General Education Curriculum

A liberal arts education is typically characterized by the development of broad intellectual and cultural interests and by the achievement of a significant body of skills and knowledge. It is the particular responsibility of a general education curriculum to address the first of these goals, the broadening of students' interests, while also laying the foundation for the acquisition of advanced skills and deeper knowledge within optional areas of concentration, normally defined as majors.

So it is at the University of Richmond, where a distinctive general education curriculum has been designed:

• To provide a stimulating and challenging introduction to collegiate life through a first-year seminar courses

• To establish the basic prerequisites of productive scholarship through a set of communication skills requirements

• To familiarize students in a meaningful way with some of the major approaches to intellectual and cultural life through a series of fields of study requirements

This curriculum is offered by a faculty that sees general education as fundamental to its mission. Through its various general education courses, the faculty intends to incorporate each and every student into a community of learners who value and practice the life of the mind. Beginning with their general education courses and continuing through the courses in their major, their elective courses, and their various cocurricular and extracurricular learning experiences, University of Richmond students are expected to develop their ability to think critically and independently, to learn to tolerate ambiguity where true ambiguity exists, and to grow in their respect for and their ability to deal with the kinds of multiplicity that characterize our complex world. The common goal of the University's faculty is the education of independent, responsible, and contributing members of society.

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