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General Education Component

Departments listed below in the approved humanities and social sciences sections are applicable toward your engineering degree. Courses that are primarily mathematical or scientific in nature, and those designed to develop artistic or music skills are not acceptable as social science/humanities electives even though they are offered through approved departments. Exceptions are noted in the charts below.

The Engineering General Education Component (GEC) will be completed throughout your freshman to senior year and will require 15 semester hours (SH).

  • 3 SH of a lower-level Humanities
  • 3 SH of a lower-level Social Science
  • 3 SH of an upper-level from the same department as one of your Lower Level Humanities/Social Science
  • 3 SH of any upper-level Humanities/Social Science
  • 3 SH or any either upper- or lower-level Humanities/Social Science

Total = 15 SH to complete the General Education Component

How do I know if it is an upper-level course or a lower-level course?

  • Courses numbered below xxx:100 are lower level courses. Using the new course numbers, all courses numbered 1000 are considered lower level  Ex (019:090=lower or JMC:1100)
  • Courses numbered xxx:100 and above are upper level courses.  Using the new course number; all courses numbered 2000 or higher are considered upper level (Ex. 019:120=upper or JMC:2020)

*Note: Industrial Engineering students must take a psychology course as part of their GEC.

Approved Humanities Departments

African American World Studies (129/AFAM) History (01H; 16; 16A; 16E; 16W/ARTH; HIST)
Aging Studies (153/ASP) International Studies (187/IS)
American Indian and Native Studies Program (149/AINS) **Italian (018/ITAL)
American Studies Program (045/AMST) **Japanese (039J/JPNS)
American Sign Language (158/ASLE; ASL) *Music (025/MUS)
**Asian Languages and Literature (039/ASIA; CHIN; SOAS) **Latin American Studies Program (130/LAS)
Cinema and Comparative Literature (048/CCL) ****Leisure Studies (169/LEIS)
Classics (20L; 20E; 20G/CLSL; CLSA; CLSG) Philosophy (026/PHIL)
Communication Studies (036/COMM) **Portuguese (038/PORT)
English Literature (008; 08G; 08C; 08N/ENGL; CW; CNW) Religious Studies (032/RELS)
**French (009/FREN) **Russian (041/SLAV)
**German (013/GRMN) **Spanish (035/SPAN)
Global Health Studies (152/GHS) ***Theatre Arts (049/THTR)

Exceptions:
*Music lessons (including band, jazz, etc.) are not acceptable Humanities and will not count toward your degree.
**Foreign Language courses must be Second Year or higher to be applied toward requirement.
***Only the following Theatre (THTR) courses are acceptable GEC courses: 049:001; 002; 003; 072; 112-119; 180-193.

**** The following Leisure Studies (LEIS) courses do not count toward GEC: Intro to Personal Training 169:148 

Approved Social Science Departments

**Aerospace Military Studies (23A/AERO) Political Science (030/POLI)
American Indian and Native Studies Program (149/AINS) Psychology (031/PSY)
Anthropology (113/ANTH) Social Work (042/SSW)
***Business Department Sociology (034/SOC)
*Chemical Engineering Energy and Society (52:030/CBE:030) ****Sport Studies (028/SPST)
Economics (06E/ECON) Urban and Regional Planning (102/URP)
Geography (044/GEOG) Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies (131/GWSS)
Journalism and Mass Communication (019/JMC)  

Exceptions:
*Chemical Engineering Energy and Society is a seminar.
**Aerospace Military Studies (AERO): only 23A:130 & 140 courses will be applied toward your degree.
***Business (MGMT; MKTG): only 06J:047, 06J:048, and 6M:100 will apply toward your engineering degree requirements.
****Health and Sport Studies (SPST): only the following courses will apply towards your degree: 028:074-79; 175-180; 188.

Minors Offered by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Engineering students may also resister for Guided Independent Study (GIS) courses to fulfill GEC.