Course Descriptions

GEN 1010: The Individual and the Community, 4 credits

An interdisciplinary, writing-intensive course focusing upon the relationship of students to the various communities in which they live and interact: the Mount community, the Newburgh community, and the national community. Students will examine the concept of community through readings from literature, history, social science, philosophy, and religion. Special attention is paid to the responsibilities and ethics of citizenship, diversity and pluralism.

GEN 1020: Culture and Ideas, 5 credits

An interdisciplinary, writing-intensive course focusing on an aspect of western civilization. Students will learn to read the texts of a particular culture (where texts can be literary, historical, philosophical or religious works) for an understanding of the underlying ideas and values of that era.

GEN 2010: The Individual and the Natural World, 5 credits

An interdisciplinary, writing-intensive course in which students will learn to think critically about current science topics in the context of historical, ecological, medical, commercial, and ethical issues. Students will explore the principles of the scientific method and develop the skills of observation, technical reading/writing, critical evaluation of resources, and the skepticism necessary to participate in the scientific process. They will collect and analyze data using statistical software and use collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to discovering the impact of scientific findings on society.

GEN 2020: Individual, Society & Conflict, 5 credits

An interdisciplinary, writing-intensive course that will investigate the origins of conflict, as well as strategies for its resolution, with an emphasis on social justice. Students will examine conflict as it plays out in distinct arenas, such as the environment, immigration, and religion. They will also consider conflict as it is portrayed in representative works of literature and art.

GEN 4010: Challenges and Choices, 5 credits

An interdisciplinary, writing-intensive capstone seminar that invites students to grapple with individual choices relating to challenges in the local community, the worldwide social/economic/political communities, and the natural world. Topics for the course will cover a range from local to national to global issues, and will be drawn from issues studied in previous courses in the general education sequence and from the student’s major. Students will also be required to complete a service learning component related to one of the course topics.