General Education

Students begin their Daemen University journey with courses designed to assist their transition to college, to entice them to explore new ideas and perspectives, and to help them develop the skills they need to succeed in their program. The skills and knowledge at the heart of the General Education Program will prepare students to participate in, and contribute to, an increasingly diverse and complex world.  Key to fostering the student’s development is the General Education Program, which is built around a solid foundation in the Liberal Arts.  The Program provides a common educational experience for all students, regardless of major. The Daemen University General Education Program is designed to strengthen students’ intellectual curiosity, professionalism, sense of civic literacy and responsibility, and ability to succeed in a globally integrated world.

The General Education experience consists of ten leaning outcomes that are introduced in the General Education Program and are woven throughout the entire curriculum and into the student’s major.  As a result of this regular exposure and practice, students develop a greater understanding of, and appreciation for, the skills and knowledge which will be the foundation of their professional and public future.  As students complete the General Education Program, they acquire the ability to think, adapt and act in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing multicultural environment.

The core requires successful completion of 36 credits of approved General Education courses.

The General Education curriculum entails successful completion of a set of requirements as follows. (These requirements may be satisfied anywhere in the student’s program.)

FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE (9 Credits)

The first-year experience Includes a first-year seminar and a learning community experience.

First-Year Learning Community experience (6 credits)

First-Year Seminar (3 credits)

Gearing Up.  It includes in person and web-based/experiential learning activities (not credit bearing).

DEPTH DISCOVERY (9 Credits)

 Students will take 9 credits (three courses) of interconnected classes that provide students with the opportunity to explore a topic or set of ideas in depth.  Students can fulfill this requirement with an approved Discovery topic, with their own adventure, with an approved interdisciplinary minor or with a Study-Abroad experience.

Approved Depth Discovery

  • Art and Human Expression
  • Bodies, Mind and Health
  • Building and Disrupting Community
  • Challenges to Human Survival
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Gender and Sexuality
  • Making Sense of the News
  • Power, Conflicts, and Politics

Approved Interdisciplinary Minors

  • Black Studies
  • Criminal Justice
  • Forensic Studies
  • Global and Local Sustainability
  • Global Studies
  • Medical Humanities
  • Pre-Law
  • Public Administration
  • Refugee and Migration Studies
  • Women Studies

BREADTH EXPLORATION OF THE LIBERAL ARTS (18 Credits)

Students will take 6 credits (two courses) in three areas: the Natural Sciences and Mathematics; the Social Sciences; and the Humanities

WRITING INSTRUCTION (WIN)

Students complete a minimum of three Writing Instructive (WIN) courses at Daemen, some within Gen Ed and some within the majors.  These courses are:

Composition 101 (WIN 1, a university wide rather than General Education requirement)

One General Education WIN course (WIN 2)

WIN 3, a departmental rather than General Education writing opportunity

Students who are bringing in AP Composition, will take two WIN 2 General Education courses.