Liberal Arts Curriculum

Mission, Educational Objectives, Learning Outcomes

The Liberal Arts Curriculum consists of 13 credits of required courses and 21 credits of elective courses for a total of 34 credits.

Required Courses (13 credits)

Six credits of English:1

  • ENG202  Sophomore Rhetoric  (3 cr.)
  • ENG203  Fundamentals of Oral Communication  (3 cr.)

Three credits of Arabic Language or Literature:2

  • ARA303  Arabic Grammar and Syntax  (3 cr.)
  • ARA310  Classical Arabic Rhetoric and Literary Criticism  (3 cr.)
  • ARA313  Creative Writing  (3 cr.)
  • ARA320  Pre-Islamic and Umayyad Poetry  (3 cr.)
  • ARA323  Abbasid Poetry  (3 cr.)
  • ARA324  Andalusian Literature  (3 cr.)
  • ARA325  Classical Prose  (3 cr.)
  • ARA330  Lebanese Literary Heritage  (3 cr.)
  • ARA341  Modern Arabic Novel and Short Story  (3 cr.)
  • ARA342  Arabic Drama  (3 cr.)
  • ARA343  Modern Arabic Poetry  (3 cr.)
  • ARA344  Trends in Modern Arabic Literature  (3 cr.)

One credit of Computer Applications:

  • CSC201  Computer Applications  (1 cr.)

One credit of Ethics:

  • ETH201  Moral Reasoning  (1 cr.)

One credit of Basic Health:

  • HLT201  Basic Health   (1 cr.)

One credit of Physical Education:

  • PED211  Beginning Swimming  (1 cr.)
  • PED218  Table Tennis  (1 cr.)
  • PED220  Beginning Tennis  (1 cr.)
  • PED231  Modern Dance  (1 cr.)
  • PED232  Folk Dance  (1 cr.)
  • PED251  BasketBall  1
  • PED261  VolleyBall  (1 cr.)
  • PED271  Tae-Kwan-Do  (1 cr.)
  • PED291  Physical Fitness  (1 cr.)

Elective Courses (21 credits)

Cultural Studies, History, Philosophy, Religion

A minimum of three and a maximum of nine credits of Cultural Studies, History, Philosophy, or Religion:

Cultural Studies:

  • CST201  Cultural Studies I  (3 cr.)
  • CST202  Cultural Studies II  (3 cr.)
  • CST203  Cultural Studies III  (3 cr.)

History:

  • HST221  The Ancient World, Greece and Rome  (3 cr.)
  • HST231  History of Lebanon, from the Imarah to the 1975-1990 War   (3 cr.)
  • HST240  History of the Arab Peoples  (3 cr.)
  • HST242  Europe and the Middle East (1798 – 1956)  (3 cr.)
  • HST302  Medieval Europe 1066-1453  (3 cr.)
  • HST303  Early Modern Europe 1450-1750  3

Philosophy:

  • PHL204  Modern Philosophy  (3 cr.)
  • PHL301  Ethics  (3 cr.)
  • PHL302 Theory of Knowledge  (3 cr.)
  • PHL303  Metaphysics  (3 cr.)
  • PHL311  Philosophy of Religion  (3 cr.)
  • PHL324 Philosophy of Science  (3 cr.)

Religion:

  • REL312  Interpretation of Religious Literature  (3 cr.)
  • REL411  Myth and Ritual  (3 cr.)
  • REL412  History of Religious Thought in the Middle East  (3 cr.)
  • REL413  Representatives of Christian Thought in the Modern Period (3 cr.)
  • REL414  Representatives of Islamic Thought in the Modern Period (3 cr.)

Literature

A minimum of three and a maximum of six credits of Literature, taught in the English language.

  • ENG211  Literature I  (3 cr.)
  • ENG212  Literature II  (3 cr.)
  • ENG216  Introduction to Literature  (3 cr.)
  • ENG323  Renaissance Drama   (3 cr.)
  • ENG324  Medieval Literature  (3 cr.)
  • ENG325  Renaissance Poetry  (3 cr.)
  • ENG326  Restoration and Neoclassical Literature   (3 cr.)
  • ENG328  Early Novel  (3 cr.)
  • ENG336  Romantic and Victorian Poetry   (3 cr.)
  • ENG339  19th-Century British Novel  (3 cr.)
  • ENG342  Modernism and Beyond  (3 cr.)
  • ENG345  The 20th-Century British Novel  (3 cr.)
  • ENG346  Contemporary Culture  (3 cr.)
  • ENG348  Postcolonial Anglophone Literatures   (3 cr.)
  • ENG351  Early American Literature  (3 cr.)
  • ENG352  20th-Century American Novel   (3 cr.)
  • ENG354  Theories of Literature and Culture  (3 cr.)
  • ENG372  Comparative and World Literatures   (3 cr.)
  • ENG479  Topics in Literature and Culture   (3 cr.)

Sciences

A minimum of three and maximum of nine credits of Sciences.

  • AST200  Introduction to Astronomy  (3 cr.)
  • BIO201  General Biology I  (3 cr.)
  • BIO202  General Biology II  (3 cr.)
  • CHM201  Chemical Principles  (3 cr.)
  • CHM202  Analytical Chemistry  (3 cr.)
  • CSC241  Introduction to Computing  (3 cr.)
  • ENV200  Introduction to Environmental Science  (3 cr.)
  • MTH201  Calculus III  (3 cr.)
  • MTH206  Calculus IV  (3 cr.)
  • MTH207  Discrete Structures I  (3 cr.)
  • NUT201  Fundamentals of Human Nutrition  (3 cr.)

Arts

A minimum of three and a maximum of six credits of Arts.

  • ARC/DES371  History of Architecture I   (3 cr.)
  • ARC/DES372  History of Architecture II  (3 cr.)
  • ARC/DES375  Introduction to Islamic Art  (3 cr.)
  • ARC/DES376  Introduction to Islamic Architecture  (3 cr.)
  • ART331  History of Art I  (3 cr.)
  • ART332  History of Art II  (3 cr.)
  • ART335  Islamic Art of the Middle East  (3 cr.)
  • ART431  Modern Art  (3 cr.)
  • COM319  Media and Society  (3 cr.)
  • COM225  The Art of Film  (3 cr.)
  • COM242  Introduction to the Art of Theatre  (3 cr.)
  • COM249  Theatre in Lebanon and the Arab World  (3 cr.)
  • COM345  Modern Drama  (3 cr.)
  • MUS311  Survey of Western Music   (3 cr.)
  • MUS312  Survey of Middle Eastern Music  (3 cr.)
  • PFA252  Lebanese Musical Theater and Song  (3 cr.)

Social Sciences

A minimum of three and a maximum of nine credits of Social Sciences.

  • ECO201  Microeconomics  (3 cr.)
  • ECO202  Macroeconomics  (3 cr.)
  • PJE201  Cross-cultural Communication for Peace  (3 cr.)
  • POL201  Introduction to Political Science  (3 cr.)
  • POL231  Introduction to Human Rights  (3 cr.)
  • PSY201  Introduction to Psychology  (3 cr.)
  • PSY202  Child Psychology  (3 cr.)
  • PSY335  Industrial Organizational Psychology  (3 cr.)
  • SOC201  Introduction to Sociology  (3 cr.)
  • SOC215  Introduction to Gender Studies  (3 cr.)
  • SOC311  Social Problems  (3 cr.)
  • SOC321  Sociology of the Arab World  (3 cr.)
  • WOS311  Issues and Debates in Feminist Theory  (3 cr.)
  • WOS313  Women in the Arab World: Sociological Perspectives  (3 cr.)
  • WOS412  Representations of Women in the Arts and the Media  (3 cr.)

Notes:

    1. Entering Freshman students with scores between 500 and 549 on the Entrance English Exam (EEE), or its equivalent on the Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), must take ENG009 Remedial English (valued at three non-credits), ENG101 English I (worth three credits), and ENG102 English II (worth three credits), before taking the Sophomore level English courses.
    2. Entering Freshman students with scores between 550 and 599 on the EEE, or its equivalent on the TOEFL, must take ENG101 English I (worth three credits), and ENG102 English II (worth three credits), before taking the Sophomore level English courses.
    3. Entering Freshman students with scores between 600 and 649 on the EEE, or its equivalent on the TOEFL, if enrolled in a BA/BS Program, must take ENG102 English II (worth three credits), before taking the Sophomore level English courses. They must also take three elective credits to make up for the missing credits. If the students are enrolled in an AA/AAS Program, they must take ENG102 English II (worth three credits), and either ENG202 Sophomore Rhetoric, or ENG203 Fundamentals of Oral Communication.
    4. Entering Freshman students with scores of 650 and above on the EEE, or its equivalent on the TOEFL, if enrolled in a BA/BS Program, can take Sophomore level English courses directly. They must also take six elective credits to make up for missing credits. If the students are enrolled in an AA/AAS Program, they must take ENG202 Sophomore Rhetoric, and ENG203 Fundamentals of Oral Communication.
  2. Sophomore students who are exempted from Arabic by the Admissions Council, must substitute the Arabic course by one of the following courses:
    • SAR221  Developmental Arabic  
    • SOC321  Sociology of the Arab World  
    • WOS313  Women in the Arab World  
    • HST230  History of Lebanon, from Antelias Man to the Ottoman Conquest   
    • HST231  History of Lebanon, from the Imarah to the 1975-1990 War   
    • HST240  History of the Arab Peoples

Previous Program

Students admitted before fall 2007 followed the General University Requirements instead of the program shown on this page.