Communication and Inquiry

This course examines various ways of studying, knowing, and understanding information and experience. It focuses on the axiomatic (or formal deductive), philosophical, historical, observational (or empirical), imaginative expressive, and interpretive paradigms of discovery and understanding. As a result of taking this course, students will understand the assumptions that underlie the various ways of inquiring used within and across disciplines, understand that every mode of inquiry has its own strengths and limitations in the exploration of a given question or problem, be able to sustain a line of argument using one or more modes of inquiry, and be able to articulate the commonalities and/or differences among various modes of inquiry.

This course provides students with opportunities to practice a range of conventions, standards of proof, and ways of knowing that characterize language in the concentration areas that make up the SUA liberal arts education: the humanities, environmental studies, social and behavioral sciences, life sciences, and international studies. In the process, students develop critical reading and thinking skills as well as competence in written and oral English so as to produce coherent, interesting, thoughtful, and largely error-free papers that are congruent with appropriate standards of academic discourse.

Students can satisfy their advanced writing skills requirement in two ways. After successfully completing Writing 101, they can either take any WRIT 300-level course from the Writing Program or any W-coded advanced writing skills course offered by one of the five concentrations. These courses are indicated by the letter "W" after the course number, for example, "INTS 348W." Advanced writing skills courses in the concentrations may satisfy other degree requirements (e.g., one of the five courses taken in the upper division in their home concentration). Dual concentrators are only required to complete one advanced writing skills course.