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 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 multi-media classes, and a co-curricular, you will satisfy all of your Hub requirement. 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 CC101: Ancient Worlds, in the fall, and CC102: The Way, in the spring. These two courses will establish a firm foundation in critical thinking and successful writing. Students who take our natural sciences sequence CC111: Origins, in the fall, and CC212: Reality, Science and the Modern World, in the spring, will see the role that science plays in our everyday lives.

You can 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, while 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.