University Studies Depth Requirements

University Studies Objectives: The Citizen Scholar

Utah State University is one of the nation’s premier student-centered land-grant and space-grant universities. We foster the principle that academics come first; we cultivate diversity of thought and culture; and we serve the public through learning, discovery, and engagement.

In accordance with this mission, the mission of undergraduate education at Utah State University is to help students develop intellectually, personally, and culturally, so that they may serve the people of Utah, the nation, and the world. USU prepares citizen-scholars who participate and lead in local, regional, national, and global communities. University Studies is an integral part of every student’s experience—in both lower-division and upper-division courses. A solid University Studies foundation, combined with concentrated study in a major discipline and interdisciplinary studies, provides the breadth and depth of knowledge qualifying USU graduates as educated citizens.

The University Studies program is intended to help students learn how to learn—not just for the present, but also for the future. No individual can master all, or even a small portion, of society’s knowledge, but students can learn the basic patterns used to obtain and organize information, enabling them to discover or recover knowledge. University Studies involves a series of interrelated educational experiences which stimulate and assist students in becoming self-reliant scholars and individuals. The ultimate objective is for general and discipline-specific education to complement each other in helping students to:

1. understand processes of acquiring knowledge and information;
2. reason logically, critically, creatively, and independently, and be able to address problems in a broad context;
3. recognize different ways of thinking, creating, expressing, and communicating through a variety of media;
4. understand diversity in value systems and cultures in an interdependent world; and
5. develop a capacity for self-assessment and lifelong learning.

By introducing ideas and issues in human thought and experience, University Studies courses help students achieve the intellectual integration and awareness needed to meet the challenges they will face in their personal, social, and professional lives. University Studies courses emphasize how knowledge is achieved and applied in different domains. Collectively, they provide a foundation and perspective for:

1. understanding the nature, history, and methods of the arts and humanities, as well as the natural and physical sciences;
2. understanding the cultural, historical, and natural contexts shaping the human experience; and
3. interpreting the important cultural, socio-economic, scientific, and technological issues of the diverse global community in which we live.

A university education prepares students to work and live meaningfully in today’s rapidly changing global society. Together, general and discipline-specific education help students master the essential competencies making this goal possible. These competencies include:

1. reading, listening, and viewing for comprehension;
2. communicating effectively for various purposes and audiences;
3. understanding and applying mathematics and other quantitative reasoning techniques;
4. using various technologies competently; and
5. working effectively, both collaboratively and individually.

University Studies Components

The University Studies program, along with study in the major, is designed to assist students in achieving the Citizen Scholar Objectives. The program consists of two sets of requirements: General Education Requirements  and Depth Education Requirements.

University Studies Depth Education Requirements

Beyond the General Education requirements, all students who receive a bachelor’s degree must complete two Communications Intensive, one Quantitative Intensive, and 2 credits minimum in each of two of the three depth categories outside of the category for which a student’s major is classified.

Communications Intensive (CI) (2 courses)

Communications Intensive (CI)     

Quantitative Intensive (QI) (1 course)

Quantitative Intensive (QI)   

Depth Course Requirements (4 credits minimum completed in two or more courses)

Students are required to take at least two upper-division courses outside of their major category.

Approved 3000-level or above courses must be taken from two of the following three categories: Depth Humanities and Creative Arts (DHA), Depth Life and Physical Sciences (DSC), and Depth Social Sciences (DSS). Each student must select at least one course from each of the two categories which do not include his or her major (e.g., Sociology majors are associated with the Social Sciences category and would select one or more 3000-level or above course(s) from the Depth Humanities and Creative Arts and one or more 3000-level or above course(s) from the Depth Life and Physical Sciences).  
 

Depth Humanities and Creative Arts (DHA)

Depth Humanities and Creative Arts (DHA)   

Depth Life and Physical Sciences (DSC)

Depth Life and Physical Sciences (DSC)   

Depth Social Sciences (DSS)

Depth Social Sciences (DSS)    

Categorization of Majors

The courses that must be taken to satisfy University Studies Depth requirements depend on the classification of the student’s major. In order to satisfy the Depth requirements, students must satisfy at least one Depth course in each area outside of the area in which their major is classified.

The following tables list majors by college and classification and show which depth requirements a student in each major must satisfy. The major categories are abbreviated as follows: HA—Humanities and Creative Arts, SC—Life and Physical Sciences, and SS—Social Sciences.  Please Note: major categories are not assigned by college and some colleges offer majors in several categories.

College of Agriculture

Caine College of the Arts

Jon M. Huntsman School of Business

Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services

College of Engineering

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

S. J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources

College of Science

Designation of Courses that Satisfy University Studies Depth Education Requirements

All courses approved for the University Studies Depth Education Requirements are clearly designated in this catalog. The designations used for University Studies Depth Education courses are as follows:

Intensive Courses

Communications Intensive, CI
Quantitative Intensive, QI

Depth Courses

Humanities and Creative Arts, DHA
Life and Physical Sciences, DSC
Social Sciences, DSS

Course Descriptions

See University Studies (USU) in the Course Descriptions section of this catalog.