Courses A-Z

Note: Area F and USCP are separate degree requirements. Courses (either Cal Poly or transfer courses) approved for Area F cannot also satisfy USCP.

Select any Area B, C, or D course listed above; courses must be from two different areas; may be either lower-division or upper-division. In addition to the courses listed above, the following courses can be used in fulfillment of the GE Electives.

Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR)

The Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR) is a CSU Board of Trustees mandate designed to ensure that students can write proficiently before they enter the professional workforce. All Cal Poly students who are seeking a degree, including Master's degrees and teaching credentials, must fulfill the GWR before a diploma can be awarded.

Further information on pathways to meeting this degree requirement may be obtained from the Office of Writing and Learning Initiatives, Kennedy Library (35) Room 202A (805-756-2067), or on the GWR webpage, https://writingandlearning.calpoly.edu/gwr.

GWR Courses

United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP)

USCP courses must fulfill all of the following criteria; and, according to AS-836-17, they must also address the Diversity Learning Objectives (DLOs). USCP courses must:

1. Focus on one or more diverse groups (identified in the Cal Poly Statement on Diversity) whose contributions to American society have been impeded by cultural, legal, economic, and political conflict or whose social, cultural, legal, economic, and political opportunities have been restricted in the United States;
2. Cover the historical and/or contemporary social issues resulting from conflict or restricted opportunities that include but are not limited to problems associated with discrimination based on age, ethnicity, gender, nationality, abilities, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or race in the United States;
3. Address the diverse intellectual, philosophical, and cultural perspectives of historically marginalized people in the United States;
4. Emphasize the voices and contributions of historically marginalized groups in the United States such that the course content must prominently include sources written and/or produced by historically marginalized people;
5. Foster critical thinking skills by using intersectional frameworks of analyses that are necessary for adequately understanding and analyzing various social issues related to diversity and equity in the United States;
6. Require students to examine critically their own beliefs, attitudes, and potential biases related to historically marginalized people in the United States.

In addition to satisfying these criteria, USCP courses must also address the Diversity Learning Objectives.

Students are required to complete one USCP course. This course also fulfills a requirement for Major, Support, General Education, or Free Elective category.

USCP and General Education Area F are separate degree requirements. The same course (either Cal Poly or transfer) cannot satisfy both requirements.

The following courses fulfill the United States Cultural Pluralism requirement.

Course also satisfies GE requirement

Selected Topic Courses

Selected topic courses are academic credit-bearing courses in the Cal Poly catalog that provide a generic course vehicle to offer special topics on an "as needed basis." The most common selected topic courses, 270, 470, 471, 570, 571, are available to all academic programs, and have the same generic course description. The specific topic title appears in the Class Schedule and on the students' transcripts.

A list of selected topic course descriptions can be found at Selected Topic Courses on the website of the Office of the Registrar.

Sustainability Focused Courses

Sustainability is an integral part of the content and learning objectives of the following courses. These courses have been reviewed by the Academic Senate’s Sustainability Committee for their relation to Cal Poly’s Sustainability Learning Objectives (SLOs) and illustrate how sustainability issues are relevant across the university’s entire curriculum. These courses help students identify, analyze, and design innovative solutions for currently unsustainable environmental, economic, and social practices.

In 2019, Cal Poly was awarded a gold rating by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The sustainability focused courses offered at Cal Poly are a key part of that rating. If you are an instructor who teaches a course focused on or related to sustainability that is not included in SUSCAT, or if you are a student who has taken such a course but do not see it listed here, please contact suscat@calpoly.edu.

Sustainability Related Courses

The “sustainability-related” courses listed here, like the sustainability focused courses above, have also been reviewed by the Academic Senate’s Sustainability Committee for their relation to Cal Poly’s Sustainability Learning Objectives (SLOs) and also illustrate how sustainability issues are relevant across the university’s entire curriculum. While these courses address crucial issues in environmental, economic, and social sustainability, they may not center these issues as prominently in the course content and learning objectives. For that reason, they are listed as sustainability- “related” rather than sustainability-“focused.”

In 2019, Cal Poly was awarded a gold rating by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The sustainability related courses offered at Cal Poly are a key part of that rating. If you are an instructor who teaches a course focused on or related to sustainability that is not included in SUSCAT, or if you are a student who has taken such a course but do not see it listed here, please contact suscat@calpoly.edu.

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