General Education Curriculum

Every student at OSU is required to fulfill a certain General Education Curriculum (GEC) established by the student’s college and department.

The Department of Theatre is housed within the College of the Arts, which is part of the Colleges of Arts and Sciences Federation. The Federation includes five colleges: Arts, Biological Sciences, Humanities, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The Colleges of Arts and Sciences Federation sets the requirements for the GEC which theatre students are required to meet.

Through your Arts and Sciences GEC, you learn about the ethical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life as expressed in the history, literature, and arts of the past and present. Additionally, you learn about the nature of human beings, their institutions, languages, and cultures. You also acquire knowledge of the physical environment, biological processes, and the abstract language of mathematics.

The Arts and Sciences GEC requirements are divided into eight categories. Particular courses from across the university have been approved to fulfill the requirements of each category. Students with junior or senior standing may petition (in advance, through USAS or Arts Advising) to substitute upper-division courses which meet the spirit of the GEC for courses on the GEC.

Transfer students should work closely with USAS, Arts Advising, and your departmental adviser to receive transfer credit for courses that you’ve taken at other institutions. Transfer students can meet part of the GEC with approximately equivalent courses already taken. Courses for each transfer student shall be reviewed, and those that meet the spirit of the GEC shall be accepted.

For all students, you must earn at least a D in a course for it to meet a GEC requirement. Courses taken on a pass/non-pass basis cannot be used to meet GEC requirements. Group studies (X94 courses) and individual studies (X93 courses) are not acceptable for meeting GEC requirements except when a specific experimental course has been approved by the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee.

GEC Requirements for the Colleges of the Arts & Sciences