Distribution Requirement Guidelines
At the time a new course is proposed to the Curricular Review Committee for permanent inclusion in a department or program’s curriculum, approval as a course fulfilling a distribution requirement (in one or more distribution areas) can also be requested.
Current courses can also be submitted to the Curricular Review Committee for possible addition to the list of courses that fulfill distribution requirements. Proposals should include a course syllabus and a cover letter explaining why the course is a good fit for the specified area(s).
Almost any course can be proposed by a department or program to count toward the distribution requirements. Exceptions include independent study courses, internship and field study courses, freshman seminars, senior thesis seminars, professional linkage seminars, foreign-language courses through the intermediate level, and topics courses where different topics fall into different distribution areas.
The following sites contain information about distribution requirements in Weinberg College:
Overview of WCAS Distribution Requirements
This document describes the six distribution areas.
Guidelines for Proposing and Reviewing courses for WCAS Distribution Requirement Approval
This document presents guidelines used by the Curricular Review Committee to review courses proposed for distribution status.
Courses approved for distribution credit
Honors and Achievements
Physics and Astronomy professor Jim Sauls has been awarded the Bardeen Prize for his work on superconductivity.
Art Theory & Practice MFA candidate Rachel Niffenegger has been accepted into the two-year, De Ateliers residency program in Amsterdam.
Sarah Jacoby, assistant professor of Religious Studies, has been awarded an ACLS Grant for 2012-2013.
The History Department's Dyan Elliott and Melissa Macauley were offered fellowships at the National Humanities Center for 2012-2013.
Krista Thompson, associate professor of Art History, has been awarded an ACLS fellowship for 2012-2013.
Chemistry professor Tobin Marks received the 2012 National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences.
Mentions in the Media
Michelle Obama, Paradox
"Michelle Obama is a genuine paradox," said Darlene Clark Hine, a professor of African American studies and history at Northwestern University. Hine's lecture, part of a black studies conference at the university last week, argued that the first lady is a "transformative, liberationist" figure -- despite her interest in domestic issues and the long list of magazine cover stories focused on topics such as Obama's approach to motherhood or the importance of healthful eating. washingtonpost.com April 16, 2012 Full story
Seismic hazards: Japan earthquake and other tectonic surprises challenge scientific assumptions
"It's almost impossible to make a sensible earthquake hazard map," argues Northwestern University geophysicist Seth Stein.... "We call this the 'whack-a-mole model' of earthquake hazard mapping. The mole will come up the same hole that it went down," Stein said. And that's rarely the case. washingtonpost.com March 9, 2012 Full story
