The University believes that a liberal arts education provides students the integrated and thorough preparation which any educated person needs to reflect critically on information, to understand and appreciate the diversity of life and cultures, to see the relationships among concepts, and to appreciate the interrelatedness of all academic areas. Such understanding and appreciation serves as the foundation for informed participation in business, government, society, and the professions as well as for advanced scholarly and professional study. East Central University embodies this commitment to the values of a liberal arts education through its general education requirement which is designed to assist students in attaining the knowledge, skills, and attitudes recognized by the University as fundamental to every educated person's understanding of and response to the world. Such education contributes to the development of informed, responsible citizens capable of promoting and maintaining a free society, and it provides individuals a foundation for making those ethical, logical, technological, and ecological decisions requisite to effective participation in such a society. Second , the general education curriculum encourages students to venture across disciplinary boundaries to see how different areas of study relate to each other so that a more integrated view of knowledge is attained.
Common themes emerge which relate the curriculum to experiences shared by most people.
Third , the general education curriculum, through the exploration of universal experiences, helps students to better understand themselves and others as well as society and the wider world. Through this exploration students develop the introspective attitudes, the interpersonal skills, the multicultural values, and the respect for life-long learning required for meaningful participation in society. Before beginning to fulfill these requirements, students should study the chart and the following comments. When choosing a course in a general education area offering options, a student should choose in consultation with his or her advisor. Many majors require that a student select a particular course within the list of optional courses.