UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

The basis of the practical liberal arts is the development of critical thinking, inquiry, and analysis. These foundational skills are developed across all courses and disciplines through the Wagner Plan, which encompasses the Key Skills and Knowledge curriculum, the Learning Communities program, and the completion of a major.

Students take courses across the arts, humanities, sciences and mathematics, and social sciences to develop understanding across knowledge areas. Simultaneously, students gain both intensive study and practice or exposure in the following skills: intercultural understanding, creativity, critical reading and analysis, information literacy, quantitative thinking, technological competency, oral communication, and written communication.

Across three learning communities of thematically-linked courses (First-Year Program, Intermediate Learning Community, and Senior Learning Community), students are challenged to see the links across disciplines and the role of disciplinary-based knowledge in everyday decision making. Each learning community consists of a common cohort of students who develop a sense of connection through shared learning. In a chosen major, students develop disciplinary skills, focusing on depth of learning and practical applications.

Knowledge: Students take courses across the arts, humanities, sciences and mathematics, and social sciences. Courses in the arts explore creative expression in the visual and performing arts. The arts can help students to develop creative skills and an appreciation for the creative process. Courses in humanities develop sensitivity to the human condition through the study of Western and non-Western intellectual traditions. The humanities can help students to develop critical reading and analysis as well as written communication. Courses in science and mathematics enable students to gain a sound understanding of scientific inquiry, quantitative and analytical research methods, and technology. The sciences can help students to understand the intellectual collaboration and methods that characterize scientific progress. Courses in social science foster a clear understanding of the dynamics of societies and the ways sociocultural values and beliefs influence the behavior of individuals and groups. The social sciences can help students to develop intercultural understanding. Across all knowledge areas, students develop critical thinking, inquiry, and analysis.

The Arts—2 units chosen from the following disciplines: art, art history, dance, filmmaking, music, theatre.

Humanities—3 units chosen from the following disciplines: English, foreign languages, history, philosophy, religion, and MDS 106, MDS 107, CE 206.

Social Sciences—3 units chosen from the following disciplines: anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, sociology, social work, and MDS 103, MDS 109.

Sciences & Mathematics—3 units chosen from the following disciplines: astronomy, biology, chemistry, mathematics, microbiology, and physics.

Skills: Wagner College focuses on critical thinking, inquiry, and analysis to prepare students holistically to be lifelong learners as they pursue professional, personal, and community goals. Students have many choices across disciplines to fulfill the key skill requirements. Students make decisions about how to fulfill the skills in consultation with their academic advisor.

Wagner College’s selection of key skills is inspired by the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ (AAC&U’s) Liberal Education for America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative. For each skill, students complete at least one course with an intensive focus as well as repeatedly focusing on each skill over multiple courses, which may include practice/exposure courses or further intensive courses. With the exception of the skills of technological competency and information literacy, students complete at least three courses designated for each skill. A given skill area can be fulfilled with one intensive course plus two practice/exposure courses. Alternatively, students may choose to complete more than one course that is intensive in a given skill. Each additional intensive course beyond the required one for the skill will substitute for a practice/exposure course. For technological competency and information literacy, students must complete an intensive course in each skill plus one additional course designated as practice/exposure or as intensive for either technological competency or information literacy. Repeated focus on each skill leads to greater mastery.

Opportunities to engage in each skill across disciplines underscore how skills translate and prove valuable across contexts.

Courses that develop intercultural understanding focus on differences among individuals and groups (vis à vis social positions, practices, and power relations) as seen in the intersection of major elements of identity.
Courses that develop creativity focus on artistic creativity from conception to end product as well
as understanding of creative processes across fields.
Courses that develop critical reading involve a process of moving beyond a superficial understanding of a text to notice critical details and underlying positions.
Courses that develop technological competency focus on active student involvement in the
creation or use of technology.
Courses that develop information literacy emphasize evaluation, selection, and appropriate use of
sources of information.
Courses that develop oral communication include instruction on the art and science of giving
speeches and formal presentations.
Courses that develop quantitative thinking train in the areas of mathematical thinking, problem
solving through abstract arguments and proofs, and interpreting quantitative information.
Courses that develop written communication focus on building skills of informal and formal
writing, including research papers and multiple forms of written responses.

Index of courses by skill

The table below lists the Key Skills fulfilled by courses. Intensive designation is indicated by double letters (XX) and text in all capitals. Practice or exposure designation is indicated with a single letter (X) and text in title case.

*For up-to-date listings, please go to registrar’s webpage under Academic Information.

https://wagner.edu/registrar/bulletin-catalog/

Intercultural Understanding (UU/U)

Intensive (UU): Courses with an intensive designation focus on differences among individuals and groups (vis à vis social positions, practices and power relations) as seen in the intersection of major elements of identity such as ethnicity, gender expression, language, nationality, immigration, race, religious belief and practice, sex, sexuality, ability/disability, and socio-economic status.

Practice or exposure (U): Courses with a practice/exposure designation include discussion/application of intercultural understanding, but do not make it a central focus of the course.

Creativity (CC/C)

Intensive (CC): Courses with an intensive designation focus on artistic creativity from conception to end product. Students will be exposed to artistic traditions and analytic approaches, will develop skills through studying and practicing techniques and formal strategies, will be encouraged to develop personal responses to the traditions and genres in which they work, and will create art by synthesizing the ideas, concepts, and techniques in original expressions, such as writings, visual arts, musical compositions, and performances.

Practice or exposure (C): Courses with a practice/exposure designation develop creativity and/or focus on understanding creative processes in any field.

Critical Reading and Analysis (RR/R)

Intensive (RR): Courses with an intensive designation focus on sustained instruction in the critical reading of academic texts, literary works, historical documents and other kinds of material culture. Students learn to move beyond a superficial understanding of a text to notice critical details and underlying positions, question assumptions, consider a range of interpretive possibilities, draw out the implications of the observations, and put interpretations in conversation with relevant texts and contexts.

Practice or exposure (R): Courses with a practice/exposure designation deeply engage students with texts of varying levels of complexity.

Technological Competency (TT/T) & Information Literacy (LL/L)

Intensive (TT): Courses with an intensive designation focus during class or laboratory time on creation or instruction of technology with active student involvement (beyond word processing, presentation, and classroom management programs).

Practice or exposure (T): Courses with a practice/exposure designation use technology to support course content (beyond word processing, presentation, and classroom management programs).

Intensive (LL): Courses with an intensive designation dedicate a substantial portion of instruction during class or laboratory time to helping students develop a comprehensive information literacy skill set. Courses begin with how to effectively identify a need for information, and move through how to locate, evaluate, utilize, and responsibly share that information.

Practice or exposure (L): Courses with a practice/exposure designation require students to critically analyze information to support course content.

Oral Communication (OO/O):

Intensive (OO): Courses with an intensive designation focus on sustained oral communication instruction, including feedback and revision, and culminate in formal oral presentations. Students learn how to prepare a presentation with an audience in mind, including increasing knowledge of the audience or persuading. Practice or exposure (O): Courses with a practice/exposure designation use public speaking and verbal interactions to support course content (beyond normal lecture or Q&A interactions).

Quantitative Thinking (QQ/Q):

Intensive (QQ): Courses with an intensive designation instruct students to proficiently construct logical arguments and rigorous mathematical proofs, and develop students’ aptitude to produce examples and counter-examples, with a focus on differentiating between coherent mathematical arguments and fallacious ones.

Further, these courses teach students the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning, including mathematical induction, and how to formulate general hypotheses and conjectures by abstracting general principles from numerical examples and problems. Finally, courses with an intensive designation train students how to analyze real-world problems quantitatively, formulate reasonable estimates, apply appropriate equations, and differentiate between valid and questionable conclusions.

Practice or exposure (Q): Courses with a practice/exposure designation help students interpret quantitative information (both numerical and pertaining to systems of logic) and develop arguments supported by quantitative information expressed in various formats, such as equations, graphs, charts, tables, propositional or symbolic logical arguments, etc.

Written Communication (WW/WC):

Intensive (WW): Courses with an intensive designation focus on building skills of writing as a major component of course content, and offer overt and sustained instruction in writing. Students complete multiple formal writing assignments of varying length that include at least one instructor-guided revision process, and that total a minimum of twenty pages.

Practice or exposure (WC): Courses with a practice/exposure designation use the skill of writing to support course content.

Learning Communities: The First-Year Program (FYP), Intermediate Learning Community (ILC), and Senior Learning Community (SLC) provide interdisciplinary learning. The learning community in the First-Year Program includes a field-based experience that is thematically linked to two introductory, discipline-specific courses and a reflective tutorial. The Intermediate Learning Community challenges students to expand their critical thinking by making connections across disciplinary perspectives in two thematically-linked courses or one course co-taught by professors from different disciplines. The Senior Learning Community, which is in the student’s major, consists of a capstone course in the discipline, a substantial internship or research experience, and a major paper or presentation in the senior Reflective Tutorial. The three learning communities individually and collectively challenge students to relate academic learning to the wider world, to social issues, and to their own individual experiences.

First-Year Program: In the first year, students complete nine courses. They typically enroll in four courses in the first semester, and five courses in the second. In the first semester, each student is required to take a first-year seminar that is a single, interdisciplinary class co-taught by two professors from different disciplines. This course is rooted in an experiential learning component and critical reflection. Students are introduced to college as they reflect in writing on their experiences and interdisciplinary class content. During the summer before they begin their first semester at the College, new first-year students are required to go online to fill out the New Student Form and review the New Student Guide, which contains a list of all the first-year seminars offered in the fall. The New Student Form asks students to list their preferences for seminars, and is submitted electronically. Placement in a seminar is based upon both student preference and the limited number of seats available within each seminar.

Scheduling constraints may impact the placement. The faculty in this co-taught seminar serve as academic advisors to the students until those students declare their major. In the first semester, students are also placed in an introductory course appropriate for their academic interests. For the second semester in the spring, students choose a first-year intensive writing course taught by a full-time member of the faculty. This course includes instruction in research methods, the craft of writing, revision in response to peer-review, and a research paper.

Intermediate Learning Community: After completing the First-Year Program, and normally by the end of their sophomore year, students complete an Intermediate Learning Community (ILC). The ILC challenges students to expand their critical thinking by making connections across disciplinary perspectives in two thematically-linked courses or one course co-taught by professors from different disciplines. The ILC requirement may also be fulfilled by a semester or more of study abroad, a Washington Center internship, or an internship in the New York State Legislature. Students may complete more than one ILC. In some cases students may complete part or whole of the ILC within their major.

Capstone Learning Experience: The Wagner Plan culminates in the Capstone Learning Experience. The Capstone Learning Experience is a summative experience that contains the following elements: a capstone seminar in the student’s major and a reflective tutorial course that includes an experiential learning component of at least 100 hours as well as a substantial and sophisticated project. Students are challenged to develop a more refined understanding of the complexity and depth of at least one discipline through concentrated application, problem-solving, reflection, and critique. The Capstone Learning Experience is the continuation and culmination of the Wagner Plan.

Study in Depth: Majors, Concentrations, and Minors

Major
Each student must complete a major field of study, which must be declared no later than the end of the sophomore year through the relevant academic department. Graduation recommendations are granted by the department only after the student has met all course and other requirements for the major.

For the bachelor of science degree, no more than 22 units in the major, including required related courses, may count toward the 36 units required for graduation. For the bachelor of arts degree, no more than 18 major units, including required related courses, may count toward the 36 units. Students may exceed these limits only if the total units exceed the 36 required for graduation. Students are responsible for scheduling and sequencing courses to meet major requirements.

Double Major
Students may pursue two majors by:

Declaring both majors during the sophomore year.
Officially registering both majors with approval from each department’s Division Chair or Dean.
Completing related course requirements for both majors unless identical courses fulfill both.
Completing the senior learning community in the primary major, and in some cases, the secondary major if required.
Receiving a degree based on the primary major.
Applying no more than four identical course units to both majors.

Concentration
A concentration is a specialization within a major. Students choosing a major with a concentration must complete the designated courses, which will be noted on the transcript. Concentrations are established through the academic department.

Minor
A minor consists of 5 to 7 units in a single discipline. No more than two transfer units may apply to a minor, and no more than two minor units may count toward a major or second minor. Departments determine acceptable courses, and students establish a minor through the academic department. Minors are noted on the transcript.

Elective Courses
Students are required to take electives outside their major to ensure a balanced liberal arts education. Faculty advisors guide students in selecting courses to achieve both depth and breadth in learning.

Courses of Study
Courses are numbered by level: beginning undergraduate courses are 100-level, senior-level undergraduate courses are 400-level, junior-senior-level courses open to graduate students are 500-level, and graduate courses are 600-level or higher. Undergraduate courses are generally one unit, and graduate courses are three credits unless otherwise specified. The College reserves the right to withdraw or change courses and instructors as necessary.

Academic Policies and Procedures

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Academic Policies & Procedures