Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts
The Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts (AA) is designed as an intermediate degree that provides the foundation for further studies in an array of bachelor degrees. Courses in this degree provide the fundamentals for success, especially for nontraditional students who may desire a midway benchmark that they are well on their way to achieving new, professional career goals.
Total AA Credit Requirement = 60 Credits/103 Weeks
General Education Curriculum = 40 Credits Elective/
Transfer Curriculum = 20 Credits
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
To be considered for enrollment into the Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts cohort, an applicant must show an ability to benefit from college-level, upper-division studies as demonstrated by:
General Admission Requirements
- Applicants must provide verification of graduation from an accredited high school or GED completion.
- Applicants with fewer than two courses successfully completed at the college level after high school (“first-time freshmen”) are required to provide high school transcripts and must have earned a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.3.
- Applicants with more than two courses successfully completed at the college level must have earned a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0.
- Applicants must provide official transcripts from all higher education institutions attended.
- Applicants may be placed in the course sequence at three different entry points as shown on the course listing.
- There is no minimum age requirement for admission; however, successful applicants will have had a minimum of one year of full-time work experience after high school and have access to a work/ organizational environment.
- Persons who are not currently employed are welcome to Because of the emphasis on practical application of learning, presently unemployed students will need access to an organization through volunteer work, membership in an organization, or a relative.
Applicants may be considered for admission as further defined in the Admission Policies and Transfer of Credit Agreement.
Graduation Requirements
- Completion of at least 60 semester credits with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0.
- Residency requirement of 15 college credits completed at HT.
- Completion of all courses and requirements set forth in the HT Bulletin.
- Payment of all tuition and fees.
COURSES OFFERED IN (AA)
UNIV 1301 | Introduction to Lifelong Learning
(3 credits/5 weeks)
A review of the academic environment and expectations is provided. Various success strategies and tools are used to assist adult learners achieve academic, personal, and professional goals. Concepts include time management, study skills, learning styles, personality profiles, conflict resolution, human behavior, and small group dynamics. Active participation in a team-based setting will provide practice for future success in a collaborative learning environment.
ENGL 1301 | Introduction to College Composition
(3 credits/5 weeks)
English 1301, the first course in the college composition sequence, helps students develop critical reading skills and a clear and effective writing style appropriate for academic contexts. The course familiarizes students with academic audiences, situations, purposes, genres, and primary conventions of those genres, and introduces students to incorporating sources into their writing. Students develop planning, organizing, and revising skills. This course reviews standard American grammar and usage in the context of student writing and fosters vocabulary acquisition. Major assignments might include personal experience, comparison/contrast, analytical and persuasive essays. Students must earn at least a “C” to progress to ENGL 1302.
COSC 1300 | Introduction to Computers
(3 credits/5 weeks)
This is a required general education course for all students at Huston-Tillotson University. This course presents a general introduction to computers, computing, the Internet, and the World Wide Web. Topics include computer literacy, hardware components, systems software, and applications software. The focus is on experiences using major software packages that include word processing, spreadsheet, database management, graphics, and Internet/Web applications. Materials covered in lectures and laboratory exercises emphasize applications in business, government, and education. Students may earn three credit hours by completing the course successfully, by passing a comprehensive departmental placement test, or by documenting appropriate experiences in a portfolio, which computer science faculty evaluate. Credit hours gained in this course do not count toward required credits for a major or minor in COSC. Laboratory required.
ENGL 1302 | College Rhetoric and Composition
(3 credits/5 weeks)
The second course in the college composition sequence, English 1302 develops students’ ability to read analytically and to write clear, logical, rhetorically astute, substantiated arguments appropriate for academic and public discourse. Students learn to use library and information technologies to locate, evaluate, and select relevant and authoritative evidence. Effectively incorporating and appropriately documenting sources and understanding the ethics of academic discourse is emphasized. This course helps students further develop an expressive, grammatical, and coherent writing style. Major assignments might include definitional, evaluative, ethical, narrative and proposal arguments.
COMM 1315 | Public Speaking
(3 credits/5 weeks)
This course develops public speaking skills with an emphasis on personal interaction in business and other professional settings. Students are introduced to basic principles of oral communication through community and classroom speaking experiences and in group interaction. Students give individual performances and engage in constructive critiques.
HIST 1301 | U.S. History
(3 credits/5 weeks)
This course is an introduction to United States history from the pre-colonial period through Reconstruction.
MUSI 1303 | Introduction to the Arts
(3 credits/5 weeks)
Entry point for students with 24–39 transferable college credits. An introductory study of the visual, literary, dramatic, and musical arts, which includes approaches to understanding the arts and consideration of the roles of artistic expression in human cultures. It includes attendance at live performances, gallery presentations, and/or other cultural events.
CHEM 1305 | Chemistry for Citizens
(3 credits/6 weeks)
Molecules that affect our everyday life are explored via a conceptual approach to the chemical sciences. Properties, synthesis, and utility of important molecules are discussed. In particular, fuels, fibers, polymers, medicines, biomolecules, biotechnology, energy production, disease, and environmental consequences will be explored.
PSCI 1301 | American Government
(3 credits/5 weeks)
A study of the organization, processes, and functions of the Federal government of the United States, emphasizing an analysis of the U.S. Constitution, its origins, development, and interpretation. Other topics include the operation of our representative democracy, civil rights and civil liberties, political parties, and elections. This course is a preliminary survey of the field of Sociology. It introduces students to concepts, research areas, and precepts in Sociology. Portfolios will be developed.
SOCI 1301| Introduction to Sociology
(3 credits/5 weeks)
This course is a preliminary survey of the field of Sociology. It introduces students to concepts, research areas, and precepts in Sociology. Portfolios will be developed.
RELI 2302 | Comparative Religion
(3 credits/5 weeks)
This course describes and compares the fundamental beliefs and practices of many religions from the East and West, from the North and South, and from both pre-historic and historic times, although emphasis will be on present-day religions. This course compares religions with respect to their views on: 1) the origin of our universe, 2) the nature and meaning of the individuality of persons, 3) the individual’s relation to society, 4) the natural environment, and 5) the role of women. Other topics include the future of religion, the relation between religious belief and science, the diversity within religions, and the basis for dialogue among religions. Emphasis is placed on the challenge religious diversity gives to belief retention.
BIOL 2406 | Environmental Biology
(4 credits/7 weeks)
Non-majors are introduced to basic ecological principles and the effects of humans on the environment. The course includes studies of populations, communities, ecosystems, energy flow, resources, pollution, waste management, and the effects of urbanization. Three lecture hours and two laboratory hours per week.
ENGL 2304 | Introduction to African & African American Literature
(3 credits/5 weeks)
This survey course studies seminal African and African American literary texts of the 16th–21st centuries. These works include spirituals, slave narratives, poetry, political arguments, social commentary, sermons, and blues and jazz and hip-hop lyrics.
These works contribute—in their own way—to the rich traditions of African and African American literature. In reading, studying, discussing, and interpreting these works, students develop a greater appreciation of them and their contribution to the United States and the world. In addition to studying these works as literary texts, students look closely at the historical, cultural, social, and political events that influenced the writers, preachers, musicians, and artists. This course emphasizes writing assignments and class discussion.
KINE 1304 | Dimensions of Health and Wellness
(3 credits/5 weeks)
Entry point for students with 40+ transferable college credits. Kinesiology 1304 is designed to study personal health issues and the concept of wellness. This course includes basic principles of safety, weight control and nutrition, disease prevention, physical fitness, stress management, substance abuse, and sexual responsibility. The laboratory portion assesses physical fitness by measuring strength, cardio-respiratory endurance, body composition, and flexibility.
PHIL 2301 | Philosophy and Ethics
(3 credits/5 weeks)
This course presents foundational and diverse perspectives on key issues engaged in philosophy and ethics. We compare thinkers from the East and West, the North and South, in order to highlight the unique qualities of each. We discuss, in a comparative fashion, central philosophers from many different periods of philosophy. Stressing primary texts, we consider the philosophers in their historical contexts, and discuss their answers to central philosophical issues such as the foundations of 1) religion, 2) ethics, 3) reality, 4) knowledge, 5) individuality, and 6) freedom. Emphasis is placed on the challenge religious and philosophical diversity gives to belief retention.
SOCI 2309 | Cultural Anthropology
(3 credits/5 weeks)
This course includes a cross-cultural examination of culture, communication, social structure, kinship, world views, religious beliefs and practices, and social change. Students will gain sensitivity to their own culture and to the cultures of others.
PSCI 2316 | Comparative Government
(3 credits/5 weeks)
This course is a comparative treatment of the governmental and political institutions of selected modern states and of state and local governments of the U.S.
ENGL 2326 | American Literature
(3 credits/5 weeks)
This course is a comparative study of American literature in a world context, focusing on diverse U.S. texts and their relationship with world literature. Students will be encouraged to investigate the definition of “American,” and to situate that definition in a world context, exploring literary and cultural heritages, as well as varied and shared experiences. Study might include such comparisons as African American literature and the literature of Africa and other African diasporas, or Chicano/a literature and Hispanic Caribbean, Spanish, indigenous American and Latin American literature. Focused on American pluralism as manifested in multicultural, multilingual, multi-ethnic, and transnational literature, this course fosters respect for cultural diversity and understanding of international relations as it develops analytical, communication, critical writing and research skills.
PSYC 3310 | Social Psychology
(3 credits/5 weeks)
This course surveys theories about the factors that shape individuals’ feelings, behaviors, and thoughts in social situations and the use of the scientific method in understanding these factors. A wide range of social, cognitive, environmental, cultural, and biological conditions that shape the social behavior and thought of individuals is covered.
MATH 1312 | Math for Liberal Studies
(3 credits/6 weeks)
This course will provide students with a survey of topis in mathematics. The students who take this course generally are in nursing, the liberal arts, communication, or social sciences. This course will develop students’ quantitative reasoning skills, their appreciation for beauty of mathematics as a discipline, and their understanding of the different ways in which mathematics is used. Students must pass this course with a grade of “C” or better.
