General Studies
Be an intellectual explorer.
When you get your degree from Whitman College, your academic experience won’t be limited to your major. You’ll think broadly about the world you live in, make connections between wildly different subjects, learn to listen to diverse perspectives—and gain valuable skills that will help you change the world.
Whitman’s General Studies Program is designed to introduce you to a wide range of subjects and skills.
Why Do General Studies Matter?
At Whitman, we believe curiosity makes us better learners and better members of our communities—and that diverse perspectives are essential for solving complex problems.
Through Whitman’s General Studies, you’ll:
- Get a head-start on skills you’ll need for upper-level courses.
- Learn to analyze and evaluate information effectively.
- Develop your voice while listening generously to others.
- Explore complex relationships between subjects.
- Deepen your imagination as you create your own original work.
Whitman’s First-Year Seminars
Semester 1: Exploring Complex Questions
Your first Whitman classroom experience will challenge and support you in a learning community led by a team of professors from different disciplines. You’ll join your fellow students in thinking about interesting topics and big questions in innovative ways.
Semester 2: Making Powerful Arguments
In the spring of your first year, you’ll join a new group of classmates in an in-depth collaborative investigation of a topic that matters to you. You’ll learn to write and speak persuasively, with the support of rigorous, research-based evidence.
Explore more
See which courses apply to distribution requirements in the course catalog and learn more about General Studies requirements.