Welcome to the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE)!

We offer undergraduate students the opportunity to discover their intellectual, creative, and professional passions by introducing them to many interconnected areas of knowledge. Our initiatives include the First-Year Core Curriculum, Quarterly Student Showcase, Majors Fair, Math Placement Testing,  Language Testing, and Makeup Testing, and many other exciting programs!  

Winter 2026 TCORE Courses Offerings

For more information regarding class times, instructors, and locations, please visit the Winter 2026 Time Schedule 

TCORE 101 A Title: Writing about music and community
Description: In this course, students will explore the various ways in which music of all kinds works to build community. Students will write in a variety of genres, from discussion board posts to full length analytical essays. Peer review will be part of the process throughout the quarter as well as individual consultations with the instructor. 
TCORE 101 B Title: Writing about music and community
Description: In this course, students will explore the various ways in which music of all kinds works to build community. Students will write in a variety of genres, from discussion board posts to full length analytical essays. Peer review will be part of the process throughout the quarter as well as individual consultations with the instructor. 
TCORE 101 C  Title: Our Working World 
Description: Students will explore the past, present, and potential future of work, exploring exploitation and resistance across a spectrum of American communities. 
TCORE 101 D  Title: Intersectional Representation in Popular Culture 
Description: In this course, you will develop analytical writing that brings together critical thinking and writing skills. You will broadly learn about power and oppression as societal tools in America through the lens of intersectional BIPOC, Queer, and disability feminism and the way they show up in popular culture. In addition to learning step by step critical thinking and research, you will consider and practice what it means to write for an audience. 
TCORE 112 B   Title: Introduction to the Quaternary 
Description: Introduces students to the history of the Pacific Northwest over the past 2.6 million years and explores mechanism of long-term climate change, glacial geology, glacial ecosystems, and the peopling of the Americas. An emphasis is placed on the application of the scientific method and the use of scientific literature. 
TCORE 113 A  Title: Mobile Technology and Healthcare
Description:  Most of us own a smartphone, but a few of us look at it with a critical eye to understand how it can benefit our health and well being. This quarter, we will journey together to understand how the technology we use everyday- smartphones, web cams, video recorders, and texting can help people keep track of how they are doing health wise and stay healthy. While doing this work, we will look at many different types of people- impoverished communities, people of color, rurual communities, and older adults- all individuals who had challenges accessing healthcare. 
TCORE 114 A Title: Golden Ages of Athens 
Description:  Students will learn about the culture, history, politics, and society of fifth century BCE Athens, a time when the city was at its most powerful. In the class, students explore what it means to be a member of participatory democracy through interactive in class assignments such as a policy debate, a trail, and a play. 
TCORE 114 B  Title: Introductions to Humanities: Questions
Description:  Questions are often more important than answers, and some questions endure, even if there are many answers. In this class, we look at movies, literature, and philosophy as they pose (and often fail to answer) questions such as What do we owe to each other? When am I really in control of my actions? What is the right thing to do? How do circumstances shape the answer to such questions? Who am I? and of course what is a human being? are definitive answers to these questions possible. 
TCORE 114 C Title: Homelands and New Worlds
Description:  Again and again people will exclaim there is no place like home. Dorothy famously uttered these words in the American Classic "The Wizard of Oz", a story that reinforces the belief that homes and homelands are highly important places, which plays key roles in our lives. In this course, students will develop an understanding of these beliefs and related topics by studying stories about American families. 
TCORE 114 D  Title: Science Fiction(s)
Description:  This course explores the genre of science fiction across media formats. Student will analyze examples of science fiction literature, film, television, and popular music. We will seek to understand what defines the genre, what kind of arguments, and critiques it makes about society, and what makes it appealing. 

OUE Events:
 
Undergraduate Majors and Minors Fair (Spring 2026)- More information coming soon.