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College of the Pacific

General Education - Pacific Seminars

Refine Your Skills, Enrich Your Character


“The Pacific Seminar courses encouraged me to read, write and think more critically and analytically, which are all skills needed to succeed in all of the classes I have taken to date.”

—Emily Chiu, Biological Sciences

Pacific boasts a nationally acclaimed general education program that exposes students to all major areas of learning in the arts, letters and sciences.

The program encompasses our distinctive Pacific Seminars and a breadth program covering nine subject areas, giving you an opportunity to develop and refine:

  • Critical thinking skills
  • Written and oral communication skills
  • Ethical reasoning
  • Intercultural understanding


Regardless of your major, these are skills and qualities that cultivate your character and intellect—and that enhance any career path.

Pacific Seminars


All students benefit from our Pacific Seminars series, consisting of two courses taken the freshman year and one completed the senior year. In these seminars, students meet in small groups to engage in lively discussion.

Pacific Seminar I: What is a Good Society?

(Freshman Year, First Semester)

Students examine and expand their beliefs about a "good society" through the process of critical thinking, which is developed by careful reading, intensive writing and class discussion.

Pacific Seminar II: Topical Seminars on a Good Society

(Freshman Year, Second Semester)

Pacific Seminar II is composed of different topical seminars that examine in-depth one or more issues of a good society that were introduced in Pacific Seminar I. These discussion-oriented, writing intensive courses come from virtually all areas and departments on campus. A few examples include "Media and Popular Culture," "Animal Rights and Wrongs" and "Art, Dissent, Utopia."

Pacific Seminar III: Family, Work, Citizenship

(Senior Year)

While Pacific Seminars I and II are designed to lead students to ask questions about various dimensions of the good society, Pacific Seminar III invites them to reflect on their moral values and moral development and to consider various ethical questions in the realms of family, friends, the workplace and citizenship.

Accolades for the Pacific Seminars Program


The Pacific Seminars have gained national attention by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), which is the leading national organization devoted to undergraduate liberal arts education.

  • AAC&U awarded Pacific a $25,000 grant to be part of a consortium of schools to promote the importance of personal and social responsibility as learning outcomes in higher education.
  • The AAC&U commissioned a video to highlight the Pacific Seminars as one of 11 innovative educational programs in the United States.
  • The AAC&U has identified Pacific as an exemplary LEAP (Liberal Education and America's Promise) institution by inviting Pacific to conduct presentations on the Pacific Seminars program to other institutions.


For More Information


Explore Pacific's General Education program and Pacific Seminars courses, or contact the Director of General Education.

Director of General Education

Email icon Lou Matz
Associate Dean and Director of General Education
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Room: WPC 110
Telephone: 209.946.2673
Adobe Acrobat icon Curriculum Vitae

Email icon Nancy Lund
Administrative Assistant
Room: WPC 110
Telephone: 209.946.2574