The Core Program

The Core Curriculum in the College of Arts & Sciences is a liberal arts learning community for students who love books, ideas, and intellectual discussion. Centered around weekly lectures and small discussion classes with faculty representing many disciplines and departments at BU, the Core Program invites students to engage with enduring texts, art, and stories. The aim throughout is to help you navigate the ideas that shape our world. We believe that building a learning community requires many voices and perspectives, and we strive to foster a learning environment where students from all backgrounds, majors, and specialties can contribute to the conversations.

Core’s elective pathways through the humanities, natural science, and social science courses are designed to address questions common to all disciplines and foster intellectual growth. Students will receive Hub requirements in every Core class, and if you choose to complete all of Core’s foundational courses, one of our digital and multimedia classes, and a co-curricular, you will satisfy most of your Hub requirements. Core’s eight foundational classes are designed to work together as a distinct curriculum, or you can navigate them individually to build your own foundation. 

  • First-year students can begin by completing our two-semester humanities sequence to establish a firm foundation in critical thinking and successful writing:
    • CAS CC 101: Ancient Worlds (fall only)
      • An interdisciplinary study of the origins of civilization, from Mesopotamia and the Hebrew Bible to the development of Greek civilization through Homer, Greek tragedy, and the philosophy of Plato. You should enroll in CAS CC 101 if you are considering the Core Curriculum. 
      • This course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, First-Year Writing Seminar, Creativity/Innovation.
    • CAS CC 102: The Way: Antiquity and the Medieval World (spring only) 
      • Prerequisite: First Year Writing Seminar or equivalent (e.g., CC 101 or WR 120)
      • A focus on writing and oral / signed communication leads to an exploration of the nature of communication, and a study of Western and Asian art at the Museum of Fine Arts brings out the contrast of traditions and deepens Core’s overall study of the relation of the individual to culture and to nature. 
      • This course fulfills the following Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course; Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy; Oral and/or Signed Communication.
  • Students who take our natural sciences sequence will see the role that science plays in our everyday lives:
    • CAS CC 111: Origins—of the Big Bang, Earth, Life and Humanity* (fall only) 
      • The origins of the physical world, a scientific parallel to CC 101. Explores how the fields of astronomy, earth science, biology, and anthropology help us to understand our place in the cosmos from a scientific perspective. Topics include the Big Bang, evolution of the stars and earth, evolution of life, and the origins of human life and society. Assignments include computer-based and experimental laboratory work as well as team-based investigation and original research. 
      • This course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following Hub areas: Scientific Inquiry I, Quantitative Reasoning I, Teamwork/Collaboration.
    • CAS CC 212: Science, Reality and the Modern World* (spring only) 
      • Studies the paradigm-shifting scientific theories of quantum theory and relativity that created a new world view and forced the 20th century into a new understanding of our relation to reality. Students parallel these theories with current debates about science, such as those concerning climate change and the phenomenon of “junk science.” Considers the role of science in the modern world, how we know what we know, the roles of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle and chaos theory, and the nature of truth in a 21st century context. 
      • This course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following Hub areas:  Scientific Inquiry II, Quantitative Reasoning II, Critical Thinking.

**PLEASE NOTE: Students in the Core Program who are interested in majors within the natural sciences (Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Neuroscience, Physics, etc.) and are taking at least one laboratory course this semester should NOT enroll in CAS CC 111 or 212.

You can elect to continue your path through Core by completing the Core Minor, the Minor in Core Independent Studies (MCIS), or Core Honors, each of which offers a liberal arts foundation to your chosen major. 

  • The Core Minor is a great liberal arts foundation complementary to any major 
  • The MCIS enables students to pursue an interdisciplinary interest of their own while working closely with a faculty advisor. 
  • Core Honors allows particularly motivated students to further pursue topics and texts encountered in their Core classes.

Guidance for Core course registration may be found within each individual major registration guide.  Contact Kyna Hamill, Director, Core Curriculum at 617-353-5404, core@bu.edu, or bu.edu/core.