General Education

General Education at UVA

Explore this site to help you determine your curricular preferences in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Student Perspective

New College Curriculum students speak about their experiences with the Engagements courses

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Your Questions Answered Here

General Education at UVA

Explore this site to help you determine your curricular preferences in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Student Perspective

New College Curriculum students speak about their experiences with the Engagements courses

Testimonials

Your Questions Answered Here

New College Curriculum

Explore the Liberal Arts & Sciences while taking courses towards your major. Exclusive to this curriculum are the Engagements - interdisciplinary first-year courses designed and led by premier UVA Faculty.

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Forums Curriculum

Tailored groups of courses built around a central topic, providing students with the opportunity to have a themed general education experience across academic disciplines.

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Traditional Curriculum

UVA’s distributional curriculum exploring the liberal arts & sciences across nine distinct academic areas of the College. Transfer students are automatically enrolled in this curriculum.

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General Education

General Education at UVA

Student Perspective

General Education at UVA

Student Perspective

New College Curriculum

Forums Curriculum

Traditional Curriculum

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New College Curriculum

Forums Curriculum

Traditional Curriculum

Common to all three curricula

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New College Curriculum	Forums Curriculum	Traditional Curriculum
Purpose
The College’s new, 21st Century approach to liberal arts & science education with a focus on the fundamental questions at the heart of inquiry	Small cohorts of students enroll in tailored groups of courses built around a prevalent question/topic of the 21st Century.	UVA’s traditional curriculum, modeled on a distribution of courses across the liberal arts & sciences.
Defining Experience
The Engagements: A series of 4 courses in the first year taught by the College Fellows, some of UVA’s leading scholars	The Forum Seminar and Capstone: Two courses that focus entirely on the Forum topic while bridging multiple disciplines.	The traditional curriculum was not designed around a defining experience.
Number of Credits
52-55	50	47-50
First-Year Classes
Engagements First-Writing Requirement Electives & Major Pre-requisites (total 15-17 credits per semester)	Introductory Forum Seminar First-Writing Requirement Electives & Major Pre-requisites (total 15-17 credits per semester)	First-Writing Requirement Electives & Major Pre-requisites (total 15-17 credits per semester)
Curriculum Components
Engagements Literacies Disciplines	Introductory Seminar & Capstone Competency Requirements	Area Requirements Competency Requirements
Advisors
College Fellows (faculty who teach the Engagement Courses)	Forum Faculty	Faculty randomly assigned from across the College who advise first- and second-years
First Implemented
2017-18	2016-17	1967-68
Size of Classes
5 seminar-sized classes guaranteed in first year	2 seminar-sized classes guaranteed in first year	1 seminar-sized class guaranteed in first year
Number of Seats
Space limited to 1200	Space limited to 40 per forum (160 total)	Space not limited

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General Education at UVA

Student Perspective

General Education at UVA

Student Perspective

New College Curriculum

Forums Curriculum

Traditional Curriculum

Home

Quick Compare

New College Curriculum

Forums Curriculum

Traditional Curriculum

Common to all three curricula

Contact Us