General Education

OVERVIEW

General education component is a set of courses that all undergraduate students must complete as part of graduation requirements. General education is an aspect of the curriculum that intends to provide students with critical thinking and a broad understanding of the approaches to knowledge such as humanities, arts, social science and natural science. Students also acquire a common core of understanding among courses (such as in Islamic Studies or other Cultural Studies), and a level of competencies appropriate to higher education in mathematics, information literacy, the application of technology, and communications.

Each academic program in colleges in AUE requires a minimum of 30 credit hours of General Education courses

GENERAL EDUCATION COMPETENCIES

Each academic program in colleges in AUE requires a minimum of 30 credit hours of General Education courses

List of categorized courses:

  • Communication Literacy: Develop effective strategies of communication.
  • Quantitative Literacy: Utilize mathematical and other quantitative information to formulate evidence-based conclusions.
  • Information Literacy: Interpret information from various print and digital sources while developing research methodologies effectively and ethically.
  • Scientific Literacy: Apply scientific methodology and paradigm to contemporary issues.
  • Critical Thinking: Demonstrate critical thinking in problem solving.
  • Ethical Reasoning: Recognize ethical issues when presented in a given context.
  • Aesthetic and creative comprehension: Express personal reflection in creative works.

GENERAL EDUCATION COURSES

University Core Requirements

The purpose of this course is to facilitate the process of transition into new academic and cultural environment for the new students enrolled in the AUE. Furthermore, it aims to promote their confidence so that they could succeed and meet the academic requirements. The course assimilates academic content with interactive in class activities to ensure understanding of curricular options and begin to develop a future career plan through self-reflection.

Innovation is the engine of opportunity and, acting as a catalyst, this course is intended to ignite an interest in innovation and inspire entrepreneurial action. At the core of innovation and entrepreneurship is a commitment to experiential learning that will encourage students to engage in critical thinking, creative problem-solving while also equipping them with the soft skills needed in their pursuit of academic and professional endeavors. Students will discuss the relevance and role of innovation and entrepreneurship in work and life situations; determine opportunities for creative disruption and design a strategy for its implementation; develop a practical understanding of innovation through thoughtful debate and exercises; and demonstrate critical thinking and individual insight with a personal mastery portfolio.

Natural sciences or Mathematics

The natural science course incorporates a wide range of subjects of sciences such as astronomy, geology, biology, chemistry, and environmental science. The course will present the scientific facts of astronomy, the Earth and its weather, water, and environment, biology, and nutrition with the chemicals of life. The course emphasizes understanding the core principles of different branches of science and their effects on our lives. Moreover, the course explores the scope of natural phenomena, changing environment conditions, general health rules of nutrition, and the variety of living organisms. The course helps the students to acquire skills in observation, critical thinking, analyzing, interpreting, understanding and discussing scientific terminology and facts.
This course gives a thorough introduction to sustainable energy, conservation, and energy efficiency within the UAE and the world. It will explore the relationship between energy, environment, economy and ecological well-being. It will discuss energy production from the biology, natural science, environmental science and social sciences perspectives. A variety of topics will be introduced including global warming, climate change, sustainable food production, solid waste management, environmental and natural resources laws. The course includes the growing challenges of climate change and energy crisis and proposes solutions to overcome them.
The ‘Principles of Environmental Science’ course is designed to introduce the fundamental concepts of Environmental Science to undergraduate students. It includes topics from different areas of study such as ecology, biology, soil science and atmospheric science. The course aims at raising environmental awareness among students and providing them with the scientific knowledge and skills to identify, prevent and solve environmental problems. Additionally, it deals with ecological concepts, organism interactions, communities and ecosystems. The course focuses on key areas of population dynamics, biodiversity, human activities and the environment managed ecosystems, air quality, water and solid waste management.

This course is designed to develop a good understanding of the fundamental concepts of mathematics. It also stresses on crucial cognitive transferable skills such as the ability to think logically and concisely. Mastering this course will give students the confidence to go on and do further courses in mathematics and statistics.

The Humanities or Arts

This course explores Arab art and aesthetics from the beginning of the twentieth century till date. The students will learn about the contemporary art and design movement in Arab countries, the expression of cultural identity, as well as the factors involved and changes in aesthetics from Islamic to Arabic art. They will also study and analyze the role of pioneer artists from various generations with emphasis on their influence on contemporary Arab art.
This course will introduce the students to the key concepts of philosophy and its principle tools. The course will discuss the schools of philosophical thought, and will apply philosophical analysis to the topics of knowledge, religion, mind, freedom, responsibility, and ethics.
This course will provide the students with a comprehensive overview of English literature in the United States. It will familiarize the students primarily with early Anglo-American writers and the different literary movements that took place in the United States. Today American literature includes many minority literary works, but the historical matrix remains Anglo-Saxon if we are to consider the dominant culture as the starting historical point.

This course provides an overview of World / General History. The course will conclude with discussions about perspectives on World History. It surveys the history of humankind since 250CE till 1990 CE. In addition, interregional, comparative, crosscultural, transnational, and historiographical topics will be considered. The objective of the course is to explore the roots of contemporary globalization and to develop historical thinking and writing.

This course provides an overview of Middle-Eastern History, including the sources of Middle Eastern History. The course will conclude with discussions about perspectives on Middle-Eastern History.

This course aims to focus on the evolution of Islamic Art through a chronological overview of various trends and approaches throughout history. Students will explore and analyze the rise and influence of Islam leading to the formation of a new artistic culture the world over.

Social / Behavioral Science

This course serves as an introduction into the interdisciplinary and multifaceted social sciences. The content on the course covers the range of different disciplines that social sciences consists of, namely: anthropology, sociology, psychology, political science, economics and to a lesser extent also history and geography. The secondary aim of the course is moreover for students to develop their critical thinking skills by engaging actively with material about social issues, social change and social institutions.
This course will introduce the students to the key concepts of Political Science and its principal tools. The course will discuss the role of main political actors in the field of politics and their function.
An introduction to the science of psychology, its theories and foundations. The course is focused on principles and research methodologies, including the following topics: history of psychology, the biology of mind, memory, learning, child and personality development, psychological disorders and therapy. The aim of the course is to introduce the basis of psychology, provide the foundational knowledge to pursue the subject in more depth in the future, and build an ongoing interest in the application of psychology in everyday life.
This course introduces the science of Sociology. Students will examine Society, Institutions and the relationships that make up a social context. The scientific methodology used to study social interactions, stratification and other elements of sociological enquiry will be discussed to emphasize the core concept of sociology as a systematic study of societies and social structures.
This course provides an understanding of anthropology, the study of human beings throughout time and space. Anthropology is a broad discipline that studies human from a holistic perspective looking at both biological and cultural aspects. Anthropologists use different methods in order to understand and study humans. During this course, students will experience ethnographic fieldwork.
This course will provide the students with a comprehensive overview of geography. Emphasis is on concepts that are necessary to understand global, regional and local issues. This course also includes topics on both human and physical geography.

Languages/Communication Studies

This course provides students with advanced writing skills in English so that they can successfully pursue their studies in various academic specializations. It helps students to develop, improve, and upgrade their writing and structure skills, and it also acquaints students with technical writing, research papers, and essays since brief research methods are applied in student projects and assignments.

The intent of this course is two-fold. First, it introduces students with the basic research terminologies. Second, it familiarizes them with the process of research from choosing a topic to writing the proposal. Students will be immersed in hands on experience where they will be introduced to research concepts that will help them understand, interpret, and review a journal article. Contents to be covered include the language of research, types of research, elements of scientific research proposal, writing an academic research proposal using APA style, research ethics, identifying data collection instruments, and interpreting data.

This course is based on the principle that “Education” is an accumulative task especially when it comes to language learning. This process undergoes specific stages to assist the non-Arabic speakers to reach the ultimate goal which is to acquire the required skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) easily and accurately. To achieve this aim, text-based dialogues are provided as head start for the non-Arabic speakers to continue to the higher levels. The course also provides basic elements for reading, writing, dialogues, and listening to assist the learners to confidently interact with the Arab community.

This course is based on the principle that “Education” is an accumulative task especially when it comes to language learning. This process undergoes specific stages to assist the non-Arabic speakers to reach the ultimate goal which is to acquire the required skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) easily and accurately. To achieve this aim, text-based dialogues are provided as head start for the non-Arabic speakers to continue to the higher levels. The course also provides basic elements for reading, writing, dialogues, and listening to assist the learners to confidently interact with the Arab community.

This course is designed to enable the Arabic-speaking student with the necessary language skills, especially focusing on the steps of writing reports, official letters and systematic research.To achieve this, and to develop the student’s abilities to understand correctly what he reads and listens, and to gain the ability to write articles, reports, meeting minutes and recommendations of conferences and seminars in a sound manner, the course was concerned with training the student in basic writing skills; such as multiple spelling rules, punctuation marks, paragraph system, and essay writing progressively.

Islamic Studies

This course will expand students’ knowledge to enable them to understand the Islamic culture and its characteristics. It analyzes the sources of legislation in Islam. It offers a review of the history of Islam and how it is currently the fastest growing religion in the world.
The course is designed to give an in-depth understanding of the Islamic civilization. It deals with the universal principles that went into the making of the Islamic civilization. It examines the basic ideas of Islamic civilization besides exploring their contemporary relevance and challenges. The course seeks to effectively address the notion of the ‘clash of civilizations.

UAE Studies

The course is designed to introduce the UAE and GCC society with its historical background and uniqueness. It is aimed at enabling students to understand the specific features of the society along with its customs, traditions and lifestyle. The course will introduce the processes and the challenges of development as well as the future aspirations of the UAE and GCC Society.

Elective Courses

Happiness Studies will introduce students to the basic views of the creation and sustaining of happy societies from a multidisciplinary perspective. Beginning with exploring the universality of happiness at the individual and group levels, students will explore motivation, positive psychology, and creativity before moving onto exploring in detail the fundamental elements of Happiness, empathy, compassion, altruism, and gratitude. Through various exercises, students will be able to apply those concepts to their personal and professional lives in a way that also enables them to make a positive difference in their communities.
This course will examine how women participate and effect political change in a global context. Through a focus on the status of women in society, this course will introduce students to contemporary issues surrounding women’s political participation, representation, and citizenship. Students will develop the ability to think critically about the relationship between sex and gender and the intersections of race, class, religion, law and nation. This course will explore women’s diverse histories, movements, and feminist activism. Students will evaluate whether women’s efforts to achieve equal political rights have worked and what obstacles women still face in accessing political institutions. In addition, students will reflect on a wide-range of policy issues related to violence against women, employment, family values, and reproductive health. This course will also ask what possibilities are available for individuals to take action to improve society and enable women’s full participation as citizens, activists, voters, and politicians.
Tolerance & Society introduces students to the fundamental tenets of tolerance as explored from a multidisciplinary perspective. Beginning with exploring diversity and the debates surrounding race and ethnicity, gender, age and physical ability students then delve into a historic overview of discrimination and culture in a globalized world before moving onto an overview of human rights discourse. Students are equipped to then delve into defining tolerance and its relationship with acceptance and understanding and the importance of tolerance in building happy, sustainable, and prosperous nations. Particular emphasis is given on the role that they, as young individuals, can contribute to building tolerant communities and promoting tolerance internationally.
This course focuses on improving students’ English language skills for business so that they can effectively communicate in formal business-oriented situations. The course also focuses on contextualized writing instructions and sentence skills.