General Education – What Is It?
1. What is general education and BELL Core - The Belmont Experience: Learning for Life? General education might be described as a feast, a lavish meal that has been carefully designed and prepared for you in order to provide you with the foundational skills, concepts and knowledge you will need to navigate your way through your college career and through your lives.
2. Why are these courses necessary when we have already had a variety of courses in our high school experiences? Your general education courses will challenge you to think both broadly and deeply and to do so from a variety of different disciplinary perspectives (math, sociology, language, religion, wellness and economics to name a few). We understand that you were exposed to a variety of disciplines in high school. Our belief, however, is that when you take these courses at Belmont, you will probe deeper, question the reasoning behind the assertions and make creative connections between ideas rather than simply receive a body of information as it may be presented by the teacher. Our goal is to turn you into strong, flexible, critical thinkers who can articulate deep thoughts, incisive questions, and conceptual connections through oral and written communication.
3. But if I am interested mostly in learning about my chosen career, why does general education matter?
It is true that general education is less about “making a living” and more about “making a life.” Yet it will give you strong preparation for your careers as they unfold. While your majors seek to prepare you for your careers, as they are currently understood, general education provides you with the skills and dispositions that will help transform you into problem-solvers and life-long learners. That may not seem relevant to your careers, but in this age when careers are constantly changing, growing, and evolving, you have to be able to adapt, to accept new challenges and to learn new things, often independently. If you know how to think through problems, evaluate data, interpret situations, consult resources (often out of your immediate area of expertise) and think creatively, you will be ready to adapt in your careers because you will be prepared to learn new things, solve real-world problems and cope with change.
4. But I thought general education was about “making a life,” not about “making a living.”
The skills mentioned above will move you toward success and flexibility in your careers and will help you navigate the uncertain waters of life. If careers are unpredictable, surely life is even more so. The challenge is to learn to embrace change, to delight in the unexpected. Opportunities will come your way that you could never anticipate and so will challenges and difficulties. Having the variety of abilities and knowledge that general education seeks to foster will help you to meet these challenges in life with resiliency, flexibility and confidence.
5. Why aren’t my general education courses easy? After all, if they’re part of “general” education, shouldn’t they be introductory-level only?
General education’s aim is to give you the opportunity to develop mental and moral/ethical dexterity. In order to do this, general education engages you in the learning and reflection process from a variety of different disciplinary modes and thereby takes you, both broadly and deeply, out of your “comfort zone”: the comfort zone of your career choice, the comfort zone of your personal achievements and natural talents. That is a challenge, but if general education provides preparation both for succeeding in your lives and distinguishing yourself in your careers, then shouldn’t general education be rigorous? If it is not challenging, then how can your critical thinking and reflection skills – your ability to make connections and create new understanding – be enhanced? The truth is, general education courses might be some of the most challenging courses you take because they are not in your chosen majors that reflect your natural interests and aptitudes.
6. Who do I contact if I have questions about my general education courses, what general education courses will transfer at Belmont, what courses to take in what order and so forth?
The Registrars Office and your academic advisers can answer many of these questions, but you are always welcome to contact the Office of General Education, Fidelity 208, at (615) 460-5512, for conversation about your general education curriculum at Belmont. For more information you may look under "credit transfer" section in the University Catalog.
7. What if I decide to change majors? Will that affect my general education core curriculum?
Changing your major may affect your general education core. At Belmont, you may earn (depending on your major) seven different kinds of degrees: BA, BBA, BFA, BM, BS, BSN and BSW. Look in the bulletin and check your former major and your new major to see what degrees you may earn in each major. Then consult the degree requirements in the general education section of the bulletin to see the differences. If you are earning the same degree in both majors, then the changes in your general education curriculum will probably be minimal. If each major is attached to a different degree program, then there may be more significant differences.
For more information, contact the Registrars Office at 615-460-6619.
