Additional goals of the English composition sequence include encouraging sensitivity to and appreciation of cultural diversity. To probe these matters, we consider both the present and the past and make use of philosophy, foreign languages, linguistics and communication studies, religious studies, and literature and fine arts. The fine arts constitute the artist's creative deliberation about reality, meaning, knowledge, and values. The purpose of the humanities and fine arts study area is to provide opportunities to explore the process by which visual, performing, and literary artists produce their works and to evaluate the significance of those works in larger cultural contexts. The humanities and fine arts enable students to broaden and deepen their understanding of basic human values and their interpretation of human experiences.
Students also gain a broader and deeper appreciation of beauty.
The humanities and fine arts form a central part of general education since they allow students to search out how these questions have been probed in the past and how they are dealt with across cultures today. Students can relate their findings to their own evolving personal philosophy or set of ideas and beliefs and to issues of our time. The humanities and fine arts encourage students to bring new resources and new questions to the contemplation and expression of what it means to be human. Crucial to understanding the scientific process is participation in the laboratory experience. Courses that can be used to fulfill this requirement include astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, physical geography, and physics.