4 courses with the subject UNVS, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
UNVS 101University Scholars Seminar3
Meets GOAL 6 (Humanities) and GOAL 9 A Liberal Arts education allows us to analyze our complex society and become leaders in making thoughtful, reasoned decisions based on inquiry, evaluation, and empathy. University Scholars Seminars challenge students to investigate, research, and develop an informed perspective on an issue of contemporary and ethical relevance alongside two faculty experts and a small group of peers. Although topics span disciplines, all seminars teach students to identify issues, utilize different modes of inquiry to research them, apply analytical and critical thinking skills when reading textual and nontextual sources, write and speak clearly, and explore issues of diversity and lived experiences. As such, these courses introduce students to the expectations and experiences that form the basis of a liberal arts education at Winona State University. With small class sizes and a focus on dynamic inquiry-based learning, University Scholar Seminars offer first-year and transfer students a unique opportunity to develop the academic competencies to help them succeed in college, build a community among peers, and forge strong connections with faculty mentors.
Restricted to first-year students or permission of instructor. Grade only. Offered annually (usually fall semester). Course Registration
UNVS 201Lasting Conversations1
University Scholars: Lasting Conversations invites students to explore how ideas from the past and present shape the world we live in today. Through literature, art, performance, and argument, students examine enduring questions about human experience, ethics, power, and belonging, and consider how these questions continue to matter in contemporary life. Topics vary by course, but each section centers on a long-standing question explored through paired readings that bring an older text and a newer text into conversation. Through close analysis of novels, poems, plays, visual art, music, or other cultural texts, along with discussion and short analytical writing, students develop their own informed perspectives and learn to see their ideas as contributions to ongoing conversations that shape public life. With an emphasis on discussion and collaborative inquiry, Lasting Conversations builds students’ skills in critical reading, thoughtful dialogue, and analytical writing while deepening their engagement with liberal arts learning.
Sophomore standing or above and UNVS 101 - University Scholars Seminar ; or instructor permission. Grade only. Offered annually (usually fall semester). Not
UNVS 301Leadership and Community Engagement1
The world needs future leaders who can analyze context, reason ethically, and consider multiple perspectives. A liberal arts education teaches students to do just that. This is a one-credit course that asks how liberal arts students show up in the world and what they learn by engaging beyond the classroom. Students participate in sustained campus, civic, or community-based engagement and reflect on how leadership, service, and responsibility are practiced in real-world settings. Through readings, discussion, self-assessments, and reflection, students examine how engagement shapes their understanding of themselves, their communities, and the value of a liberal arts education.
Junior status and above, UNVS 101 - University Scholars Seminar , and UNVS 201 - Lasting Conversations ; or instructor permission. Grade or P/NC. Offered annually (usually fall semester). Course Registration
UNVS 401The Scholar Portfolio1
This is a one-credit course in which University Scholars synthesize their undergraduate experiences through the creation of a reflective portfolio. Students select 8-10 academic and co-curricular artifacts that represent their engagement with the University Scholars’ program and examine how these experiences contributed to their intellectual growth, personal development, and preparation for life after graduation. Through shared readings and guided reflection, students articulate how coursework, service, leadership, research, and capstone experiences have shaped their ways of thinking, values, and the transferable skills they have developed over time. Students will reflect on what they learned and demonstrate how their experiences fostered capacities such as inquiry, communication, collaboration, ethical judgment, and adaptability that will support their professional, graduate, and civic goals beyond graduation.
