Approved Courses

The CSU Inquiry Core Curriculum is designed to prepare all students to be successful at CSU and beyond. By completing a curated 37-credit hour program, students will have the foundational knowledge and durable skills to become leaders in their communities and future careers.

Your Inquiry Core Curriculum Expedition Involves:

Your entry into intellectual inquiry. In these activity-oriented, collaborative courses, you will work with others to explore an important issue while becoming familiar with CSU, Cleveland, and the keys to success in university.

All Inquiry Launch courses are graded satisfactory/unsatisfactory.

Core Competencies Developed:

  • Collaboration
Available Courses
INQ 100: Study Smarter, Not Harder
INQ 110: What is a Happy Life?
INQ 111: Love and Sex
INQ 130: Comics and their Influence
INQ 131: What is Computer Science?
INQ 132: College Life 101
INQ 133: CSU & the City
INQ 134: Civil Discourse & CSU
INQ 170: Engineering Launch
HON 101: Collaboration, Humanities, Leadership

In the CSU Inquiry Core Curriculum, you won't just be producing new knowledge; you'll be communicating it in your own unique voice. Who are you, as a communicator? How can you present your ideas to diverse audiences?

Finding Your Voice courses guide you in developing your ability to inquire into complex texts, deploy the English language to effectively communicate your ideas, and develop a voice that is authentically your own.

Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be passed with C grades or better.

Core Competencies Developed:

  • Written Communication
Available Courses
ENG 100: Intensive College Writing
ENG 101: College Writing I

The production and communication of new knowledge is always part of a larger conversation. To produce new knowledge, you must place it in conversation with what has come before. To communicate new knowledge, you must contextualize it to the appropriate audience.

Research & Professional Writing courses will further refine your foundational inquiry abilities by engaging you in the practice of research and construction of written work for specific academic and professional communities.

Courses used to fulfill this requirement must be passed with C grades or better.

Core Competencies Developed:

  • Written Communication
  • Information Literacy
Available Courses
ENG 102: College Writing II
ENG 107: College Writing II - Environmental Sustainability
ENG 108: College Writing II - AI and Writing
COH 102: Writing in the Health Professions
ESC 102: Technical Writing and Professional Communication

Mathematics, statistics, and logic sit at the core of any effective inquiry. Each field provides the techniques necessary to critically assess claims and arguments, to determine whether to accept or reject them.

Every Quantitative & Formal Reasoning course is designed to develop your ability to engage in abstract reasoning, making the training they provide applicable to any future inquiry.

Eligibility for Quantitative & Formal Reasoning courses is determined by Undergraduate Placement Testing.

Minimum 1 course/3 credits required. All students are required to complete a second course in either this category or the Society & Human Behavior category.

Core Competencies Developed:

  • Quantitative Reasoning or Collaboration
Available Courses
MTH 114: Intensive Foundations of Quantitative Literacy
MTH 116: Foundations of Quantitative Literacy
BUS 201: Applied Business Statistics
OSM 202: Introduction to Business Analytics
PHL 140: Logical Reasoning
PSC 251: Introduction to Data Analysis
SOC 254: Introduction to Social Statistics
STA 145: Intensive Statistical Concepts with Applications
STA 147: Statistical Concepts with Applications

Inquire into the unique history, culture, and experiences of African-Americans. Through these courses, you will develop an ability to see an issue from multiple perspectives and develop methods for investigating social dynamics and social diversity.

Core Competencies Developed:

  • Intercultural Knowledge & Competence
  • Critical Thinking
  • Written or Oral Communication
Available Courses
AST 200: Introduction to Africana Studies to the 1880s
AST 201: Introduction to Africana Studies since the 1880s
AST 207: African-American Literature
AST 208: Womanism/Black Feminism
COM 232: Interracial Communication
HIS 215: History of African-Americans to 1877
HIS 216: History of African-Americans Since 1877
HIS 220H: Debates in African American History
REL 217: Religion in Black America
UST 202: Cleveland: The African-American Experience

Inquire into human creativity through the exploration of the art, history, culture, and ideas that have shaped our collective thinking. Through these courses you will develop methods for interpreting the products of the human imagination, understand diverse worldviews, and express your own creativity.

Core Competencies Developed:

  • Critical Thinking
  • Collaboration
  • Written or Oral Communication
Available Courses
ART 252: Caves to Cathedrals
ART 253: Michelangelo to Monet
ENG 241: Reading and Telling Stories
HIS 112: United States History Since 1877
LIN 220: Introduction to Language and Linguistics
PHL 111: Meaning and Happiness
PHL 133: What Do We Owe Nature?
PHL 215: Technology Ethics
PHL 216: AI & Data Ethics
PHL 220: Sci-fi, Tech, and Human Nature
PHL 240: Healthcare Ethics
REL 237: The New Testament as Literature
REL 274: Buddhism and Hinduism in America (HIS 275)
REL 280: Comparative Mythology
UST 201: Building Cleveland: Architecture, Planning, and Society
UST 250: The City in Film

Inquire into global perspectives by emphasizing the diverse experiences of peoples and societies from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Broaden your thinking about your life and the world by examining how different cultures have approached the human condition.

Core Competencies Developed:

  • Intercultural Knowledge & Competence
  • Critical Thinking
  • Written or Oral Communication
Available Courses
ARB 274: Introduction to the Middle East
ART 286: African Art: Ancestral Altars to Galleries
ENG 204: Global Ways of Being
HIS 103: Ancient World History to 1300 C.E.
HIS 175: Introduction to African History
PHL 114: The Problem of Suffering
PHL 255: Non-Western Philosophy
REL 101: Understanding Religion
REL 239: The Bible & History
REL 268: Religion and Culture in Africa
REL 276: Eastern Religions
UST 206: Global Cities
WLC 204: World Literature
WLC 284: Arab Civilization and Culture

Inquire into our natural world, engage with the scientific method, and develop your ability to critically assess scientific arguments.

When combined with a Scientific Investigations lab, you will also gain hands-on experience in the scientific method and the tools of natural science.

Students should complete a minimum of 6 credit hours and 2 courses in "Scientific Inquiry" as well as a minimum of 1 credit hour in "Scientific Investigations".

Core Competencies Developed in Scientific Inquiry Courses:

  • Quantitative Literacy
  • Critical Thinking

Core Competencies Developed in Scientific Investigations Labs:

  • Collaboration
  • Information Literacy
Available Courses (non-STEM Majors)

CHM 151: Chemistry Around Us

CHM 156: Chemistry Around Us Laboratory

EVS 206: Introduction to Environmental Science

EVS 207: Introduction to Environmental Science Lab

UST 259: Eco-Exploring Cleveland (includes lab)
UST 289: Planet Earth: A User's Guide
Available Courses (STEM Majors)
PHY 221: College Physics I (includes lab)
PHY 222: College Physics II (includes lab)
PHY 241: University Physics I (includes lab)
PHY 242: University Physics II (includes lab)

Engage in investigations into human behavior, social structures, and the interactions between the two. Through the methods of the social sciences, you will develop your ability to understand yourself, other individuals, and social dynamics.

Minimum 1 course/3 credits required. All students are required to complete a second course in either this category or the Quantitative & Formal Reasoning category.

Core Competencies Developed:

  • Critical Thinking
  • Information Literacy or Digital Literacy
  • Collaboration
Available Courses
COM 101: Principles of Communication
COM 211: Communicating in Personal Relationships
COM 227: Principles of Social Media
CRM 201: The Criminal (In?)Justice System
ECN 201: Principles of Macroeconomics
ECN 202: Principles of Microeconomics
EDB 202: The Inquisitive Mind of the Learner
HIS 200: Introduction to Geography
PSC 111: American Government
PSY 101: Introduction to Psychology
SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
SOC 201: Race, Class and Gender
UST 200: Cleveland: The City
UST 205: Public Service Careers
UST 207: Ohio Government
UST 290: Urban Geography

Investigate diverse perspectives and develop techniques for understanding and engaging with social diversity in the United States. Through these courses, you will deepen your understanding of diverse peoples and of the issues and opportunities that arise in a society built with the promise of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Core Competencies Developed:

  • Intercultural Knowledge & Competence
  • Critical Thinking
  • Written or Oral Communication
Available Courses
COM 248: Intercultural Communication
EDB 242: Education and Social Change
ENG 248: Diversity in American Literature (and H)
HSC 205: Introduction to Health Equity and Cultural Factors in Healthcare
PHL 115: Selfhood, Freedom & Diversity
UST 215: Women Lead
UST 232: Belonging in the City
WGS 151: Introduction to Womens and Gender Studies