Explore UAB

Colleges & Schools

Blazer Core Curriculum Office of the Provost

Chart Your Course

With over 200 courses to choose from, Blazer Core offers you the opportunity to pursue courses from many different disciplines that broader your knowledge by tapping into your interests and passions and inspiring new ones.

Getting Started

Blazer Core requires you to complete 41 Credit Hours of courses across the different areas below. As you get started, remember that you will have the support of your academic advisor, who will help you create a clear path towards your goals.

Explore each of areas of Blazer Core below to learn more about what you will learn and to discover classes. Need help? Contact your advisor!

Local Beginnings

3 Credit Hours

First Year Experience (FYE): a high-impact educational practice, this course will help you make a strong transition to academic life, explore your possible majors and careers, and learn life-long learning and wellness strategies.

Academic Foundations

15 Credit Hours Total in the Areas Below

  • Freshman Writing Courses (6 Credit Hours)
  • Quantitative Literacy (3 Credit Hours)
  • Communicating in the Modern World (3 Credit Hours)
  • Reasoning (3 Credit Hours)

Freshman Writing Courses (6 Credit Hours)

Freshman Writing courses provide you with a deep understanding of writing at the university, which is very different than much of the earlier writing you have done. You will also gain innovative composing skills for creating digital and print documents for a wide variety of audience and courses.

There are three different pathways for completing Freshman English, each of which provides different sets of resources and support. Each pathway fulfills the requirement for six credit hours in this area. Students are placed in the courses below based on their English Placement score. Learn more about the placement process.

Quantitative Literacy (3 Credit Hours)

Quantitative Literacy courses equip you with an understanding of how to use mathematical and statistical reasoning to understand how data and quantitative problems shape our world. Students are placed in some courses below based on their Math Placement score. Learn more about the placement process.

Communicating in the Modern World (3 Credit Hours)

Communicating in the Modern World Courses equip you with the ability to communicate across cultures, borders, and social groups, as well as to understand how communication works in a variety of contexts. Please note that some World Languages Courses require student placement scores. Learn more about the placement process.

Reasoning (3 Credit Hours)

Reasoning courses deepen your ability to think critically by teaching you strategies for analyzing ideas and data, understanding and responding to different perspectives, and engaging in ethical thinking.

Thinking Broadly

20 Credit Hours Total in the Areas Below

  • History and Meaning (3-6 Credit Hours)
  • Humans and Their Societies (3-6 Credit Hours)
  • Scientific Inquiry (8 Credit Hours)
  • Creative Arts (3-6 Credit Hours)

History and Meaning (3-6 Credit Hours)

History and Meaning courses provide you with tools and knowledge that enables you to trace the development of significant ideas and event that have shaped our global world and to understand their impact on our present day.

Humans and Their Societies (3-6 Credit Hours)

Humans and their Societies Courses provide you with innovative tools from the social sciences, behavioral sciences, and humanities that enable you to more deeply understand the social systems that shape our everyday world.

Scientific Inquiry (8 Credit Hours)

Scientific Inquiry courses, and their required labs, provide you with crucial knowledge about scientific principles and concepts, while also introducing you to cutting edge scientific tools that enable you to understand your world more deeply.

Creative Arts (3-6 Credit Hours)

Creative Arts courses provide you with a critical understanding of the artistic expression and its role in the culture and social and political life of our society, as well as provide you with opportunities to develop your abilities of creative expression.

City as Classroom

3 Credit Hours

Our exciting City as Classroom courses immerse you in the city as space of learning, providing you with opportunities to apply your knowledge to real world opportunities and issues right here in out historic city.

Here are a few examples of our continually expanding list of City as Classroom courses. Please note that titles and topics of City as Classroom courses can vary from year to year.

Five Required Course Flags

As you take courses in the Core Curriculum, you will accumulate course flags (up to two for each course) that represent both high-impact educational practices and UAB commitments. High-impact practices are educational practices that have been proven to create deep learning and provide students with academic, interpersonal, and civic skills that equip them to be the leaders of tomorrow. UAB commitments reflect our university’s commitment to using knowledge to the greatest benefit of persons, places, and the planet.

Meeting the Five Required Course Flag requirement is not difficult, and you will likely gain many more flags than the five required. Both you and your advisor will be able to easily check the number of required flags you have earned at any time.

*Please note that each course can grant up to two flags upon successful completion of the course. However, not all Core Courses offer flags.

  • High Impact Practices Flags
    • First Year Experience
    • Collaborative Assignments and Projects
    • Global/Multicultural Perspectives
    • Service Learning, Community-Based Learning
    • Undergraduate Research
    • Post-Freshman Writing
    • Sustainability
    • Wellness/Wellbeing
    • Justice
  • UAB Commitments Flags
    • Justice
    • Civic Engagement
    • Sustainability
    • Wellness and Wellbeing

 

Read Our Newsletter

Read all Newsletters

Subscribe to the Blazer Core Newsletter 


Follow Us on Social Media