Goucher expects all of its students to pursue a common set of learning experiences. Students have great freedom to determine and follow their own interests. In this pursuit, students enter into a space of inquiry—the Goucher Commons, the new curriculum, with other students and the faculty. Ultimately, students will gain an integrative learning experience and develop proficiency in areas that will make them ready for the jobs of the future.
Students begin their studies at Goucher with a first-year seminar and also take two complex problem exploration courses in two different areas Arts, Humanities and Interdisciplinary Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Biological and Natural Sciences during their first three years at Goucher.
CPE courses build on student learning in the FYS and show students complex problems from more than one angle. For example, a CPE titled Disease and Discrimination will examine the pathology and the politics of disease. In CPE courses, students complete their own signature project.
Some first year course requirements will be waived for transfer students. For additional information, please review the curriculum for transfer students.
Goucher areas of common inquiry focus on questions of justice. One area asks about justice among people, and focuses on questions of race, power, and perspective. Another area asks about justice and the natural world, and focuses on questions of environmental sustainability.
All students study abroad, so that students experience the world outside of the United States, in order to better understand global, as well as local, context for inquiry and also to learn more about others unlike themselves.
During the final year at Goucher, students connect their learning to the bigger picture of life through a capstone experience or signature project. This work is shared through a student symposium.
Students develop proficiency in three distinct areas: writing, data analytics, and foreign language and culture.
The first area is writing—and in order to acquire proficiency students engage in a three-course sequence. Students take the first course in year one, and the next two as part of their exploration courses, electives, or major.
The second area is data analytics—taken as a two-course sequence, with different courses for students in different majors. The first course is taken during year one or two; the next one as an explorations course, an elective, or a class in the major.
The third area is foreign language and culture—and all students are expected to meet cultural awareness and language-specific learning outcomes.
Students develop proficiency in at least 3 credits in each of the following areas: Arts, Humanities and Interdisciplinary Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Biological and Physical Sciences. These disciplinary requirements can be fulfilled by courses in a major or minor, courses that fulfill other Goucher Commons requirements, and/or additional designated courses throughout the curriculum.
For details and requirements of the Goucher Commons Curriculum, see the academic catalogue.