Liberal Arts and Sciences

Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Associate in Arts Degree
Quinebaug Valley Community College
Student’s Guide for Building a Schedule

The LAS degree requires 61 college-level credits (besides developmental courses). Additionally, see the General Requirements for Graduation, listed under Academic Information in the college catalog (note that you should make arrangements to fulfill the Research Paper Requirement well before your last semester at QV).

Also, as soon as you decide on a particular 4-year institution for transfer, or even develop a strong inclination towards one school, you should consult advisors (at QV and ideally at the transfer institution) to choose courses that will best transfer to that institution. For instance, both the University of Connecticut and Eastern Connecticut State University have specific transfer requirements that QV courses will meet adequately, but only if the courses are carefully selected. See the QV catalog for more information on transfer agreements with particular colleges and universities.

This guide is meant to be used in conjunction with the QV catalog, which gives additional information about prerequisites for some courses.

I. DEVELOPMENTAL COURSES, as required by placement scores on the Basic Skills Assessment for all students and by the Test of English as a Foreign Language for non-native English speakers. There are no prerequisites for these courses except as required by these tests. Take the test(s) and see an advisor to clarify which courses are required for you.

ESL* 022, 025, 027, 028, 038 (for non-native English speakers only)

ESL* 132, 135, 137, 142, 145, 147, 152, 155, 157, 162, 175 (for non-native English speakers only)

    (100-level ESL courses count as General Electives, area X below)

    ENG* 063 Writing: Introduction to the Essay
    ENG* 073 Reading
    ENG* 093 Introduction to College Reading and Writing

MAT* 075 Prealgebra, Number Sense, Geometry
MAT* 095 Elementary Algebra Foundations

II. COURSES THAT CAN BE TAKEN ALONG WITH DEVELOPMENTAL COURSES. No prerequisites are required for these courses.

A. REQUIRED COURSES for the LAS degree that have no prerequisites.

Choose one of the following:

COM* 171 Fundamentals of Human Communication
COM* 173 Public Speaking

Choose one of the following (if you are considering a career in teaching, you should choose an American history course that covers more than 50 years, such as HIS* 201, 202, or 210):

    HIS* 101 Western Civilization I
    HIS* 102 Western Civilization II (does NOT have HIS* 101 as a prerequisite)
    HIS* 121 World Civilization I
    HIS* 201 U.S. History I
    HIS* 202 U.S. History II
    HIS* 210 History of Colonial America
    HIS* 226 The U. S. Civil War
    HIS* 227 The Vietnam War

HIS* 250 Revolution in the Modern World

HIS* 254 History of Religion

Choose any course in Art, Music, or Theater, but if you are planning to transfer, you should choose one of the following:

    ART* 101 Art History I
    ART* 102 Art History II (does NOT have ART* 102 as a prerequisite)
    MUS* 101 Music History and Appreciation I
    THR* 101 Introduction to Theater
    THR* 106 The Movies

B. ELECTIVE COURSES that have no prerequisites, grouped by areas in the LAS program that the courses fulfill. You may wish to complete developmental courses and required LAS courses first, however, to gain a broader choice of electives in these areas (see areas IV, VI, and IX below).

non-lab science elective
OCE* 101 Introduction to Oceanography

PHY* 110 Material Science

social science elective
ECE* 101 Introduction to Early Childhood Education

    ECE* 182 Child Development
    EDUC 115 The Learning Environment for Young Children
    EDUC 130 Enhancing the Social and Emotional Growth of Young Children
    ECN* 150 Comparative Economic Systems
    GEO* 101 Introduction to Geography

GEO* 111 World Regional Geography

POL* 111 American Government

    POL* 112 State and Local Government
    POL* 188 Politics 2008
    PSY* 210 Death and Dying
    HSE* 213 Conflict Resolution

LAS elective
HUM* 151 Folktales

IS 125 Envision the Future: You and the World (requires access to

                    and basic knowledge of the Internet)
    IS 127 The Nuclear Dilemma: Thinking Our Way to a Safer World
    IS 135 Principles of Problem Solving
    PHL* 101 Introduction to Philosophy
    PHL* 111 Ethics
    PHL* 113 Modern Science and Human Value

PHL* 117 Computers, Ethics, and Society
PHL* 118 Women and Moral Rights

    PHL* 135 Symbolic Logic
    PHL* 140 Existentialism
    PHL* 165 Asian Philosophy (see area VII below)
    PHL* 173 Classical and Medieval Philosophy

    PHL* 178 Modern Philosophy
    PHL* 191 Death and the Meaning of Life
    SGN* 101 Sign Language I

General elective

If you think you are not competent enough with computers to pass a proficiency exam at a college or university to which you might transfer, you should take a computer course. The recommended course is CSA* 105 Introduction to Software Applications (see area X below).

III. REQUIRED COURSES WITH DEVELOPMENTAL COURSES (area I above) AS PREREQUISITES, if you are required to take developmental courses.

ENG* 101 Composition (must have reached ENG* 101 level)

HUM* 101 Introduction to Humanities (must have reached ENG* 101 level)

MAT* 137 Intermediate Algebra (must first complete developmental math courses

unless placed at or above 137 by the Basic Skills Assessment, CL MATH placement;
substitute LAS elective if placed above MAT* 137)

Foreign languages (not required if you have either completed three years of a single foreign language at the high school level or completed 2 semesters of a single foreign language at the college level). Choose one of the following:

SPA* 101 Elementary Spanish I (must have passed, or placed beyond, ENG* 073)
FRE* 101 Elementary French I (must have passed, or placed beyond, ENG* 073)

IV. ELECTIVE COURSES WITH DEVELOPMENTAL COURSES AS PREREQUISITES, IF REQUIRED, grouped by areas in the LAS program that the courses fulfill. You may wish to complete required LAS courses first, however, to gain a broader choice of electives in these areas (see areas VI and IX below).

Courses that require you to have reached ENG* 073 level or above:

LAS elective
PHL* 112 Medical Ethics

Courses that require you to have reached ENG* 101 level:

non-lab science elective
BIO* 111 Nutrition
SCI* 103 Recent Discoveries in Science I

lab science elective
    BIO* 115 Human Biology
    BIO* 145 General Zoology
    BIO* 155 General Botany (recommended: take ENG* 101 concurrently)

social science elective
    ANT* 101 Introduction to Anthropology
    ANT* 105 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
    ANT* 118 Health, Healing, and Culture

POL* 102 Introduction to Comparative Politics

POL* 103 Introduction to International Relations

POL* 160 African Politics (see area VII below)

    PSY* 111 General Psychology I
    PSY* 112 General Psychology II (does NOT have PSY* 111 as a prerequisite)
    PSY* 201 Lifespan Development
    SOC* 101 Principles of Sociology
    SOC* 114 Sociology of Aging

SOC* 150 Sociology in Literature (recommended prerequisite: ENG* 101)

LAS elective

PHL*116 Professional and Business Ethics (requires either concurrent or completed ENG* 101)

Courses that require you to have reached MAT* 095 level:

lab science elective

AST* 111 Introduction to Astronomy

social science elective
ECN* 101 Principles of Microeconomics
ECN* 102 Principles of Macroeconomics

Courses that require you to have reached MAT* 137 and ENG* 101 levels:

lab science elective
GLG* 121 Introduction to Physical Geology

BIO* 121 General Biology I (recommended: take ENG* 101 and MAT* 137 concurrently)

BIO* 122 General Biology II (recommended: take ENG* 101 and MAT* 137 concurrently)

V. REQUIRED COURSES WITH OTHER REQUIRED COURSES AS PREREQUISITES.

ENG* 110 Introduction to Literature (requires completion of ENG* 101)

Foreign languages, which require completion of the first semester of the same language or one year of the language in high school (no language required if you have either completed three years of a single foreign language at the high school level or completed 2 semesters of a single foreign language at the college level):

SPA* 102 Elementary Spanish II
FRE* 102 Elementary French II

VI. ELECTIVE COURSES THAT HAVE REQUIRED COURSES (from area III above) AS PREREQUISITES, grouped by areas in the LAS program that the courses fulfill.

Courses that require completion of ENG* 101:

non-lab science elective

    BIO* 160 Genetics and Society
    SCI* 107 Modern Scientific Inquiry
    SCI* 108 Science and Non-Science
    SCI* 110 Space, Time, and Order
    SCI *111 Space, Time, and Spacetime

SCI* 112 Hydraulics and Pneumatics

LAS elective
    ENG* 102 Literature and Composition
    ENG* 255 Black Literature Worldwide (see area VII below)
    ENG* 282 Creative Writing: Poetry

Courses that must be taken after or concurrently with MAT* 137 (or placement at the CL MATH+ level on the Basic Skills Assessment):

lab science elective
CHE* 111 Concepts of Chemistry

(note that this is a high-school level chemistry course that might not be

accepted for transfer at another college or university)

Courses that require completion of MAT* 137 (or CL MATH+ placement on the Basic Skills Assessment):

mathematics elective (or higher courses, if placed higher in math)

MAT* 146 Math for the Liberal Arts

MAT* 167 Statistics with Technology

MAT* 186 Precalculus

lab science elective
CHE* 121 General Chemistry I

Courses that require completion of MAT* 137 or MAT* 186 (MAT* 186 may be taken concurrently):

lab science elective

PHY* 121 General Physics I

VII. NON-NATIVE CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE REQUIREMENT. You must take one of the following 4 courses at some point.

(also serving as LAS elective)

ENG* 255 Black Literature Worldwide (ENG* 101 as prerequisite)

PHL* 165 Asian Philosophy

(also serving as social science elective or as LAS elective)
ANT* 133 Peoples of the World (ANT* 101 as prerequisite)

POL* 160 African Politics (placement in ENG* 101 as prerequisite)

VIII. SCIENCE AND SOCIAL SCIENCE ELECTIVE REQUIREMENTS. These requirements can be satisfied entirely by courses listed above. Courses in these areas that are not listed above have prerequisites in math and/or in their own fields, in addition to prerequisites of developmental courses and courses required for the LAS degree.

You must complete 2 courses in science (AST*, BIO*, CHE*, GLG*, OCE*, PHY*, SCI*), at least one of which must be a 4-credit lab science course.

You must complete 3 courses in the social sciences, in at least 2 disciplines. All college-level courses in ANT*, ECN*, GEO*, HIS* (in addition to the HIS* requirement under area II A above), POL* (all except 290 and 294), PSY*, and SOC* count, as do the specific courses EDUC 115, 130, and 210; ECE* 101 and 182; and HSE* 213.

IX. LAS ELECTIVE REQUIREMENTS. These requirements can be satisfied by courses listed above, yet LAS electives are meant for each student to explore his or her particular interests, often by working in depth in a particular field. Before choosing courses to fulfill these electives, students should speak with advisors, consider major fields to study at the Bachelor’s level, and consult possible 4-year institutions for transfer. A partial list of QV advisors in specific fields of study related to the liberal arts and sciences are as follows:

Anthropology and Sociology: Brian Donohue-Lynch
Art: Mark Szantyr, Annie Joly
Biology and other life sciences: Judah Boulet, Cheri Goretti, John Lewis, Melissa Philion, Sara Van Orden
Chemistry: David Emigh, Sara Van Orden
Communications and journalism: David Hopcroft, Beth Alves
Economics: Erin Pagano
Education: Sue Spencer, Julius Sokenu, Mary Romney, Anita Sherman, Delia Berlin, Beth Alves
English language and literature: Julius Sokenu, Scott DeShong, Beth Alves, Susan Huard, Brian Kaufman
History: David Emigh, Jayne Battye
Humanities: Nan Hirst, Julius Sokenu, Scott DeShong, David Hopcroft, Brian Kaufman
Library Science: Matt Hall, Sharon Moore
Mathematics: Slav Sharapov, David Emigh, Joy Mark, Mark Vesligaj, Denise Walsh, Kudzai Zvoma
Philosophy: Nan Hirst
Physics, Geology, and other physical sciences: David Emigh
Political Science: Jayne Battye, Bob Fernandez
Psychology and Human Services: Barbara Presson, Ling-chuan Chu, Delia Berlin
Spanish: Elkin Spitia-Loaiza
Theater: David Hopcroft , Brian Kaufman

Like the courses in the science and social science areas discussed in area VIII, courses that are in other liberal arts fields but which not listed above have prerequisites in their fields. LAS elective requirements can be satisfied by any college-level courses (besides those taken to satisfy requirements in the other areas described above) in ANT*, ART*, AST*, BIO*, CHE*, COM*, ECN*, ENG*, FRE*, GEO*, GLG*, HIS*, HUM*, MAT*, MUS*, OCE*, PHL*, POL*, PHY*, PSY*, SCI*, SGN*, SOC*, SPA*, and THR*, plus the specific courses ECE* 101 and 182; EDUC 115, 130, and 210; IS 125, 127, and 135; and HSE* 213.

Three LAS electives are required, except for students who satisfy the foreign language requirements in high school, in which case LAS electives must substitute for the foreign language requirements, and students who place above MAT* 137, who must substitute an LAS elective for that course.

X. GENERAL ELECTIVES.

Any college-level (101 and above) courses satisfy these requirements. If you think you are not competent enough with computers to pass a proficiency exam at a college or university to which you might transfer, you should take a computer course as a general elective. The recommended course is CSA* 105.