CATALYST CURRICULUM
Choose your own path.
Choice is at the center of the Ripon College experience. Our five-course Catalyst curriculum is designed to provide the essential skills sought after by today’s employers while allowing maximum freedom to choose your own path of study. This one-of-a-kind academic flexibility gives you the opportunity to pursue multiple majors and minors, study abroad, participate in clubs and organizations, and hold internships – all in four years. As a matter of fact, we guarantee it.*
C ATA LYST 110 Writing
C ATA LYST 120 Quantitative Reasoning
C ATA LYST 210 Intercultural Competence
C ATA LYST 220 Integration
Information Literacy Critical Thinking
Collaboration Writing
Oral Communication Critical Thinking Quantitative Reasoning Writing
Critical Thinking Writing Information Literacy Collaboration Intercultural Competence
Oral Communication Information Literacy Collaboration Writing Integration
C ATA LYST 300 Applied Innovation Seminar
* Graduate in Four Years: The four-year graduation guarantee is valid for students who remain in good academic standing and do not change majors late in their four years. Ripon College will forgive the tuition for a ninth semester for any student unable to complete his or her degree because required courses were not available.
FR
EE CREDITS
M I N OR B
M I NOR A
MAJOR 1
THREE BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT CATALYST WITH DEAN OF FACULTY ED WINGENBACH:
ripon.edu/catalyst MAJOR 2
CATALYST
G R A D UATI O N R EQ U I R E M E NT S: A total of 124 credits are required to graduate with a degree from Ripon College. Catalyst consists of 20 required course credits. The rest is up to you!
C ATALYS T 11 0 C ATA LYS T 1 1 0: WRITING
Writing
OVERVIEW Catalyst 110 emphasizes foundational skills in written communication essential to success in college. The primary objective of the seminar is to develop the basic writing and research skills students need in order to successfully navigate specific expectations in other courses and applied contexts. Students write several major essays related to the theme of the seminar. At least three of these projects involve significant revision and peer review, during which students will hone interpersonal oral communication skills and practice collaboration.
SAMPLE COURSES Beyoncé, Black Feminism, and Pop Culture Prisons and Punishment in American History ‘Going Native’ in the Americas: Transformation, Appropriation, and Being in the New World Reforming Schools in the USA Fairy Tales and Contemporary Retellings
SKILL DEVELOPMENT Writing
Collaboration
Information Literacy
Critical Thinking
C ATALYS T 120
OVERVIEW Catalyst 120 emphasizes the value of quantitative information in argument. The primary objectives are to develop basic skills in evaluating judgments or decisions supported by numerical evidence and using numerical comparisons to bring clarity to real-world situations. The focus is on how quantitative evidence is used rather than on how it is produced. Students will complete several required writing assignments emphasizing skills that both evaluate and construct quantitative claims. Each student will also prepare, practice, and perform at least one oral presentation related to the topic of the seminar. The seminar may be organized around any topic chosen by the faculty instructor, and the writing and research skills students develop will advance understanding of the seminar’s content focus.
SAMPLE COURSES Dimensions of Life: Measurements in Biology How Do We Learn and Remember in Our Every Day Lives? The Air in Beijing, The Water in Flint, and The Temperature in Ripon The Global Economy by the Numbers Truth or Lies: Unwrapping the “Facts” We Encounter
SKILL DEVELOPMENT Writing
Oral Communication
Quantitative Reasoning
Critical Thinking
C ATA LYS T 120: QUANTITATIVE REASONING
Quantitative Reasoning
C ATALYST 21 0
OVERVIEW This seminar provides all students foundational skills in intercultural competency and further develops skills in writing and critical analysis, with a particular focus on identifying and challenging cultural assumptions. Students make critical comparisons between other cultures and their own in ways that encourage both a recognition of a plurality of values and an understanding of how one’s own worldview is shaped by a particular culture. To understand cultural differences, students must have some awareness of how inequality, power, oppression and/or dominance have formed — and continue to impact — cultures. Students will become attentive to the ways in which their own cultural assumptions shape perception and begin to develop awareness of and empathy for the worldviews of other cultures. These issues may be addressed from any disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspective.
SAMPLE COURSES American Others: Understandings and Impasses in the New World Fight Club: Peace and Conflict Studies Intercultural Perspectives on World Cinema My House is Your House: Understanding Hispanic Cultures Telling Your Story: Identity and Art
SKILL DEVELOPMENT Writing
Collaboration
Intercultural Competence
Information Literacy Critical Thinking
C ATA LYS T 2 1 0: INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
Intercultural Competence
C ATALYS T 220
OVERVIEW In this seminar, students will connect examples, facts, evidence, methods or theories from more than one discipline to diagnose problems or explore issues from different perspectives. The seminar must include one significant project in which students collaborate to employ at least two disciplinary approaches to address a problem, question or issue. Students will make oral presentations using appropriate language (with awareness of audience reception) to continue developing their public speaking skills. The topics for this seminar will involve multiple disciplines so that students can integrate modes of inquiry.
SAMPLE COURSES Bring Out Your Dead: Infectious Disease Through History Democracy Counts Poetry, Prose, Pinterest: Writing and Contemporary Collage Saints, Witches, and Queens: Depictions of Medieval Women in Historical Drama Who Rules the Street?
SKILL DEVELOPMENT Writing
Collaboration
Information Literacy
Oral Communication
Integration
C ATA LYS T 2 20: INTEGRATION
Integration
C ATALYST 30 0
OVERVIEW Teams of students collaborate in development of strategies to address large, open-Âended problems, mentored by faculty members from across the liberal arts. Student teams present their proposals at a public forum near the end of the semester. The seminar requires engaging in independent research, developing a clearly defined approach, analyzing both evidence and proposed solutions, and working effectively with a diverse group. While each team is supervised by a faculty member, the majority of the work for this seminar is expected to be done autonomously in order to demonstrate mastery of applied innovation skills in ways that prepare graduates for independent work after college.
SAMPLE TOPICS How should the world address refugee crises? Propose a strategy to repair the crumbling U.S. infrastructure. Should genetic engineering be limited, and how? What is the proper role of the arts in contemporary society? Is a free internet sustainable? How would we survive a zombie apocalypse? Develop a business plan for a struggling small town. Is it possible to control pandemics?
SKILL DEVELOPMENT Collaboration
Information Literacy
Intercultural Competence
Integration
Oral Communication Critical Thinking
Quantitative Reasoning
C ATA LYS T 30 0: APPLIED INNOVATION SEMINAR
Applied Innovation Seminar
Your discovery and participation in career-building skills development are enhanced through opportunities like CareerTrex, Internship Draft Day, WorkForce Career and Internship Fair, and Pop-Up Career Shops.
Career and Professional Development
Employers responding to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 2018 Job Outlook survey said problem-solving skills and teamwork abilities — beyond a strong GPA — are what they most want to see on students’ résumés.
C AREER-RE ADY SKILLS IN PR AC TICE 1. Career and Professional Development curriculum focuses on building a personal brand and sharing that in relatable ways with peers so teams function effectively in and out of the classroom. 2. Career and Professional Development events have a guiding big question that participants must solve using their networking and professional resources and explain why their solution works.
Ripon College Career and Professional Development staff develop and teach innovative, personalized curriculum in the Catalyst program throughout a student’s four years. This focused approach, combined with individualized career counseling through innovative hands-on opportunities, measurably prepares students for life after Ripon. We focus on four impact areas:
CURRICULUM INTEGR ATION CO-CURRICUL AR E XPERIENCE EX TR A-CURRICUL AR SUPPORT OUTCOMES ME ASUREMENT
2017 FIRST DESTINATION SURVEY RESULTS Ripon College participates in the First Destination Survey (FDS). The FDS is a national survey tool developed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers to capture information regarding new college graduate outcomes within six months of graduation.
96%
of ripon college gr aduates are employed or in a continuing educ ation progr am within six months of gr aduation .
55%
EMPLOYED
37%
*2016 national graduate outcomes rate is 81%.
CONTINUING ED
3. Career and Professional Development outcomes demonstrate that when students learn to tell a compelling story about their Ripon College experience, they are able to communicate exactly how they contribute to society in meaningful ways.
3% IN SERVICE
Military, Peace Corps, Americorps
< 1%
NOT SEEKING EMPLOYMENT OR CONTINUING ED
SEEKING EMPLOYMENT 5% OR CONTINUING ED
RIPON.EDU Q U E S T I O N S ? Contact the Office of Admission at adminfo@ripon.edu or 800-947-4766. Find your admission counselor at ripon.edu /admission-counselors
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