Enrolling in Humanities Core
Humanities Core is a yearlong sequence of classes that start in the fall quarter. Everyone enrolled in Humanities Core takes a 4-unit lecture (listed as HUMANITIES CORE LEC on the Schedule of Classes), as well as a seminar (listed as WRT on the Schedule of Classes). Your seminar is determined by your UCI Writing Placement, Entry Level Writing Requirement (ELWR) status, and if you are part of the Campuswide Honors Collegium.
Ready to select course codes to enroll? In the Schedule of Classes, first choose the HumCore lecture you prefer, then choose one seminar listed under that lecture. In WebReg, add the lecture course code first, then the seminar course code. Some of our sections are restricted to particular students; you can refer to the Course Restriction Codes for more information.
If you are having difficulties enrolling in a Humanities Core lecture and/or seminar, please contact your academic advisor or the Humanities Core office. Honors students should consult the office of the Campuswide Honors Collegium. Humanities Core staff can assist you in determining your placement eligibility and in placing you into an appropriate section on a space-available basis. Students seeking broader academic counseling related to enrolling in Humanities Core should consult the academic advising office in the school of their major.
Add/Drops, Switching Sections, and Grade Option Changes
Add/drops and grade option changes for Humanities Core lectures and seminars must be effected by the end of the second week of classes, regardless of other general campus deadlines for add/drops and grade option changes. After the second week, requests to add/drop or changes to the grade option will be granted only in exceptional circumstances. Beginning the first day of the second week of instruction, all add/drops are coordinated and authorized by staff in the Humanities Core Program Office (humcore@uci.edu). Students should not ask Humanities Core seminar instructors for authorization codes. All school and major requirements must be taken for letter grades.
Progression in Humanities Core Course Series
Students receiving deficient grades of D+ or below or NP (no pass) may progress to the next quarter as long as a grade of F (or an F that converted to NP) was not received. Students who receive an F in either component (lecture or seminar) of Humanities Core in fall or winter may not progress to the next quarter of Humanities Core unless special permission is granted by the Course Director. Please see section on HUMAN 1AES and 1BES below for specific information about advancement from those courses.
Students receiving a deficient grade of D+ or below (including F) or NP (no pass) in either component of Humanities Core may retake the quarter in a subsequent year in most cases. Students repeating only one component of Humanities Core should enroll in both components (lecture and seminar) and then speak with staff in the Humanities Core office (humcore@uci.edu) during the second week of classes to drop the component not being repeated.
Satisfaction of Requirements and General Education Credits
Beginning in Fall 2023, students who complete all three quarters of the Humanities Core lecture with a grade of D- or better or P (pass), and Humanities Core Writing with a C- or better or P (pass) will have satisfied Lower-Division Writing (Category I), Arts and Humanities (Category IV), Multicultural Studies (Category VII) and International/Global Issues (Category VIII) of the UCI General Education (GE) requirements.
If the three quarter series is not completed, each Humanities Core lecture course with a passing grade of D- or better or P (pass) will count as one Arts and Humanities (Category IV) and each Humanities Core writing course with a passing grade of C- or better or P (pass) will count as one Writing (Category I) for either Fall or Winter and one Writing (Category I) for Spring.
We prioritize allocating seats in the winter and spring to those students who started Humanities Core in the fall quarter. Space for new students is rarely available mid-sequence and a seat in the course is not guaranteed if you did not complete the prior quarter. Technically, students who want to begin Humanities Core in the winter can do so as long as they have satisfied the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement. After completing the winter and spring quarters, students will have met the lower-division writing requirement (Category I) as long as they have a grade of C- or better in the writing component. Completion of the lecture component over two quarters with grades of D- or better will fulfill two Arts and Humanities (Category IV) of the GE requirements. (Students who complete only the fall and spring quarters will also receive the credits described in this paragraph.)
Majors within the School of Humanities do not have the option of taking Humanities Core for P/NP (pass/no pass). The entire sequence of Humanities Core satisfactorily completed for a letter grade satisfies a school requirement. Other schools may have similar requirements. Non-Humanities majors should consult an academic advisor in the school of their major before opting to take the course for P/NP.
UC Entry Level Writing Requirement and HUMAN 1AES and HUMAN 1BES
In addition to the regular discussion sections of Humanities Core (HUMAN 1AS-BS-CS), the Program offers sections (designated HUMAN CORE WRT ELW on the Schedule of Classes) for students who have not met the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement (ELWR). Students with questions about Writing Placement process that determines ELWR status should first visit the Writing Placement page hosted by the UCI Academic Testing Center. HUMAN 1AES, offered in fall, must be taken for a letter grade. Students who successfully pass the writing component of HUMAN 1AES with a grade of C or better will have simultaneously met the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement and may progress to a regular section of Humanities Core Course (HUMAN 1BS) in winter quarter. Students who do not pass HUMAN 1AES with a grade of C or better will have a second opportunity to pass the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement in winter quarter by enrolling in HUMAN 1BES for a letter grade. Students who do not receive passing grades on Essays 1 & 2 in Human 1AES will be recommended by the program to enroll in HUMAN 1BES for additional writing support. Completion of HUMAN 1BES with a grade of C or better will satisfy the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement and will allow students to move on to HUMAN 1CS to complete the lower-division writing requirement. Satisfactory completion of the HUMAN 1AES-BES/BS-CS sequence additionally fulfills other GE requirements (Categories IV, VII, and VIII), just as the 1AS-BS-CS sequence does (see Satisfaction of Requirements and General Education Credits above).
Last updated June 2023. Requirement information is provided here merely for your convenience; please refer to the UCI General Catalogue for official documentation.
Disability Services and Accommodations
Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Disability Services Center (phone: 949-824-7494) as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. All exams are administered in seminars in Humanities Core; therefore, students should specify their seminar instructors when requesting exam accommodations.
Academic Integrity Policies and Guidelines
UCI and the Humanities Core program view academic integrity as a serious matter (see the chapter “Thinking About Your Writing in Humanities Core” in the Humanities Core Handbook). Students enrolled in the program should review the Academic Integrity Policy in the UCI Catalogue. Upon matriculation at UCI, students agree to uphold these standards. UCI’s Academic Integrity Policy defines types of Academic Integrity Violations as follows:
- Cheating
Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the use of unauthorized materials, information, or aids in any academic exercise or course work; dishonest or unfair acts to gain academic advantage; or the failure to observe the expressed procedures or instructions for an academic course. - Dishonest Conduct
Dishonest conduct includes, but is not limited to, fabricating information, or knowingly furnishing false information. - Plagiarism
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use of the work of another or an entity (including words, ideas, designs, or data) without giving appropriate citation and/or attribution. This includes, but is not limited to, representing part or all of a Student’s work obtained by purchase or otherwise as their own work; the omission of or failure to appropriately acknowledge the source of the work; or representing the work of another person, entity, or the Student’s own previous work as if it were the Student’s new work. Unless otherwise specified by the Instructor, all submissions to meet course requirements (including a paper, project, exam, computer program, oral presentation, or other work) must be either the Student’s own original work or appropriately acknowledge the source.
According to these definitions, the act of copying the output of a text-generating AI product (for example, ChatGPT) instead of completing a writing task oneself constitutes academic dishonesty, in that such text is not one’s own but is instead composed of the uncredited words and intellectual productions of others. Copying the output of a generative AI chatbot or presenting artificially produced text as if it were the writer’s own language is prohibited in Humanities Core and grounds for failure on the assignment and course. Presenting fabricated quotations, misrepresenting the content of sources, and citing non-existent or falsified sources are all forms of academic dishonesty and grounds for failure in the assignment and course. If an instructor is concerned that a student has submitted work that is not their own, in whole or in part, and has therefore misrepresented their knowledge and skills, the instructor will consult with the program directors about the appropriate course of action. The student will be given the opportunity to account for their working process to the instructor and program directors. If the program determines that academic misconduct has occurred, the student may fail the assignment or the course. Furthermore, the program has a responsibility to report the misconduct to the UCI Office of Academic Integrity & Student Conduct, and the student may be subject to further disciplinary action by the university.
Read more about Humanities Core’s pedagogical approaches to generative AI.
Grading Policies
The Policies and Procedures document distributed in each seminar explains grading for the lecture and writing components of the course. Please note that these are guidelines intended to help students plan their work in the program. The Humanities Core Course Director reserves the right to make changes in these evaluation criteria during the course of the quarter. The Course Director will also administer a formal reevaluation process in the event of a grade dispute.
