Foundational Curriculum

Foundational Curriculum

Richmond’s Foundational Curriculum serves as a “web of inquiry” that will prepare you to be an inquisitive and engaged 21st-century citizen and leader. It will expand your perspectives through exposure to a variety of disciplines, equipping you to build your own distinct educational, career, and life paths. It will inspire you to think critically, to view the world from multiple viewpoints, and to optimize your strengths.

You will graduate with deep knowledge within your chosen major as well as a multifaceted worldview that will prepare you for rapidly changing job markets and evolving global landscapes. This curriculum will make you a well-rounded thinker, communicator, advocate, and citizen.

Richmond’s Foundational Curriculum

Engages you in new and relevant modes of inquiry across all four years of your education, preparing you to be inquisitive and engaged 21st-century citizens and leaders.

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Areas of Inquiry

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You will select from courses in six areas of inquiry – historical, social, literary and textual, visual and performing arts, natural science, and symbolic reasoning, which form the basis of your liberal arts education.

Explore questions such as:

How might the past affect the present (and the future)?

How do texts express culture and identity?

What is the nature of a scientific question?

Why do we make artistic creations?

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Integrated Focus Areas

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You will enhance your knowledge of quantitative data literacy, written and embodied communication, and power, equity, identity, and culture.

Explore questions such as:

How can writing influence thinking?

How do bodies communicate?

How can numerical data support an analysis or claim?

How are beliefs and attitudes about identity formed?

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Engagements

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You will participate in a First-Year Seminar, become proficient in a second language, and be exposed to wellness offerings to help you build a healthy lifestyle.

Explore questions such as:

How do we learn to learn?

How can learning a language affect our cultural fluency?

Why is wellness a key factor in daily living?