HON 463International Currents in Modern Fiction

3.0

FREN 207Cultural Perspectives on Fren Literature I

3.0

FREN 208Cultural Perspectives on French Literature II

3.0

FREN 314Refinement, Politeness and Social Behavior

3.0

FREN 320Francophone Women Writers

3.0

FREN 323Modern Family in France

3.0

GEOG 101Cultural Geography

3.0

GER 207Cultural Perspectives on German Literature I

3.0

GER 208Cultural Perspectives on German Literature II

3.0

GLBS 200Introduction to Global Studies

3.0

GLBS 300Challenges and Opportunities of Globalization

3.0

GLBS 301Human Migrations: Refugees and IDPs

3.0

GLBS 345Global Perspectives on Women, Power and Politics

3.0

HIST 246Modern Africa, 1400-Present

3.0

HIST 264Ancient and Medieval World to 1200

3.0

HIST 265Medieval and Early Modern World, 1200-1800

3.0

HIST 266The Modern World, 1750 to Present

3.0

HIST 268Latin America

3.0

HIST 347The Indigenous World

3.0

HIST 353US Foreign Relations since World War II

3.0

HIST 356Global Empires I

3.0

HIST 357Global Empires II

3.0

HON 201Honors Colloquium III

3.0

MATH 470Seminar: The History of Mathematics

3.0

MEST 300Cultures of the Middle East

3.0

MGMT 314International Business

3.0

MUSC 302World Music

3.0

NUR 300Global Learning Experience in Healthcare and Nursing

3.0

PHIL 316/HON 316Perspectives in Global Health

3.0

PLRL 301Indian Thought

3.0

PLRL 306Chinese Thought

3.0

PSCI 210Comparative Politics

3.0

PSCI 215International Relations

3.0

PSCI 323Politics of the Developing World

3.0

PSCI 354/HON 354African Political Autobiography

3.0

REL 304Islam

3.0

REL 342From Abolitionism to Human Rights

3.0

SOC 318Global Social Problems

3.0

SPAN 207Cultural Perspectives on Spanish Literature I

3.0

SPAN 208Cultural Perspectives on Spanish Literature II

3.0

SPAN 323Spanish Cinema

3.0

SPAN 333Latin American Poetry

3.0

Historical Analysis (3 credits)

Historical Analysis courses introduce students to an analysis of human affairs that goes beyond the mere narration of historical facts by acquainting students with the methods historians use to describe, explain and reconstruct the past. Upon satisfactory completion of this requirement, students will be able to make use of historical information found in primary source materials; place significant works in their proper historical and cultural context; assess the complex relationship between historical events and the human condition; and chronologically order and explain the significance of major events and the development of key social and political institutions for at least one period of history.

AFHS 257The African American Experience

3.0

AFPS 301African-American Political Autobiography

3.0

CMA 204Media History

3.0

HIST 202Medieval Europe

3.0

HIST 217History of the United States to 1877

3.0

HIST 218History of the United States since 1877

3.0

HIST 264Ancient and Medieval World to 1200

3.0

HIST 265Medieval and Early Modern World, 1200-1800

3.0

HIST 266The Modern World, 1750 to Present

3.0

HIST 268Latin America

3.0

HIST 269Women in America

3.0

Meets Global Perspectives Requirement:

HIST 264Ancient and Medieval World to 1200

3.0

HIST 265Medieval and Early Modern World, 1200-1800

3.0

HIST 266The Modern World, 1750 to Present

3.0

HIST 268Latin America

3.0

Literary Analysis (3 credits)

Upon satisfactory completion of the Literary Analysis requirement, students will be able to read with perception the literature they have studied; analyze significant aspects of this literature; and intelligently discuss relationships between the literature and human experience.

ENGL 221World Literature

3.0

ENGL 229History of Drama Theatre I

3.0

ENGL 230History of Drama and Theatre II

3.0

ENGL 232(Re)Writing the Popular

3.0

ENGL 250-269Thematic Studies

3.0

AFEN 265Thematic Studies: African American Voices before the 20th Century

3.0

AFEN 266Thematic Studies: The Harlem Renaissance and Beyond: 20th Century African-American Literature

3.0

ENGL 270-289Genre Studies

3.0

FREN 207Cultural Perspectives on Fren Literature I

3.0

FREN 208Cultural Perspectives on French Literature II

3.0

GER 207Cultural Perspectives on German Literature I

3.0

GER 208Cultural Perspectives on German Literature II

3.0

SPAN 207Cultural Perspectives on Spanish Literature I

3.0

SPAN 208Cultural Perspectives on Spanish Literature II

3.0

Meets Global Perspectives Requirement:

FREN 207Cultural Perspectives on Fren Literature I

3.0

FREN 208Cultural Perspectives on French Literature II

3.0

GER 207Cultural Perspectives on German Literature I

3.0

GER 208Cultural Perspectives on German Literature II

3.0

SPAN 207Cultural Perspectives on Spanish Literature I

3.0

SPAN 208Cultural Perspectives on Spanish Literature II

3.0

Philosophical Inquiry (3 credits)

Philosophical Inquiry courses teach students to think in a disciplined and reasoned way about questions of reality, meaning and value by approaching such questions either theoretically or through examples that may be drawn from different disciplines or cultures. Upon satisfactory completion of this requirement, students will be able to analyze, in a preliminary way, questions about reality, meaning or value; discuss some of the traditional views on such questions; and develop criteria to arbitrate differences between conflicting normative claims about thought or behavior.

AFRL 311Black Theology

3.0

PHIL 200Contemporary Philosophical Topics

3.0

PHIL 203Philosophical Issues in Feminism

3.0

PLRL 205Classical Religion & Philosophy

3.0

PHIL 211Philosophy Through Film

3.0

PHIL 212Human Nature and Society

3.0

PLRL 219Ethics & Leadership

3.0

PHIL 220Professional Ethics

3.0

PHIL 221Ethics

3.0

PHIL 319Biomedical Ethics

3.0

PSCI 304Philanthropy and Civic Life

3.0

REL 200What is Religion? Introduction to Religious Studies

3.0

REL 203Old Testament

3.0

REL 204The New Testament

3.0

REL 211American Religious History

3.0

REL 233Eastern Religions

3.0

Scientific Thought (7-8 credits)

Scientific Thought courses promote the student’s understanding and appreciation of science, the scientific approach to problem solving, and the importance of science in our society. Students are required to take two courses in this category, at least one of which must be a natural science lab course. Thus, students may take one lab science and one non-lab science course, or they may take two lab science courses to fulfill this requirement.

This core requirement may be fulfilled in one of two ways:

  • Complete one Non-laboratory and one Laboratory course
  • Complete two Laboratory courses

Non-laboratory Courses (3 credits):

Non-Lab courses cover basic content in the natural sciences, computer science, or mathematics, without including a laboratory component. In addition to introducing students to the methods and content of the discipline, courses will include a substantial (>25%) focus on the impact of the material on society, including current political, moral, environmental, technological and/or ethical issues raised. Upon satisfactory completion of this requirement, students will be able to understand, from a nonprofessional perspective, the scientific concepts, laws, and principles that affect current societal issues and assess the impact of scientific or technological matters on society and the environment.

BIOL 130-149Biological Inquiry

3.0

CHEM 105Molecular Basis of Nutrition

3.0

CS 100Applied Computing I

3.0

CS 110Programming Art

3.0

CS 112Introduction to Computer Music

3.0

CS 200Applied Computing II

3.0

ENSP 101Environmental Problems

3.0

ENSP 110Environmental Science II

3.0

IT 180Unraveling the Web

3.0

SUS 101Introduction to Sustainability

3.0

Laboratory Courses (4 credits):

Lab courses introduce students to the scientific method of understanding the natural world. These courses include a hands-on laboratory experience where students use scientific tools and techniques to measure and analyze the systems under study. These courses include an introduction to how scientific information is reported.

BIOL 110-129Biological Inquiry

4.0

CHEM 100The Chemical World

4.0

CHEM 101General Chemistry I

4.0

CHEM 102General Chemistry II

4.0

 

ENSP 101Environmental Problems

3.0

and

ENSP 102Environmental Science Laboratory

1.0

 

PHSC 101An Introduction to Physical Science

4.0

PHYS 101General Physics

4.0

PHYS 102General Physics

4.0

PHYS 203Introductory Physics I

4.0

PHYS 204Introductory Physics II

4.0

Social and Behavioral Analysis (3 credits)

Social and Behavioral Analysis courses introduce the study of human behavior and/or the structures of society by acquainting students with the methods used for solving problems in the social or behavioral sciences. Upon satisfactory completion of this requirement, students will be able to identify the essential features of society and culture or the major factors of human behavior, either in general or as they apply to particular social, political or economic issues; analyze the structures or functions of some major social institution or the effect of social structures on human attitudes and behavior; and identify the methods used to address questions related to structures of society and/or human behavior.

AFAM 251The African Diaspora

3.0

ANTH 201Introduction to Anthropology

3.0

CMA 200Mass Media and Society

3.0

CMA 209Mass Media and Revolution

3.0

CMA 222The Art of Skepticism

3.0

ECON 205Principles of Macroeconomics

3.0

LWPS 230Introduction to Law

3.0

MGMT 205Principles of Management: Introduction to Organizations

3.0

PSCI 202Women & Politics

3.0

PSCI 203Introduction to U.S. Politics

3.0

PSCI 210Comparative Politics

3.0

PSY 101Introduction to Psychology

3.0

PSY 103Psychomythology: Psychology, Media, Science, and Pseudoscience

3.0

SOC 101Principles of Sociology

3.0

SOC 215Social Problems

3.0

SWAG 200Introduction to Studies in Women's and Gender

3.0

Meets Global Perspectives Requirement:

CMA 209Mass Media and Revolution

3.0

PSCI 210Comparative Politics

3.0

Visual and Performing Arts (3-4 credits)

The arts engage both the mind and senses and are formative to human society and communication. Visual and Performing Arts courses allow students to explore the creation of art from a variety of perspectives. Courses focusing on the practice of the visual and performing arts, or on the history and analysis of these arts, satisfy this requirement.

ART 201Meaning & Method in Art

3.0

ART 219Art of Three Faiths

3.0

ART 220History of Art I

3.0

ART 221History of Art II

3.0

ART 250Art of Asia

3.0

ART 275The Art of Film: History & Technique

3.0

ARTS 101Design

4.0

ARTS 203Ceramics Handbuilding

3.0

ARTS 210Color Theory

3.0

ARTS 243Ceramic Wheel

3.0

CMA 270AAlfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense

3.0

CMA 270BReel Journalism

3.0

CMA 270CAmerica's Great Film Comedies

3.0

CMA 280Screen Craft

3.0

CMA 282History of American Film

3.0

ENTH 205Introduction to Playwriting

3.0

MUSC 100Fundamentals of Music

3.0

MUSC 101Beginning Music Theory & Musicianship I

3.0

MUSC 103Introduction to Music

3.0

MUSC 299Special Topics in Music

3.0

SPAN 215Hispanic & Latino Film

3.0

SPAN 323Spanish Cinema

3.0

THEA 101The Elements of Acting

3.0

THEA 102Improvisation

3.0

THEA 202The Theatre and Films of Buster Keaton

3.0

Meets Global Perspectives Requirement:

ART 219Art of Three Faiths

3.0

ART 250Art of Asia

3.0

SPAN 215Hispanic & Latino Film

3.0

SPAN 323Spanish Cinema

3.0