General Education

General education is central to Sewanee’s academic mission, developing students’ general capacities and their intellectual breadth.

The program is administered through the General Education Committee, a sub-committee of the Committee on Curriculum and Academic Policy.  The sub-committee receives and responds to proposals for courses comprising the general education curriculum.  Courses approved before 2006-07 should be reapproved using the form linked here.

The General Education Committee also receives and analyzes assessment data.  The assessment strategy for general education entails:
  • embedded assessments built into the courses that count for distribution;
  • indirect measures such as the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE);
  • the examination of programs and courses by external reviewers who periodically evaluate all departments and programs.
Members of the Committee in 2006-07 are:

Rita Smith Kipp, Chair, Dean of the College
Kathryn Mills, Associate Professor of French
Charles Perry, Professor of History
Richard Summers, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Eric Wilson, C’ 07, President, Order of Gownsmen


Embedded Assessment Plans

Communicate effectively in writing

Read critically and interpret literary works in English

Use the methods of the physical or life sciences to examine the natural world

Understand the nature of mathematical inquiry

Create, perform, or analyze works of visual or performing art


Think analytically about the past using the sources and methods of  historical inquiry

Understand concepts and methods of studying human behavior, culture,  and society

Use a foreign or classical language to apprehend another cultural world

Examine philosophical texts or religious texts and practices