New Curriculum Foundations
Information on this page applies to students beginning as first-years in Fall 2027 and beyond.
Foundations
The Foundations requirement is one of three interconnected components of the College curriculum
It consists of six specific courses or course types that all students complete: four that make up a first-year experience and two for the first year and beyond.
A Shared First-Year Experience
Four Foundations courses are designed as a shared intellectual experience in the first year, an opportunity for students to jumpstart their education with exploration of different disciplines and topics while gaining rigorous analytical and communication skills that will serve them well in any academic pathway. All four courses focus on critical thinking, careful observation and analysis, and intensive discussion on core questions of purpose, knowledge, and meaning that have driven human curiosity over the ages.
Kite
A seminar that focuses on investigating human experience past and present through approaches and concepts from the humanities, arts, and qualitative social sciences
Key
A lecture course with small-group lab sessions that focuses on key concepts important for scientific inquiry and for making quantitative, evidence-based statements about the world in which we live
First-Year Seminar
A discussion-based, close investigation of one topic in a small class setting
Critical Writing Seminar
A hands-on course that teaches facility, agility, and awareness in writing and develops writing as a thinking
Foundations for the First Year and Beyond
These courses complete the solid foundation of the College curriculum.
Language
Two courses or demonstrated fluency in a language other than English, with fluency determined through evaluations by experts in each language program
Perspectives & Difference
A course from among a curated set designed to increase historical and cultural literacy by making difference a core object of study
Check back for more information about these courses.