Academic excellence and professional success at the highest levels require a base of knowledge, skills, and critical engagement beyond that provided by the major alone. The College Core Curriculum seeks to achieve these goals by requiring students to complete one course in western history, Jewish history and western literature, two courses in English Composition (unless exempted by a placement examination) one course in mathematics, one course in a liberal arts or science field outside the major, one course in computer sciences, and one course in either the natural sciences (for students not majoring in that field) or social sciences (for students not majoring in that field).