A liberal arts education at Kalamazoo College ideally comprises all components of the Kalamazoo Plan: on-campus coursework, Career Development experiences, Study Abroad, and the Senior Individualized Project. Students progress through this education within a developmental framework of Foundations, Explorations, and Connections. Foundations refer to skills upon which further intellectual and personal development depends. Explorations broaden and deepen knowledge and understanding, whether through course work or off-campus experiences. And Connections mean discovering ways in which knowledge, skills, and ideas from one course or discipline inform those from another, as well as ways in which the interplay of academic study and off-campus experience provides fresh insight and deepened comprehension of one’s self and the world. Through this guiding framework, Kalamazoo College seeks to cultivate among its students intellectual and personal growth in attributes consistent with the College’s overall mission.

Foundations are most germane to general education. Explorations occur through general education and work in majors, minors, and concentrations, as well as through Career Development, Study Abroad, and other off-campus experiences. Connections, while ideally made throughout the student’s College career, are particularly enhanced through the Liberal Arts Colloquium (LAC) as well as through the Senior Individualized Project (SIP), senior seminar, and comprehensive examination, which are typically carried out in the major. The following is a description of on-campus study in the liberal arts.

Foundational skill development focuses on written and oral expression, information literacy, quantitative reasoning, and second language proficiency. Students develop these skills systematically over four years in a variety of courses. Through these courses, students receive instruction and practice in, as well as assessment of, their reasoning, speaking, writing, and research skills, which helps them to monitor their progress and guide their academic and experiential choices. Written expression and quantitative reasoning, in particular, are enhanced through required course work. Physical education, while not an academic skill, is nevertheless important to the well-being of the whole student. The College therefore requires students to develop skills as well as explore in this area.

First-Year Seminars and Skill Development
First-Year Seminars provide opportunities for students to work on foundational skills and to engage topics of intellectual and social import. These small seminars are taught by faculty from virtually all departments; and while diverse with regard to topic, they are intentionally comparable in terms of the amount of written work expected, the importance of feedback on and regular revision of written work, and the maintenance of a participatory, discussion-oriented atmosphere. Because these seminars are the only course that all Kalamazoo students take, they play a critical role in helping students interpret and frame their College experience.

Written Expression
First-Year Seminars are the vehicle by which students fulfill their writing requirement, though students are expected to continue to develop their writing skills throughout their four years. Effective written expression is understood at Kalamazoo College as the ability to:

• Construct an argument supported by evidence
• Cite sources appropriately and correctly
• Revise writing toward greater clarity and appropriate level of discourse

Oral Expression
Though not a graduation requirement, oral expression, another foundational skill, receives focused attention in First-Year Seminars. Through these courses, and through many other experiences during their four years at Kalamazoo College, students develop the ability to:

• Organize ideas effectively for oral presentation
• Communicate ideas and information clearly
• Participate productively in group discussion

Information Literacy
Students in each First-Year Seminar engage in a participatory exercise taught by librarians to become more familiar with information sources in the library and online, as well as with research strategies. As with oral expression, there is no graduation requirement for information literacy, though the College believes it is important for students to develop these skills and encourages them to do so through a variety of courses throughout their four years. The information literacy skill is defined as the ability to:

• Determine an information need
• Develop and implement effective search strategies
• Select appropriate tools to retrieve information
• Identify, locate, and retrieve relevant sources in a variety of formats
• Critically evaluate the relevance and accuracy of information
• Interpret, organize, and synthesize information
• Understand the ethical and legal issues surrounding the use of information

Quantitative Reasoning
Given the salience of quantitative competency to many disciplines, diverse occupations, and responsible citizenship, all students are required to enroll in a course that develops quantitative reasoning. Students meet this requirement by enrolling in one of a variety of courses (identified by QR in course descriptions) offered across the curriculum, including the Quantitative Methods course in Economics, Quantitative Reasoning and Statistical Analysis in Mathematics, and the relatively comparable Quantitative Analysis and Statistical Reasoning course in Sociology and Anthropology. The learning outcomes, common expectations for all quantitative reasoning courses, are as follows:

• Apply logical thinking to complex problems
• Communicate mathematical and computational information clearly
• Construct and defend an argument using data persuasively
• Interpret and create charts and tables
• Use various measurement scales when interpreting data
• Apply simple mathematical models
• Interpret statistics

Second Language Proficiency
At an institution dedicated to international education and study abroad, proficiency in a second language is essential. All students, therefore, are required to achieve proficiency through the intermediate level, and for some study abroad programs, students must demonstrate higher language proficiency as a prerequisite for participation. Students are tested (during orientation week) in languages they previously have studied and are placed at the appropriate level. Languages offered regularly include Chinese, French, German, ancient Greek, Japanese, Latin, and Spanish. In special circumstances, the Neglected Languages Program offers qualified students an opportunity to study, on an independent basis and with the supervision of a qualified tutor, languages not otherwise available (e.g., Arabic, Hebrew, Hungarian, and Portuguese).

Physical Education
The College requires all students to complete five physical education activity classes, although each quarter of participation in an intercollegiate sport may substitute for one of these classes. This requirement provides a combination of foundational skill development and exploration when the particular physical activity is new to the student; and, because no more than two classes in any given activity may count toward this requirement, such development and exploration are indeed encouraged.

Through explorations, students engage with new ideas, new experiences, and new places as they explore diverse areas of study, possible careers, other cultures, and one or more disciplines in depth. Within general education, explorations occur through the Areas of Study requirements and Cultures requirements, while majors programs provide avenues for developing deeper knowledge of a particular discipline. The Career Development and Study Abroad components of the Kalamazoo Plan offer unique opportunities to explore the world beyond campus, which complement and enhance the on-campus curriculum.

General Education: A Breadth of Explorations

Areas of Study Requirements
The Areas of Study requirements encourage explorations into diverse academic fields and their related ways of knowing. These explorations promote breadth and often lead to the discovery of an unanticipated major or minor. Explorations into different realms of knowledge are organized into the following four Areas of Study:

• Literature, Fine Arts, Creative Expression and History
• Natural Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science
• Philosophy and Religion
• Social Science

Literature, Fine Arts, and Creative Expression and History fosters a distinct way of learning and knowing through imaginative constructions and historical narratives that broaden an understanding of and deepen sensitivity to self and the world. Thus, the requirements in this Area of Study specify three types of courses: at least one course must be chosen from literature [in any language or in translation, and identified in course descriptions by AOS(LIT)]; another course must engage students in Creative Expression (e.g., creative writing, studio art, instrumental music, or dramatic acting; identified by CE in course descriptions); and the third course should address the need for historical analysis in history, art, music or theatre. Participation in musical ensembles or theatrical productions over five terms may also be used to fulfill the Creative Expression requirement.

The other Areas of Study requirements include: two courses in Philosophy and/or Religion [identified by AOS(PHIL) or AOS(REL)], a total of three courses in at least two Social Sciences [Economics, Education, History, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology and/or Anthropology; identified by AOS(SS)]; and two courses in Natural Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science [identified by AOS(NS)], with at least one of these being in Biology, Chemistry, or Physics. This last Area of Study requirement is in addition to the Quantitative Reasoning requirement; in other words, students may not “double count” a course for Quantitative Reasoning and for the Natural Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science Area of Study requirement. It should also be noted that the science departments regularly offer a number of courses specifically designed for students not majoring in science.

The Cultures Requirement
Enhancing the Areas of Study explorations, the Cultures requirement helps students develop greater awareness that their own life and society are reflective of distinct cultural traditions and thus not somehow the natural order of things. Therefore, courses that satisfy this requirement offer an explicit concept of culture and include systematic comparisons between the particular focus of the course and relevant aspects of contemporary life and/or dominant cultures in the United States.

Students must enroll in three Cultures courses (identified by CR in course descriptions). Two courses must focus on different areas of the world outside the United States (Asia, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Europe)—one of these may be a comparative cultures course—and the third course must give substantial attention to the cultural diversity within the United States. One Cultures course may be taken while on Study Abroad. Any or all of these courses may also count toward Areas of Study requirements or be counted toward a major, minor, or concentration.

Majors, Minors, and Concentrations: Explorations In Depth

Through majors, minors, and concentrations, students explore a discipline in depth, or, in the case of concentrations, deepen their understanding of an interdisciplinary topic. A major is required for graduation; students may supplement this with a minor, concentration, or even second major if they wish, though these are not required.

Majors
Kalamazoo College offers twenty-six majors through which students explore and develop expertise in an academic discipline. Majors programs are designed to move from the broad to the specific through a sequence of core and elective courses. Upper-level majors courses usually delve deeply into a specific topic, and students can shape a particular emphasis within a major through their choice of upper-level courses. No matter what the discipline, all majors programs build skills in written and oral expression, information literacy, critical thinking and analysis, creative problem-solving, and independent scholarship.

Minors and Concentrations
A minor typically comprises a subset of what is required for a major, whereas a concentration is a set of courses with a common focus drawn from several disciplines. Minors and concentrations enable students to supplement a major with directed study of another realm of interest and, in the process, lend more coherence to course selections satisfying Areas of Study and other general education requirements. All but two disciplines offering a major also offer a minor, and seven concentrations are offered: African Studies, American Studies, Biochemistry-Molecular Biology, Classical Studies, Environmental Studies, Public Policy and Urban Affairs, and Women’s Studies.

Connections help students pull together skills, knowledge, ideas, and experiences into a coherent sense of their education as a whole at the College. By making these connections, students discern strengths and ambitions, learn to articulate skills and talents to potential employers and graduate programs, and develop a deeper understanding of the world and their place in it.

Connections within Majors

Majors Seminars
Most departments offer (and many require) junior and especially senior seminars for majors. The nature and purposes of these seminars vary; some are mainly upper-level courses focusing on core disciplinary content; others—and these would be for juniors—are directed toward SIP planning; but most, at least at the senior level, tend to be either integrative courses that are typically linked to the comprehensive examination or advanced special topics courses. Some senior seminars occur as a regular course during a specified quarter, whereas others meet throughout the year. All of these seminars, however, convene advanced students focused on a discipline and typically involve substantial student participation, including peer teaching.

Comprehensive Exams
The comprehensive examination is the central means of assessing work in the major and a means for students to draw upon and synthesize their learning in the major. The College requires that every majors program have a comprehensive exam and that students pass this exam to graduate.

There are four main approaches to the comprehensive exam, although some majors programs combine two or even three of these. The first is a single written exam designed to test students with regard to particular skills and perspectives emphasized in a majors program. The second is a set of research and/or reflective papers that students submit over a period of time. The third is the Educational Testing Service’s Major Field Tests. And the fourth is a combination of written and oral exams, sometimes with the latter building on particular elements of the former.

Senior Individualized Project (SIP)
A requirement for graduation, the SIP is an occasion for independent scholarship, often in conjunction with an internship, or other creative activity, that results in a written report, performance, or exhibit. Thus, rather than selecting only a subset of students to work on an honors project or thesis, the College considers such independent work a significant part of the education of all Kalamazoo College students.

Officially, the SIP is a College requirement, not a requirement in the major as such, and some students do use the SIP to explore an area outside their major. Most students, however, carry out SIPs related to their major, such that most SIP planning, advising, and evaluation is considered the responsibility of students and faculty within the particular departments of the students’ majors. During the students’ senior spring, a number of departments host symposia, recitals, exhibitions, or theatrical productions in which results of research or creative work are featured.

Connections among Educational Experiences

Liberal Arts Colloquium
The Liberal Arts Colloquium (LAC) supplements the range of course offerings and exposes students to subjects not otherwise available at the College. Numerous lectures (typically by guest scholars), performances, and special campus events comprise colloquium activities, with most providing connections to the larger world of scholarly endeavors and artistic achievement. Moreover, since many of these events involve commentary on current issues, a connection to the public realm also is forged. Many of these activities acquaint students with ideas and experiences quite different from those found in their majors, thus strengthening the College’s commitment to educational breadth.