Lower-division foundation courses in Area C provide a basic understanding of the traditions, values, and achievements found in literature, philosophy, and the fineand performing arts. Courses in this area foster, encourage, and improve students' ability to understand and respond--cognitively and affectively--to cultural achievements in both verbal and non-verbal forms.

Foundation courses in the arts and humanities prepare students to see achievements within their broad historical and cultural context. These courses seek to improve and encourage students' ability to read with critical judgment and write with clarity, emphasizing writing as an integral part of the process of learning and discovery.

They also cultivate an awareness of language and the arts as forms of expression valuable both in themselves and for developing critical awareness. By placing basic knowledge in a larger context, these courses provide a vision of why this area is an important component of general education.

Educational Objectives. After completing the foundation courses in Area C, students should have an enhanced ability to

1.understand the possibilities and limitations of language as a symbolic and expressive medium; differentiate between formal and metaphorical language;

2.read with insight, engagement, detachment, and discrimination; sustain an extended line of reasoning through both narrative and thematic development;

3.recognize crucial historical developments within the arts and humanities; appreciate the significance of major literary, philosophic, and artistic works;

4.understand the historical development of issues in the humanities in significant periods prior to and including the twentieth century; understand the ways that historical context can illuminate current problems and concerns;

5.grasp relevant aspects of the relationship of the arts and humanities to science and technology;

6.appreciate non-verbal forms of understanding and expression; appreciate the aesthetic and historical development of one or more of the visual or performing arts; understand the relationship between form and content;

7.understand currently accepted critical standards; understand the advantages and limitations of various schools of reasoning;

8.appreciate the relative cultural significance of canonical and non-canonical works of literature, philosophy, and the arts.