The foundation for a solid liberal arts education and all further college work lies in the courses that are often called basic subjects or skill-building courses. These courses are usually required or recommended to be taken before other courses. Their goal is to teach students to effectively communicate, organize ideas, reason, think critically, express themselves, argue for and defend ideas, write and speak well. These core subjects may include English composition, speech or public speaking, ethics, critical thinking and philosophy.
Social science courses help students to examine and understand the past and present behaviors of individuals and institutions, often through gathering information, performing analysis and presenting their findings through oral speech or through writing. Core social science subjects may include history, government or civics, psychology, anthropology, gender studies, environmental studies, sociology, cultural studies, politics, political economy and archaeology.
Humanities courses allow students to gain an appreciation for the human condition and learn to appreciate the arts and participate in them. The courses may lean toward a more historical, critical or broad survey focus or more of a creative, hands-on focus. Core humanities subjects may include foreign language, literature, linguistics, philosophy, history, religion, music, fine arts, art history, design, film, theatre, dance and cultural studies.
Natural, physical and biological science courses teach students to comprehend contemporary scientific principles and tools, cause and effect relationships, observation and experimentation, as well as to appreciate and understand the physical world that surrounds them. Science subjects may include biology, geography, chemistry, astronomy, geology, meteorology, oceanography, microbiology and physics.
Core mathematics courses teach students about mathematics theories and their relevance to other academic disciplines such as physics, history and psychology as well as the everyday applications and effects that mathematics has on our lives. This includes the analysis of arguments that are supported with mathematical proof. Mathematics subjects may include calculus, statistics, analytic geometry and data analysis.