From GURs to GenEd: New General Education Curriculum begins for the Fall 2009 incoming class
General University Requirements (GURs) have been the mainstay of the General Education curriculum at PLU. These are the core requirements across the College of Arts and Sciences that provide the foundation in the liberal arts as defined by the Lutheran tradition in higher education for PLU Bachelor's Degrees.
Current students (those who registered through Spring 2009, from the classes of 2006, 2007, and 2008) will need to complete these requirements as outlined in the PLU catalog from their entrance year.
The new General Education Program curricula will be implemented for those students (including both first year and transfer students) as outlined in the 2009-2010 PLU catalog. While the core requirements have changed minimally, the structure and conversations around the General Education has become more focused and consistent.
All students at PLU should use the newly revised CAPP report to track their completion of specific core requirements.
Understanding PLU's General Education Program
PLU's General Education Program prepares graduates to ask significant questions, engage relevant knowledge, and wrestle with complex issues. The program is rooted in the classical liberal arts and sciences as understood within the Lutheran educational tradition, and is grounded in an understanding of scientific perspectives, mathematics, languages, and the longstanding traditions of critical discourse about nature, humanity, and the world. The array of academic disciplines has developed through a set of lenses through which we view the world. Through exposure to current procedures, methods, and accumulated knowledge of those disciplines, PLU welcomes students into on-going conversations about nature and the human condition. While immersed in these rigorous conversations, students are challenged to think critically, discern and formulate values, express themselves effectively and creatively, interact with others respectfully, and understand the world from various perspectives. PLU thus educates students for courageous lives: lives of thoughtful inquiry, service, leadership, and care - for other people, their communities, and the earth.
General Education is important for who you are and who you will become. We invite you to see the way in which this program intersects with your major and electives, and prepares you for meaningful careers and courageous lives.