Core Curriculum

Core Curriculum

The Curriculum

• Overview
• The Liberal Arts Seminar
• International Languages
• Liberal Arts Approaches to Understanding the World
• Experiencing the Liberal Arts in the World

Resources

• The First Year Experience
• The Oral Expression Center
• The Writing Center 
• Core Curriculum Faculty and Staff
• Petitioning the Core Curriculum Committee
• Forms and checklists 

International Language

All students entering St. Mary's College of Maryland must take an online placement exam to determine their level of proficiency in one of the languages regularly taught at the college, unless they can demonstrate college-level language study. Students are required to take one 3- or 4-credit international language course at the level they are placed by the online examination, or to begin a new language at the 101 level.

The course must have an ILC designation, such as courses listed in the St. Mary's College of Maryland course catalog (e.g., ILCC [Chinese], ILCF [French], ILCG [German], and ILCS [Spanish]). Courses not listed in the St. Mary's College of Maryland course catalog but that receive a 3- or 4-credit ILC designation on a student's transcript (e.g., courses in Italian, Latin, Thai, among others) may also satisfy the International Languages Core requirement.

Students may also meet the requirement by transferring in foreign language coursework from another college, by submitting evidence of a score of a 4 or 5 in an AP foreign language exam or a minimum score of 5 in an IB/HL exam in a foreign language, or by petitioning for an exemption based on native knowledge of a language other than English.

Students who have already satisfied the International Languages requirement prior to arriving at St. Mary's are still strongly encouraged to continue to develop their proficiency through additional college-level work. An additional semester of language study may be used to satisfy the Core Curriculum requirement in Cultural Perspectives.