Explore the Watauga Residential College curriculum, an interdisciplinary program that integrates knowledge across fields while fulfilling general education requirements through core courses, writing,
General Education
The goals of Appalachian State University’s general education program are fourfold:
Thinking critically and creatively
Communicating effectively
Making local to global connections
Understanding the responsibilities of community membership
All Watauga Residential College courses are designed to meet one or more of these goals and fulfill many general education requirements.
For more information about Appalachian State University’s General Education program, visit the General Education program website.
Watauga Residential College Curriculum
The Watauga Residential College curriculum is deliberately interdisciplinary, designed to teach you to integrate and apply information and knowledge from many different sources.
The curriculum fulfills many of Appalachian’s general education requirements, including First-Year Seminar, First-Year Writing, Second-Year Writing, and various liberal studies and integrative learning experience theme requirements.
First-year Wataugans will take two 6-hour core classes:
Investigations: Local (fall)
Investigations: Global (spring)
These classes are a centerpiece of the residential college experience. During these courses, you will share with and learn from students in other core classes, and explore your education together during common lunches on Tuesdays.
After completing their core classes, Wataugans may take either:
9 hours in the Integrative Learning Experience (Experiencing Inquiry)
12 hours in the Liberal Studies Experience
Students may not complete both options.
If students choose the Integrative Learning Experience, they are required to take an additional 6 hours in the Liberal Studies Experience from departments other than Watauga. If they choose the 12-hour Liberal Studies Experience, they will not enroll in Integrative Learning Experience courses.
In either path, the 6-hour "Investigations: Global” core course will be part of the Liberal Studies Experience.
Curriculum Overview
Investigations: Local (6 hours) - WRC 1103 (counts for RC 1000 and UCO 1200)
Investigations: Global (6 hours) - WRC 1104
Days in the Life (3 hours) - WRC 2001 (Second-Year Writing)
This six-credit hour class examines a broad issue in the context of Boone and Watauga County. It combines academic content, skill-building workshops, and excursions to local sites for observation and interviews.
You will learn investigative techniques such as interviewing and research, along with how to evaluate and document your findings.
In the middle of the class block, there is a break for lunch and common time from 12:15 p.m. until 1:45 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some events may be scheduled during this time, but it is primarily a relaxed social space for students, faculty, and staff.
The main focus of the class is reflected in its name. You will explore and research issues in Watauga County related to the course theme. Your community-based research and collaborative group work will result in reports and presentations shared with other first-year Wataugans.
Investigations: Global
The spring core class is structured similarly to the fall course. Content focuses on global or cross-cultural issues, either within a specific region of the world or across multiple cultural contexts.
General goals of Investigations: Local and Investigations: Global:
Build investigative and research skills
Introduce local issues affecting Watauga County
Explore global issues relevant to those local contexts
Increase global awareness and competence
Improve reading, writing, analytical, and collaborative skills
Integrative Learning Experience Theme
The Integrative Learning Experience Theme, Experiencing Inquiry: How to Ask Questions, gives students the opportunity to explore how inquiry works across disciplines.
Each course begins with a central question about how inquiry is conducted in a specific field, such as literature, history, art, or social science. Courses then examine how these approaches interact and evolve across disciplines.
All courses are experiential by design.
Liberal Studies Experience
Liberal Studies Experience courses help students gain a broad understanding of how liberal studies relate to their college education.
These courses include the 6-hour Investigations: Global core course, along with additional offerings such as Myth and Meaning, The Practice of Poetry, and Poverty: Theory and Practice.
The "Watauga Minor"
Students across the university may complete the Minor in Experiential, Integrative Learning. This program emphasizes interdisciplinary learning and the integration of knowledge across courses.
The minor consists of:
15 hours of WRC courses (2000 level or above)
At least 3 hours at the 3000 level
A required 3-hour WRC capstone course
Academic Connections
Watauga Residential College is affiliated with the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences.
Department of Interdisciplinary Studies
Explore interdisciplinary programs and flexible academic pathways across disciplines
