Irini Mihas is a senior majoring in English and minoring in journalism. Irini is an LAS Copywriting Intern, where she contribues digital media content for the College of LAS Office of Marketing & Communications team. In her free time, Irini loves to read, take care of her dog, and bake.
For first year students, finding courses to complete can be a challenge—especially with all the offerings on the university’s course explorer. With up to 11 specific categories of courses to complete for students in the College of LAS, the whole process can seem a bit frightening. This blog breaks down what the categories are and popular College of Liberal Arts & Science courses to fulfill them to help alleviate some potential stress.
What are the gen-ed categories?
Since 2018, the university has had 11 gen-ed categories which all encompass a variety of subjects. Some of these gen-ed requirements might have been filled from your high school courses, so it’s best to check your degree audit or talk to a College of LAS advisor to see what credits might have transferred over.
Non-Primary Language
For every student in the College of LAS except for the chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering specialized curricula, there must be a demonstrated proficiency in a non-primary language. If you have not already completed your language requirement in high school—4 years of a language course taken—then there are a few ways to demonstrate proficiency.
For starters, if you have already taken 3 years of a language in high school, you would then need to take a placement exam in that language to determine which university course will best fit your current knowledge of the language. After the exam, you would then select the course most appropriate to your level and complete the requirement.
If you want to switch the language you are studying and have already taken 3 years of one in high school, you might need to complete an extra secondary class. Talk to your college advisor on how to complete the language requirement if you plan to switch the language of study.
For the placement exam, if you receive a high score, you may be able to complete the non-primary language requirement by placing high enough in a separate proficiency exam. After discussing with your academic advisor and an advisor from the language’s department, you can take a proficiency exam. After the proficiency exam, if your score is equivalent to a fourth-semester level, you then may receive approval from the appropriate department and receive credit to fulfill the non-primary language requirement.
If you are proficient in a language not taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, you would need to receive approval from either an authorized faculty member on the Urbana or Chicago campus, or be awarded credit from an approved program such as specific study abroad programs, advanced placement, or international baccalaureate.
For exceptions to the language requirement and specific instructions for the College of LAS majors of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering specialized curricula, you can find information here.
Composition 1
Unless you received credit from your high school or another institution to exempt you from the Composition 1 requirement, students will have to take at least 1 English composition course.
There are a few options for students when deciding what class to take to fulfill this requirement, as specific Rhetoric, Communication and English as a Second Language courses will satisfy the requirement.
Some Rhetoric and English as a Second Language courses will require a placement, so it’s best to discuss with your advisor upon which class to take.
For special considerations or circumstances surrounding the Composition 1 requirement, you can find more information here.
Advanced Composition
Following the completion of the Composition 1 requirement, all College of LAS students are required to complete an Advanced Composition course.
For some LAS majors and minors, a course within your major can count towards fulfilling the Advanced Composition requirement. The courses will typically be writing intensive, but can be a separate individual course. If your major or minor does not offer a course that fulfills the requirement, there are other options in other fields of study that you can take.
The Advanced Composition requirement is not often filled outside of the university due to the course being evaluated primarily on its methodology rather than content. You can also file a petition for course substitution for the requirement. More information can be found here.
6 hours Humanities & Arts
This category introduces the more broad categories within the LAS gen ed requirements. Some courses within the Humanities & Arts can also count towards the Cultural Studies requirement. These courses primarily focus on history, music, literature and other related fields.
Several majors within LAS offer courses to fulfill the 6 Humanities & Arts requirement. Some of the courses are AFRO 132: African American Music; CLCV 221: Odysseus and Other Heroes; and HIST 103: A History of Everything: The Big Bang to Big Data.
Some of these courses can also fulfill a major or minor requirement for the College of LAS, getting you a step closer to graduation or completing an entire gen ed category.
6 hours Social & Behavioral Sciences
The Social & Behavioral Sciences requirement focuses more on humanistic studies and also can offer overlap with the Cultural Studies requirement.
Several LAS fields of study feature courses within this category. Some of the courses are ANTH 110: Humanizing Science; ECON 102: Microeconomic Principles; LING 225: Language, Mind, and Brain; and SOCW 240: Death & Dying.
Similar to the 6 hours of Humanities & Arts, these courses may fulfill a major or minor requirement.
6 hours Natural Sciences & Technology
More in relation to STEM fields, the 6 hours of Natural Sciences & Technology focuses on the studies of hard sciences and technology. Although there are less offerings in LAS majors, there are still a few highlight courses within our college.
Some of the courses that fulfill this requirement from the College of LAS are ANTH 246: Forensic Science; GEOL 118: Natural Disasters; and MCB 150: Molecular & Cellular Basis of Life.
Cultural Studies
The Cultural Studies requirement is divided into three categories in which all College of LAS majors must take a course that fulfills the requirement: Western Cultures, Non-Western Cultures, and U.S. Minority Cultures.
Some of the courses offered might overlap and a single course might fulfill 2 requirements such as the Western Cultures and Social & Behavioral Science requirements. It's best to check in the course explorer for which classes work best for what you need.
For the Western Cultures requirement, some LAS courses offered are ENGL 250: Nineteenth-Century American Fiction; CLVC 115: Mythology of Greece & Rome; and HIST 209: World War II: A Global History.
For the Non-Western Cultures requirement, some LAS courses offered are EALC 208: Chinese Cinema; LING 115: Language and Culture in India; and REL 110: World Religions
For the U.S. Minority Cultures requirement, some LAS courses offered are AAS 211: Asian Americans and the Arts; HIST 279: Mexican-American History; and AFRO 100: Intro to African American Studies.
Quantitative Reasoning I and II
These 2 separate requirements heavily focus on students’ analytical skills. Similar to the Natural Sciences & Technology category, these requirements are heavily focused on the STEM fields. With generally fewer course offerings than other liberal arts requirement categories, LAS classes have the opportunity to highlight the variety of subjects the College of LAS has to offer.
For Quantitative Reasoning I, some LAS courses offered are GGIS 280: Intro to Social Statistics; MATH 117: Elementary Mathematics; and STAT 100: Statistics.
For Quantitative Reasoning II, some LAS courses offered are ASTR 122: Stars and Galaxies; ESE 120: Severe and Hazardous Weather; and PHIL 103: Logic and Reasoning QR II.
What is credit/no credit?
According to the Office of the Registrar, credit/no credit is a grading option for students to feel more comfortable venturing out into fields of academic interest in which they may be worried about their grade performance. Although they do not count towards a student's GPA, they do count towards their credit hours.
Whether the field of English or math is difficult for students, this option allows them to complete a department requirement in their opposite field of knowledge without fear of lowering their GPA. This option is available for most of the gen-ed courses offered in the course explorer.
That being said, the Office of the Registrar also warns students that too many credit/no credit courses may not appear as favorable to graduate schools and is also not available to apply to a course online, so it’s best to talk to your college advisor to plan a course of action.
Next steps
After either running your degree audit and/or talking with your college advisor, it’s time to register for the classes you need. You can find courses available to you on the Course Explorer website, and information on how to register for courses can be found on the Office of the Registrar’s Course Registration website.