Academics

Achieving eXcellence in Liberal Education

About AXLE | Distribution Categories | Placement
Writing Requirements | Writing Seminars

 

Please note:  The AXLE Curriculum applies to all A&S first-year students (fall 2005 and thereafter)  and to all A&S external transfer students (fall 2005 and thereafter).   The CPLE Curriculum applies to all A&S continuing students and to all internal transfer students  who matriculated at Vanderbilt prior to fall 2005.

Outline Summary in .pdf format

Placement Test guidelines

AP credit policy of A&S

Distribution of A&S Courses

The Writing Studio at Vanderbilt

The AXLE curriculum consists of four parts: the First Year Common Experience, the Writing Requirement, the Liberal Arts Requirement, and the Major.  AP credit cannot be used to fulfill AXLE curriculum requirements.

The First Year Common Experience includes a First Year Writing Seminar.

The Writing Requirement has three segments: demonstration of basic skills in English Composition, completion of a 100-level W course no later than the fourth semester in residence, and completion of either a second 100-level W course or a 200-level W (discipline-specific) course or an approved course in Oral Communications at Vanderbilt University as a graduation requirement.

The Liberal Arts Requirement is composed of a total of thirteen courses taken at Vanderbilt, and distributed across six areas of inquiry. The First Year Writing Seminar and all 100-level and 200-level W courses and all Oral Communications courses are also counted in the thirteen-course Liberal Arts Requirement.

1. The First Year Common Experience
a.First Year Writing Seminar (one course)
- Library Research Instruction
2. The Writing Requirement (2-3 courses)
a. English Composition (appropriate test score or one course)
b. 100-level W Requirement (one course)
c. One 100-level or 200-level W or Oral Communications Course
Summary of Writing Requirements
Course Syllabus Instructions for AXLE Writing courses
200-level Writing courses
Oral Communications courses
3. The Liberal Arts Requirement (13 courses)
a. HCA -- Humanities and the Creative Arts (three courses)
b. INT -- International Cultures (three courses)
                --Foreign Language Proficiency
c. US -- History and Culture of the United States (one course)
d. MNS -- Mathematics and Natural Sciences (three courses)
e. SBS -- Social and Behavioral Sciences (two courses)
f. P -- Perspectives (one course)

Click here for the distribution of A&S courses
into the categories of the Liberal Arts Requirement.

 
4. The Major (27-48 credit hours)
Total Credit Hours: 120