College of Liberal Arts (CLA)

How to Read Course Descriptions

The bolded first line begins with a capitalized abbreviation that designates the subject area followed by the course number and title. The unit value is also displayed.

Term Typically Offered: F = Fall quarter, W = Winter quarter, SP = Spring quarter, SU = Summer quarter

CR/NC: Indicates a course is offered on a Credit/No Credit grading basis only.
GE Area: Indicates the General Education (GE) Area for which the course may fulfill a requirement. See the course description for details.
USCP: Indicates that credit in the course satisfies the U.S. Cultural Pluralism requirement.
GWR: Indicates the course will satisfy the Graduation Writing Requirement, if the student earns a grade of C or better AND receives certification of proficiency in writing based on a 500-word in-class essay.

Prerequisite: Coursework to be completed and/or requirements to be met before taking the course
Corequisite: Course or courses that must be taken in a previous term or in the same term
Concurrent: Course or courses that must be taken in the same term
Recommended: Course with supporting content that is recommended, but is not required to be taken in a previous term or in the same term

The course description summarizes the purpose and key topical areas of the course, and includes special requirements if they exist. It indicates the mode of instruction, such as lecture and/or laboratory; if no mode is indicated, the course is supervised independent study. If a course can be taken more than once for credit, the description will indicate that either major credit or total credit is limited to a specified number of units. Some course descriptions end with information about whether the course was "formerly" another course or whether the course is cross-listed. A cross-listed course is the same course offered within multiple subject areas, MCRO/WVIT 301 Wine Microbiology for example.