The following information relates to the Blue GER Plan. Students who began their studies at Emory in, or after Fall 2023 will follow these requirements.
Only courses with the new GER tags (noted below) satisfy the Blue GER Plan. Course which retain GER tags from the Gold plan do not count towards completion of the Blue GER Plan. If you have any questions about which courses satisfy your requirements, please contact your academic advisor.
All first-year students in Emory College are required to complete a set of three courses, jointly helping them achieve “Success at Emory” during their first year at Emory. This timed requirement supports the transition to Emory by helping students to develop skills for academic and personal success. It builds community among incoming students while familiarizing them with the liberal arts process and showcasing the importance of health and well-being.
Students must complete:
Timeframe: This area must be completed by the end of the first-year.
Exploration courses ensure that students take courses in a variety of fields, across the liberal arts curriculum. These courses are the foundation of the general education experience, giving students experience in a variety of academic areas at the outset of their studies at Emory, and introducing them to different intellectual approaches, tools, and evidence. Because this area serves as foundation for students’ academic work students must complete these requirements in their first four regular semesters at Emory.
Students must complete:
Timeframe: All courses in the exploration area must be completed by the end of the second year.
*Only courses of three credits or more satisfy the Exploration requirement
Communication-intensive courses are designed to improve communication skills through frequent writing, speaking, listening, and designing across academic and non-academic situations. Teachers across discourse communities encourage, guide, and communicate high standards to students through instruction and example. Communication-intensive classes focus on both the product and the process of developing appropriate and effective communication skills. Learning to be an ethical communicator is a focus of the courses, and instruction (materials, assignments, feedback) is designed to foster this growth in students.
Students must complete:
Timeframe: The First Year Seminar and First Year Writing courses must be completed by the end of the first-year. The two Continued Communication courses must be completed by graduation.
*Only courses of three credits or more satisfy the Expression and Communication requirement with the exception of Honors 495BW (Honors Thesis Writing), which may be taken for less than three credits and still satisfy the Continuing Communication GER
Building Community courses foster connections, relationships, and understanding within and between diverse communities by encouraging students to reflect upon those to which they belong and those with whom they interact on many levels, from local to international settings. During their first three years at Emory, students are required to take one Race and Ethnicity course and two Intercultural Communication courses.
Students must complete:
Timeframe: This area must be completed before a student gains senior standing.
*Only courses of three credits or more satisfy the Belonging and Community requirement
Exploration through “hands-on” experience and application has been shown to dramatically enhance overall student learning and provide students with an opportunity for synthesis and reflection. Learning by doing provides deeper, more enduring knowledge, and allows students to wrestle with the difficulties of reaching a conclusion or result.
These opportunities for hands-on exploration will involve intentionally designed, inquiry-driven, and sustained learning opportunities in which students reflect upon and use their knowledge through questioning, creating, and applying what they have learned from their academic courses. In addition, these experiences may identify new areas of knowledge students need to acquire, which can inform subsequent course selections. These experiences could range from enhanced laboratory courses to archival research, to community-engaged learning, to study abroad, to independent research, to public scholarship, to the applied arts, to relevant internship experiences. Emory courses or programs approved for this GER automatically count toward this opportunity; students may apply for experiences outside of Emory University or Emory experiences that are not approved to fulfill this requirement. Applications will require that the student demonstrate a sustained, significant engagement that involves application of skills and knowledge gained at Emory. For the general education credit to apply to these individualized experiences, the student will also need to submit a reflection document about the experience after it occurs. Approval must be sought BEFORE beginning the engagement, and the reflection piece needs to be completed within 3 months of the end of the engagement.
Students must complete:
Timeframe: This area must be completed by graduation.