Fall 2026 Quest 2 Courses

Themes

Quest 2 courses should fall naturally within one of the six themes and examine essential questions relevant to that theme.

AI Agents/AI and Society
AI is no longer a tool we simply use—it’s an active agent influencing decision-making, governance, creativity, and human relationships. This category calls for courses that focus on AI applications, as well as courses that examine AI’s societal impacts, from automation and bias to privacy, democracy, and the future of work.

Resilience and Adaptation
Human beings and societies face constant challenges requiring resilience and creative adaptation. Courses in this category explore how individuals, communities, and ecosystems respond to disruption, stress, and uncertainty.

The Connected and Patterned World
Whether through networks of trade, ecosystems, or the spread of ideas, our world is shaped by connections and patterns. Courses in this category encourage students to explore complex systems, interdependence, and the ways patterns and big data in the social sciences and/or the biophysical sciences help us understand.

Water, Water Everywhere…
Water sustains life, shapes landscapes, drives economies, and sparks conflict. This category invites courses that examine water’s scientific, cultural, political, and symbolic significance.

You Are What You Eat
Food is far more than sustenance—it reflects important aspects of our social and biophysical environments. This category welcomes courses that examine food systems, cultural cuisines, agricultural practices, nutrition, and the myriad questions surrounding what and how we eat.

Outside the Box
Some of the most transformative learning comes from unexpected connections and unconventional approaches. This open-ended category invites creative, interdisciplinary courses that challenge traditional boundaries, foster curiosity, and encourage students to think in new ways.

OBJECTIVES AND SLOS

Program Description  

Quest 2 courses provide an opportunity for students to engage in thought-provoking General Education coursework that builds on and expands upon their Quest 1 experience in the Arts and Humanities. If Quest 1 courses ask what it means, Quest 2 courses ask what we can do. Rather than offer an introduction to or survey of a specific field, Quest 2 courses invite students to encounter important real-world issues that cut across disciplines. They introduce scientific methods and discourse for students to become familiar with the ways that data, methods, and tools from diverse fields can be brought to bear on pressing questions facing human societies and/or the planet today. What are the unintended consequences of technological progress, climate change, structural racism? How do the various social and/or biophysical sciences substantively contribute to life on our planet? How do these disciplines converge towards improving the human condition?  

Course Objective  

Quest 2 courses provide instruction in the history, key themes, principles, terminologies, theories, or methodologies of various social or biophysical science disciplines that enable us to address pressing questions and challenges about human society and/or the state of our planet. Students learn to identify and analyze different social or biophysical science methods and theories and consider how their biases and influences shape pressing questions about human society and/or the state of our planet. These courses emphasize clear and effective analysis and evaluation of qualitative or quantitative data relevant to pressing questions concerning human society and/or the state of our planet. Students reflect on the ways in which the social or the biophysical sciences impact individuals, societies, and their own intellectual, personal, and professional development. 

Student Learning Outcomes  

Identify, describe, and explain the cross-disciplinary dimensions of a pressing societal issue or challenge as represented by the social sciences and/or biophysical sciences incorporated into the course. (Content)

Critically analyze quantitative or qualitative data appropriate for informing an approach, policy, or praxis that addresses some dimension of an important societal issue or challenge. (Critical Thinking) 

Develop and present, in terms accessible to an educated public, clear and effective responses to proposed approaches, policies, or practices that address important societal issues or challenges. (Communication)

Connect course content with critical reflection on their intellectual, personal, and professional development at UF and beyond. (Connection)

CALL FOR COURSES

SPRING 2026 CALL FOR UF QUEST 2 COURSES

UF Quest invites faculty to submit applications to teach new and existing UF Quest 2 courses for Spring 2026. In UF Quest 2, students explore pressing questions about the human condition and the state of our planet that are difficult to answer and hard to ignore in a world that is increasingly complex. UF Quest 2 courses are multi-disciplinary, provide students the opportunity for self-reflection and experiential learning, and foster a student-centered learning environment. 

UF Quest 2 courses fulfill the UF Quest 2 requirement and the optional 3 credits of the General Education requirement in the Biological, Physical, or Social & Behavioral Sciences. Some UF Quest 2 courses may also count toward the Writing requirement and/or the International requirement.

The deadline is April 4, 2025. Click on the links below for detailed instructions.

SYLLABUS POLICY

Quest 2 course syllabuses must conform to the UF Syllabus Policy, the General Education Course Syllabus Policy, and the Writing Requirement Syllabus Policy (if applicable). Please consult the General Education Syllabus Checklist, when preparing your syllabus.

QUEST 2 SYLLABUS CHECKLIST

In addition to the required items that each UF syllabus and General Education syllabus must include, the Quest 2 syllabus must fully meet Quest 2 goals, objectives, and requirements and include:

• A course description that fully states the pressing questions that the course examines.
• A link to the Quest 2 Objectives and Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs).
• Course-specific Objectives and SLOs that clearly align with those of Quest 2 and pertinent Gen Ed Objectives and SLOs (see the Syllabus Builder for examples).
• A week-by-week course schedule that is detailed enough to demonstrate that the weekly topics and assigned materials (readings, viewings, online activities, etc.) are multi-disciplinary, meet the criteria for the Gen Ed designations you seek, and address the course’s pressing questions.
• At least one writing assignment.
• Deliberate self-reflection by students, achieved through assigned work or structured class discussion.
• An experiential learning opportunity.

Note: Faculty first receive "temporary" approval to teach their Quest course as IDS 2935. Because temporary Quest courses cannot include a Material and Supply Fee, faculty should develop experiential activities for temporary Quest courses that do not require such fees. A Material and Supply fee can be added only to a Quest course that has been approved for the "permanent" designation.

SAMPLE QUEST 2 SYLLABUSES

• Feeding the Planet (Quest 2, Social and Behavioral Sciences, International)
• What Do Bones Tell Us? (Quest 2, Biological Sciences)

GENERAL EDUCATION SYLLABUS RESOURCES

• General Education Syllabus Requirements
• General Education Syllabus Checklist
• General Education Sample Syllabus
• General Education and Writing Requirment Sample Syllabus