Pacific's General Education Program exposes students to areas of study outside of their major.  In their General Education classes, students develop essential knowledge and skills that are transferable to other courses at Pacific as well as to their personal and public lives. The mission of Pacific's General Education Program is to promote self-understanding, citizenship, and career development.

Due to the current situation with COVID-19, we are currently working remotely. 

If you need to contact us to change a PACS class or for any other general education related issue, please email either Cindy Udermann, Administrative Assistant for GE/PACS at cudermann@pacific.edu or Chris Goff, Director of General Education at cgoff@pacific.edu.

Thank you for your patience during this time.

Mission

  • Self-Understanding — One goal of Pacific's General Education Program is fundamentally personal: to enrich students' self-understanding and expand their interests in preparation for a fulfilling life. Students are exposed to new intellectual, moral, spiritual, and aesthetic possibilities. Through the interaction with others from different backgrounds and the study of different disciplines, students come to understand who they are and the sources of their beliefs. They thus gain the skills to identify, express and analyze their beliefs and to fashion a philosophy of life that can guide them in their future endeavors. Students may also find life-long pleasure in learning, self-reflection, and conversation.
  • Citizenship — Another goal is to produce engaged and informed citizens who advance a democratic society by contributing to political and civil life and by committing themselves to the service of others. General education fosters the skills to evaluate complex social and political issues and teaches the moral and political grounds that inform political action and service in a democracy. The health of a society depends on informed and active citizens who can balance the public good and self-interest.
  • Career Development — Finally, the General Education Program prepares students to enter professional life by developing practical skills that are valuable to employers and essential to civil society. These skills include the abilities to express oneself clearly and cogently in writing and orally, to be diligent and careful in the preparation of one's work, to interpret and evaluate information, to think creatively in order to solve problems, to work independently as well as collegially in groups with a sensitivity toward cultural differences, to use technology, and to treat others ethically in their professional interactions.

Student Learning Outcomes

Pacific's General Education mission of fostering self-understanding, citizenship and career development is advanced by the completion of three Pacific Seminars and six to nine courses in the Breadth Program, all of which introduce students to the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and arts.  These courses develop the following intellectual and practical skills:

  • Written communication
  • Oral communication
  • Critical thinking
  • Research skills
  • Quantitative thinking
  • Cross-cultural awareness
  • Ethical reasoning
  • Civic responsibility
  • Aesthetic judgment

The Pacific Seminars

Students at Pacific explore the question of a good society through a series of three academic seminars. These seminars develop students' critical thinking skills about significant personal, social, and political issues by means of extensive writing, reading, and class discussion.

PACS 1 is a broad introduction to the question of a good society.  It is a shared intellectual experience, incorporating materials from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Students meet in small sections to discuss the readings and issues and develop their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. It constitutes the first-part of Pacific's writing requirement.

In PACS 2, students choose from over forty different seminars that examine in greater depth one or more of the themes from Pacific Seminar 1. These seminars are taught by faculty from many disciplines across the University. PACS 2 constitutes the second-part of Pacific's writing requirement, and the signature assignment is a scholarly research project.

In their senior year (92 completed units or more), students from all majors mix together again in PACS 3. This seminar is a culminating general education experience that develops students' capacities for ethical self-understanding and ethical reasoning about theoretical and applied ethical issues. PACS 3 constitutes the third part of Pacific's writing requirement. The centerpiece assignment is the students' own ethical autobiography.

The Breadth Program (6-9 Courses; 3 or 4 units each)

The General Education Program beyond the Pacific Seminars provides students with considerable choice but within a framework that ensures they gain essential knowledge and skills. With the help of their advisors, students choose courses in the breadth program that interest them or that relate to other courses in their planned course of study. The Breadth Program requirements vary from School or College.

  • Six to nine courses, two from each of the three main categories listed below (I, II, and III).
  • Only one class can come from each subcategory or area (A, B, and C).
  • All students must complete a course in area III-A and in area III-B.
  • Students can satisfy subcategory IIIC by taking a second course in subcategory IIIA.
  • Students can take a maximum of two courses from a single department (as defined by subject code, e.g., HIST or ENGL or MPER) to satisfy the breadth requirement.
  • In area IIC, students may take three 1-unit courses in the same discipline of applied music to meet the requirement.
  • Courses in the Breadth Program component of the General Education Program normally have a value of three or four units.
  • Independent study courses cannot be used to satisfy general education requirements.

The catalog year when a student started at Pacific determines degree requirements; General Education courses and transfer course articulations are subject to change. It is the responsibility of the student to be informed of any general education or transfer course articulation changes. The structure of the Breadth Program is as follows:

I. Social and Behavioral Sciences

I-A. Individual and Interpersonal Behavior
I-B. U.S. Studies
I-C. Global Studies

II. Arts and Humanities

II-A. Language and Literature
II-B. Worldviews and Ethics
II-C. Visual and Performing Arts

III. Natural Sciences and Mathematics

III-A. Natural Sciences
III-B. Mathematics and Formal Logic
III-C. Science, Technology and Society

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General Education Courses
GE Breadth Program General and Specific Criteria
Recognition for Pacific’s General Education Program
Frequently Asked Questions

Thomas J. Long Foundation Core Scholarship

Every year, scholarships are available to students who demonstrate academic excellence in their general education courses (including Pacific Seminars).  Awards are also given to faculty for achievement and innovation in general education courses. For more information, contact the General Education Office or the Financial Aid website.

As part of the University-wide General Education Program, all students must demonstrate proficiency in the areas of writing and quantitative analysis (math).  Students are placed into fundamental skills courses based on information supplied at admission.  In order to graduate with a bachelor's degree or first professional degree, these requirements must be met. 

Contact Information

Christopher Goff, Professor
Director of General Education
Phone: 209.946.7715
Email: cgoff@pacific.edu

Cindy Udermann
Administrative Assistant II
General Education/Pacific Seminars
Phone: 209.946.2574
Email: cudermann@pacific.edu

Note: Contact Cindy for questions related to the General Education Program or Pacific Seminars.