General Education Requirements - Media Arts and Performing Arts

CAS General Education Requirements

Media Arts and Performing Arts

In addition to the information given here and on the following pages, students are referred to individual department handbooks for additional information and requirements.

Students in any Media Arts and Performing Arts degree must earn a minimum of 120 credits. The B.F.A. in Musical Theatre requires a minimum of 121 credits.

General Education Requirements

Students in the Department of Communication, Journalism & Media must complete the CAS General Education Curriculum as listed under the College of Arts and Sciences. All other majors in Media Arts and Performing Arts must complete these requirements: 

I. ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES:
Reading and Writing 16
Seminar in Writing and Rhetoric
Honors Seminar: Great Ideas I
Select one of the following:
Seminar in Writing and Research
Honors Seminar: Great Ideas II
Literature and Composition
Mathematical Reasoning 33-4
Select one of the following:
Finite Mathematics
Algebra and Trigonometry
Precalculus
Foreign Language Proficiency 23-6
Select one or two Chinese courses depending on placement test:
Chinese I
Chinese II
Chinese III
Chinese IV
Or CHI 3-400 level course taught in Chinese
OR select one or two French courses depending on placement test:
French I
French II
French III
French IV
OR FRE 3-400 level course taught in French
OR select one or two German courses depending on placement test:
German I
German II
German III
German IV
OR select one or two Italian courses depending on placement test:
Italian I
Italian II
Italian III
Italian IV
OR select one or two Spanish courses depending on placement test:
Spanish I
Spanish II
Elementary Spanish II Abroad
Introductory Medical Spanish
Spanish III
Spanish IV
Or SPA 3-400 level course taught in Spanish
II. DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES
Scientific Perspectives:3-4
To fulfill the Scientific Perspectives requirement, students may take either a lecture/lab combination (4 credits) or one 3-credit non-lab courses. Students who have taken a PSY course to fulfill the Social Perspectives requirement may not take a PSY course to fulfill the Scientific Perspective requirement.
A. 3-Credit Non-Lab Courses
Chemistry and Conflict
Idea to Innovation
Honors Seminar: The Environment: a Conflict of Interest
The Rhetoric of Science
Nature and Nurture
Life Science
Life Science: Brain and Behavior
Chemistry & Society
Fundamentals of Computer Science
Future of Natural Resources
Introduction to Climate Change
Earth Systems Science
Geology of National Parks
Environmental Geology
Mesozoic Ruling Reptiles
Oceanography
Astronomy
The Science of Mental Illness
Introduction to Psychology
Introduction to Forensics
B. Lecture/Lab Combination Courses
Chemistry in the Kitchen
and Chemistry in the Kitchen Lab
Introduction to Environmental Sciences
and Introduction to Environmental Sciences Lab
Earth Systems Science
and Earth Materials and Processes Lab
Oceanography
and Introductory Oceanography Lab
Introduction to Sustainability Studies
and Intro to Sustainability Lab
Social Perspectives:3
Select one of the following. The course selected in this category cannot be from the same academic department. Students who have taken a PSY course to fulfill the Scientific Perspectives requirement may not take a PSY course to fulfill the Social Perspectives requirement.
Nineteen Eighty-Four in Context: George Orwell’s Enduring Legacy
Under the Influence: Drugs, Deviance, and Culture
Honors Seminar:Politics/Literacy
Children and the Media
Creativity and Design Thinking
A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Play
Honors Seminar: The Environment: a Conflict of Interest
The Online Explosion: Radical Changes in Business and Communication
The Rhetoric of Science
The Law and Racial Progress
Mirrors of the Mind: The Interplay of Literature and Psychology
Honors Seminar: 20th Century European Ideologies
Modern European Ideologies: Social and Political Perspectives
Nature and Nurture
Genocide, Human Rights & Literature
Moral Psychology
Communication, Culture and Media
Global Film & Media Industries
Introduction to Gender Studies
Gender, War and Peace
Race, Class and Gender in Contemporary American Society
Power and Privilege in a Multicultural Society
U.S. Politics in Crisis
Power, Politics and Justice
Explorations in Psychology Honors
Psychology:The Science of Well-being
Psychology of Creativity
Psychology of Women
Sociological Imagination
Cultural Anthropology
Social Movements Abroad
Historical Perspectives:6
Pre-Modern World: Evolution to Revolution
World in the Modern Era: Exploration to Globalization
Contemporary World: Historical Perspectives
Cold War: A Global History
Literature3
Select one course from the following list:
American Memoir and Autobiography
Poetry and Poetics in American Culture
Kurt Vonnegut’s America
Age of Shakespeare: A Study in Cultural History
Nineteen Eighty-Four in Context: George Orwell’s Enduring Legacy
Under the Influence: Drugs, Deviance, and Culture
Honors Seminar:Politics/Literacy
The Fantastic in Literature, Art, and Media
Music and Literature
Honors Seminar: Existentialism in Literature
Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Age of Empire
Shakespeare: Page, Stage & Screen
Mirrors of the Mind: The Interplay of Literature and Psychology
Inclusive Education and Representations of Disability
Honors Seminar: 20th Century European Ideologies
Honors Seminar: The Bible as Literature and Philosophy
Latinx in the 21st Century
Images of Women in Chinese Literature and Film
Understanding Literature
Arthurian Legends in Literature
Major American Authors
Major British Authors
Literature and Mythology
Monsters in Literature
Satire and Comedy
Introduction To Shakespeare
Literature and the Environment
Literature and Violence
Literature & Society
Literature and Psychology
Crime and Literature
Science Fiction
Black American Lit
Multi-Ethnic Literature in America
Women In Literature
Introduction to Poetry
The Short Story
Human Relationships in Literature (HONORS)
Global Literature
An Introduction to French Literature
Cultural Expression in French Film and Television
Portrait of the Hero in French Fiction
Mask & Reality in French Theater
Self in French Prose & Poetry
A Quest for Identity: Francophone Literature and Culture
Sex, Gender, and Fairy Tales
Masterworks of Western Literature I
Masterworks of Western Literature II
Law, Literature, and Film in America
Introduction to Spanish Literature
Introduction to Latin-American/Latino Literature
The Hispanic Short Story: Transatlantic Connections
The Spanish Golden Age
From Colonies to Nations
Latin American/Latino Film and Fiction
Philosophical Perspectives:3
Select one of the following:
Honors Seminar: Existentialism in Literature
Presence of Mind — Artificial Intelligence and Human Creativity
Honors Seminar: The Bible as Literature and Philosophy
Moral Psychology
Plato and Aristotle
Philosophical Thinking
Logic and Language
Ethics
American Philosophy
Philosophies of Education
Political Philosophy
Social Philosophy
Asian Philosophy
Symbolic Logic
Environmental Ethics
Modern Philosophy
Philosophy of the Sexes
Special Topics in Philosophy
Medical Ethics
Problems in 20th-Century Philosophy
Existentialism
Philosophy of Science
Theories of Knowledge
Philosophy of Mind
Theories of Reality
Indian Philosophy
Chinese Philosophy
Contemporary Ethics
Japanese Philosophy
Total Credits30-35
1

College Reading is required only of students scoring 470 or lower on the reading comprehension portion of the SAT.

2

Students who place at the 101-level or above are still expected to take a minimum of three (3) credits at the level of placement. Students who are native speakers of languages not offered at Rider University may have the Foreign Language requirement waived upon documentation of proficiency.  This documentation could be in the form of a transcript on letterhead sent by the accreditated institution abroad, or fee-based proficiency tests.  To initiate a request for a waiver, students should see the chairperson of the Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures.

3

MTH 100 may be required based upon ACT/SAT scores.