General Education Courses

Composition:Composition is critical for the success of students in higher education. Writing well is critical for success in college and beyond, and is therefore at the heart of Yavapai College’s General Education program. First-year composition courses develop students’ skills in rhetorical analysis, critical thinking, information literacy, argument, and the process of writing academic papers. Courses focus on the composition of academic writing, analysis of texts, and writing as an iterative process.

First-year compostion courses (catalog)

Mathematics: Modern society is run by numbers, from statistics to computer algorithms to news reporting on government budgets. Mathematics is the science of problem-solving and provides the tools for understanding our world and trying to solve its problems. Students that study mathematics develop competency and comfort working with numerical data, and they can apply the critical thinking and problem-solving skills they develop to many endeavors. Mathematics also requires imagination, necessitating abstract and formalized thought on the one hand and creativity and intuition on the other. All people, in every trade and profession, use mathematics in their personal and professional lives, and these skills are of unquestionable value to society. Mathematics is thus a crucial part of any general education curriculum.

Mathematics courses (catalog)

Arts and Humanities: The field commonly designated as “arts and humanities” is the multifaceted study of how the human experience is documented and processed. Humanistic inquiry addresses the nature of thinking and knowledge, the understanding of morality and ethics, and the creation and exploration of the aesthetic experience. Philosophy, art, religion, literature, music theatre, history, and language are all ways in which students can explore their connections to the world around them, deepening their appreciation of human diversity while recognizing the ultimate connections between all human beings.

The disciplines that make up the Arts and Humanities are a traditional, accepted, and essential part of Yavapai College’s general education program, proving critical support for the college’s wider educational goals. Study in the humanities encourages reflection on what it means to be human through traditional methods of inquiry – dialogue, historical and logical analysis, critical interpretation and scholarly investigation. By sparking discussion on the most fundamental experiences of humankind, these disciplines offer methods and models for addressing ambiguity, paradox and the ineffable.

Arts & Humanities courses (catalog)

Social and Behavioral Sciences: The social and behavioral sciences address the interaction between the individual and society, individuals and their environments, and relationships between individuals within social groups. Comprised of sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, political science, geography and law, the social sciences approach the study of human interaction in a disciplined and systematic way, using scientific methods of inquiry to generate empirical knowledge about human behavior. Courses in the social and behavioral sciences allow students to develop an understanding of cultural diversity and the complexities of living in a multicultural, globalized society.

Social & Behavioral Sciences courses (catalog)

Physical and Biological Sciences: Scientific literacy is critical for sound decisions on scientifically infused issues such as immunizations, disease processes, climate change and more. Understanding basic science concepts, such as the ability to utilize scientific method, is critical for many areas of life. It also includes the understanding that “science” is not an encyclopedic collection of facts. Rather, it is a process of exploration that embraces curiosity, inquiry, testing and communication, to reduce uncertainty about nature. Absent understanding of scientific concepts and of the nature of science, science and pseudoscience are difficult to distinguish, and normal scientific disagreements may be misinterpreted as ideological or political disputes. The goal of the physical and biological sciences requirement at Yavapai College is to instill understanding of basic science content and of the nature of science in every degree-seeking graduate.

Physical & Biological Sciences courses (catalog)

Communication (optional): College graduates who have successfully taken courses in the Communication discipline have the knowledge and skills employers need. When responding to a recent National Association of Colleges and Employers Job Outlook Survey, employers identified the ability to verbally communicate with others inside and outside the organization and the ability to create and/or edit written documents as among the top ten skills they seek when hiring new college graduates. Graduates who majored in Communication or took Communication courses bring these critical skills to the workplace. They demonstrate strong verbal, nonverbal, and written communication skills and have considerable expertise in speaking well in front of small and large audiences. Additionally, Communication scholars appreciate how communication cuts across contexts and situations; it is the relational and collaborative force that constructs the social world. Finally, students who take courses in the discipline embrace a deep commitment to ethical and civically productive communication. These courses bring these values to students via coursework that reinforces the ethical imperative of good communication. YC Faculty understand that this is an important skill for students, so we will revisit this category on a regular basis to determine if it should become a requirement for students completing an AGEC/Associate’s degree at YC.

Communication courses (catalog)

While completing the above requirements, the state also mandates that students completing an AGEC certificate fulfill three special requirements: Intensive Writing and Critical Inquiry (IWR); Global/International or Historical Awareness (GIH); and Ethnic, Race and Gender Awareness (ERG). These are not separate courses, but instead are topics that, upon completion of an AGEC certificate, students will have encountered in their required course of study.

IWR Courses have an ENG 101 or ENG 103 prerequisite and a required assessment of at least 2500 words of written work designed to ensure that students are developing the writing skills necessary for success in upper-division college courses.

GIH Courses provide students with information and skills that allow them to develop a broader perspective on human behavior, culture, and/or institutions by putting topics within a contemporary global/international/historical context.

ERG Courses emphasize the influence of human diversity and the necessity of cultural awareness in contemporary society by ensuring that students develop discipline-specific perspectives on race/ethnicity/gender.

By adhering to the state’s AGEC policies, Yavapai College is meeting its stated goal of ensuring that General Education students can matriculate and succeed in a baccalaureate program at a college or university.

Special Category courses (catalog)