a c a d e m i c p r o g r a m s
- General Information
Sample Curricula, Academic Advising Offices, Introductory Writing Course Requirements, Middler-Year Writing Requirement, Diversity Requirement, Academic Common Experience- College of Arts and Sciences
- Bouve College of Health Sciences
- College of Business Administration
- College of Computer Science
- College of Criminal Justice
- College of Engineering
- School of Engineering Technology
- School of General Studies
About Sample Curricula
Each major description includes a sample of the curriculum a student might follow to meet degree requirements. These sample curricula are for general information. Course requirements, elective course distribution, and achievement levels vary from program to program, and even from class to class. Consult with your academic advising office, listed below, to make certain you have all the necessary resources before planning your own curriculum.
College of Arts and Sciences, Dean's Office 100 Meserve Academic Program Offices African-American Studies 132 Nightingale American Sign Language English Interpreting 405 Meserve Anthropology 501 Holmes Art and Architecture/Media Arts and Design (Graphic Design) 239 Ryder Behavioral Neuroscience 125 Nightingale Biochemistry 414 Mugar Biology 414 Mugar Chemistry 102 Hurtig Communication Studies 101 Lake Economics 301 Lake Education 54 Lake English 406 Holmes Geology/Environmental Geology 14 Holmes History 249 Meserve Human Services 33 Lake International Affairs 303 Meserve Journalism 102 Lake Linguistics 563 Holmes Mathematics 567 Lake Modern Languages 400 Meserve Music 351 Ryder Philosophy and Religion 371 Holmes Physics/Applied Physics/Biomedical Physics 111 Dana Political Science 303 Meserve Psychology 125 Nightingale Sociology 500 Holmes Theatre 337 Ryder Bouvé College of Health Sciences 134 Mugar College of Business Administration 250 Dodge College of Computer Science 161 Cullinane College of Criminal Justice 204 Churchill College of Engineering 220 Snell School of Engineering Technology 120 Snell School of General Studies 249 Ryder Special note. In assessing quarter weights for courses, one quarter-hour of credit is equal to 50 minutes of instruction per week, plus two hours of preparation.
The Office of the Registrar, 120 Hayden Hall, maintains all quarter-hour weights for courses. In the event of error in any publication, the academic record will reflect the correct quarter-hours applicable to any degree requirement.
Some course titles change, while the course number remains the same. Students must be sure not to register for a course they have already taken.
Introductory Writing Course Requirement
All first-year students take courses in the Introductory Writing program. Because students enter the University with different writing skills, the English Department has designed a variety of courses to meet their needs. Students may satisfy the requirement in various ways, depending on their writing abilities.Most incoming students are required to take two quarters of writing: ENG 1110, College Writing 1, and ENG 1111, College Writing 2. Students are placed into ENG 1110 based on the diagnostic essay written during summer orientation; occasionally, students receive AP credit for ENG 1110 and enroll only in ENG 1111. Some students needing additional help are required to take three quarters of writing (see page 23). For these students, the English Department offers some specialized writing courses. Students who take ENG 1013, Basic Writing, then take ENG 1110 and ENG 1111 to fulfill the writing requirement.
English for Speakers of Other Languages courses are designed for nonnative speakers of English who, because of language and cultural differences, may be better served by curricula that focus on special skills areas. The three courses in this program‹ENG 1004, ENG 1005, and ENG 1006‹cover material equivalent to the material in ENG 1013, ENG 1110, and ENG 1111 but with different paces and emphases. Students satisfy the College Writing 1 and 2 requirements by successfully completing these courses.
Middler-Year Writing Requirement
All middlers (that is, students who have earned 80+ quarter hours of academic credit, including non-co-op students) must complete this graduation requirement at Northeastern. The requirement should preferably be completed before students accrue 144 quarter hours. Successful completion of Freshman English is a prerequisite to the Middler-Year Writing Requirement (MYWR). Students fulfill the MYWR in one of two ways, depending on the requirements of their college: (1) complete a four quarter-hour MYWR course with a grade of C (2.0) or better; or (2) pass a one quarter-hour Writing Workshop (pass/fail). No transferred course from another university or University College may satisfy this requirement. (Transfer students who have had credit for first-year writing courses accepted by the University, but whose performance on the Introductory Writing Program diagnostic essay indicates that they would benefit from another course in writing, must take ENG 1360, Writing Practicum, as an elective before the MYWR.)This University requirement is designed to help students improve their writing for major courses and in the workplace. The eight courses are therefore interdisciplinary so that students may write in subjects related to their major. For additional information, students may contact the English department, 406 Holmes Hall, 617.373.2512.
Writing for the Professions ENG 1350 Writing for the Professions: Business Administration ENG 1381 Writing for the Professions: Criminal Justice ENG 1382 Technical Writing ENG 1125 Writing Workshop (by petition; see the College of Arts and Sciences Center for Experiential Education and Academic Advising Guidebook for petition guidelines) ENG 1340 Writing for the Environmental Professions ENG 1353 Writing for the Health Professions ENG 1380 Technical Writing 2 ENG 1370 Colleges have specific guidelines and schedules for options that apply to majors. Students should consult their dean's office or adviser for guidelines. The following colleges recommend these MYWR courses.
College of Arts and Sciences ENG 1350 Bouvé College of Health Sciences ENG 1380 College of Business Administration ENG 1381 College of Computer Science ENG 1125 College of Criminal Justice ENG 1382 College of Engineering ENG 1125 Diversity Requirement
Northeastern University requires that all students complete a diversity requirement before graduation. The requirement may be fulfilled by completing a preapproved course or by participation in an activity such as international co-op, study abroad, or diversity training. Each college has developed its own program to satisfy this requirement, so please consult your college for more details.The Academic Common Experience
In June 1995, Northeastern University adopted the Academic Common Experience (ACE), a new model for all undergraduate programs. In ACE, the faculty identified a set of shared general education goals for all students in all majors. The ACE shared goals are:
- Skills: Effective thinking, effective communication, information literacy, and interpersonal skills.
- Contexts: The natural world, and the social/cultural world.
- Perspectives: The historical, the ethical, the aesthetic, and the personal.
- Connections: Across disciplines, between the theoretical and the applied, between the academy and the world of work, and between college study and lifelong learning.
Course content and course assignments throughout the program of study should reflect these shared goals. As students progress through their individual academic and cooperative education programs, progressive and cumulative learning reinforces and broadens understanding and appreciation of these goals, both personally and professionally.
The Northeastern faculty, administrators, and students who worked together to create ACE realize that the best education instills a spirit of inquiry, a love of learning, and a habit of reflective thought. It prepares students for the future by enabling them to build on the knowledge they have already acquired. It also helps develop skills and understanding that can be transferred from one academic discipline to another and from the classroom to life experience.
Many schools use required courses to fulfill these educational goals, yet often it is not clear to students why they have to study certain subjects or how the subjects relate to the major. With ACE, however, faculty teaching in the major are responsible for general education as well. They pay attention to how the major and other courses fit together, reinforcing what is learned from course to course and from year to year, both inside and outside the classroom. ACE focuses on the objectives of courses as a whole and on the abilities and awareness students should possess when they graduate, regardless of major.