The General Studies Program consists of the First-Year Experience: Encounters and the Distribution Requirements. The First-Year Experience provides both an integration of varieties of knowledge into a coherent whole and a significant context for thought and written expression. The Distribution Requirements are the primary means of achieving breadth and perspective; the student is required to sample disparate areas of knowledge and ways of knowing.

All students, with the exceptions noted below for transfer students, are required to successfully complete the two-semester sequence of the First-Year Experience (General Studies 145, 146) during their first year of study at Whitman College. General Studies 245 is optional. In addition, the Distribution Requirements must be completed.

Distribution

All students are required to complete the following Distribution Requirements:

1. A minimum of six credits in the social sciences. This requirement is satisfied by courses in anthropology, economics, education (except 267), history, politics, psychology (except 210, 239, 360 and some courses designated Seminars or Tutorials — see the individual course descriptions), and sociology.
2. A minimum of six credits in the humanities. This requirement is satisfied by courses in classics; English (except 150, 250, 251, 310, 320, 321, 322, 389); Environmental Studies 247, 340, 347, 349, 358, 360; foreign languages and literatures; philosophy (except 109); religion; rhetoric and film studies (except 110, 121, 165, 221, 222, 250, 360); Theatre 371, 372; and world literature; courses designated Independent Study may not be used to satisfy the humanities Distribution Requirement. A student may not use more than eight credits from any one department to satisfy the requirements in humanities and fine arts.
3. A minimum of six credits in the fine arts. This requirement is satisfied by courses in art; art history and visual culture studies; dance; music; theatre (except 371, 372); English 150, 250, 251, 310, 320, 321, 322, 389; Environmental Studies 347; and Rhetoric and Film Studies 110, 165, 250, and 360; courses designated Independent Study may not be used to satisfy the fine arts distribution requirement. A student may not use more than eight credits from any one department to satisfy the requirements in humanities and fine arts.
4. A minimum of six credits in science, including at least one course with a laboratory. This requirement is satisfied by courses in astronomy; BBMB; biology; chemistry; geology; physics (except 115, 116); and Psychology 360; any laboratory or course with a regularly scheduled laboratory may be used to fulfill the laboratory component of this requirement — see the individual course descriptions.
5. One course of three or more credits in quantitative analysis. This may be met by the following courses: Mathematics — all courses; Astronomy 110, 177, 178, 179; Biology 228; Chemistry 100, 102, 125, 126, 140; Economics 227, 327, 479; Geology 350; Music 327; Philosophy 109; Physics 101, 102, 103, 155, 156, 165, 166, 245, 246, 385, 386; Psychology 210; Sociology 208.
6. Two courses totaling at least six credits designated as fulfilling the requirement in alternative voices. These courses include: General Studies 245; Anthropology 219, 231, 233, 238, 241, 247, 248, 249, 257, 258, 259, 358; Art History 208, 243, 245, 246, 247, 248, 329; Asian Studies — all courses; Chinese — all courses; Classics 140; Education 360; English 376; French — courses numbered above 210; Gender Studies 100, 110-119, 300-309; German — courses numbered above 250; History 109, 110, 112, 114, 127, 128, 188, 210, 212, 218, 223, 226, 241, 247, 248, 254, 268, 283, 287, 300, 301, 310, 321, 322, 323, 325, 332, 344, 346, 349, 370, 371, 381, 382, 383, 384, 387, 389, 393, 488, 490, 494, 495; Japanese — all courses; Music 160, 354; Philosophy 225, 235, 332; Politics 242, 258, 259, 311, 318, 319, 325, 328, 329, 334, 335, 338, 348, 359, 367; Psychology 239, 309, 335, 336; Race and Ethnic Studies 301; Religion 109, 207, 209, 217, 221, 222, 250, 251, 287, 315, 330, 345, 347, 349, 358, 368, 369; Rhetoric 240, 340; Sociology 258, 267, 271, 318, 319, 369, 370; Spanish — courses numbered above 206; World Literature 200, 227, 317, 318, 320, 327, 328, 329, 330, 339, 357.

Some departments offer special topics in any given year that may or may not be applicable toward the alternative voices requirement — see the individual course descriptions.

Many courses taken while on a study abroad program or on a domestic urban studies program may be approved to fulfill this requirement — check with the Study Abroad and Domestic Off-Campus Programs Office or the General Studies Committee.

All courses in sports studies, recreation and athletics, and those courses in environmental studies not specifically designated in the distribution areas listing above, do not count toward the completion of the Distribution Requirement.

A student may not apply any individual course toward more than one of the distribution areas, with the exception of the courses used to fulfill the requirement in quantitative analysis. For example, a student may use History 212 to meet either the requirement in social sciences or the requirement in alternative voices but not both. Courses that are cross-listed will be applied to the distribution area appropriate to the department named in the registration number (e.g., Classics 224 [Greek and Roman Art] would be a humanities course; the same course taken as ArtH 224 would be a fine arts course).

Distribution Requirements may not be satisfied by credits obtained for work in the high school (e.g., Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate). With the exception of Economics 493/494, courses taken with the P-D-F grade option cannot be used to satisfy Distribution Requirements.

Transfer students entering with fewer than 58 acceptable credits (i.e., below junior level) must complete the First-Year Experience unless, upon appeal, the Board of Review finds that they have passed comparable courses at another institution.

A student who has received a failing grade in General Studies 145 or 146 may not re-enroll in the course failed during the following semester.

145, 146 Encounters (The First-Year Experience)
4, 4 Staff

A two-semester introduction to the liberal arts and the academic construction of knowledge. Organized around a variable theme, this course takes as its broad topic the examination of encounters between peoples and cultures, and the formation and transformation of dominant and competing worldviews. The study of primary sources, discussion, writing, and the construction of knowledge across academic fields will be emphasized. The two semesters will be taught as a single year-long course, with the first semester a prerequisite for the second. The P-D-F grade option may not be elected for this course. The theme for the 2009-2010 academic year will be “Encounters Ancient and Modern.”

245 Critical and Alternative Voices
4, 4 Staff

This one-semester extension of the First-Year Experience will call into question the dominance of traditional western world views by critically examining the historical and ideological roles played by “others.” The aim is to learn to listen to these alternative voices in their own contexts. Such voices will include those geographically “nonwestern,” as well as those excluded or subordinated by way of race, gender, or class within Europe and America. Prerequisites: General Studies 145 and 146.