Civics Curriculum
Beginning Fall 2027
The Civics Curriculum deepens students’ understanding of citizenship, leadership and public life. Rooted in the Western intellectual tradition and committed to serious engagement with competing viewpoints, the planned coursework examines the ideas, institutions, traditions and virtues that sustain constitutional self-government and a free, healthy society.
Students who complete the courses will earn a minor and a certificate (both credentials forthcoming) and fulfill multiple core curriculum requirements.
Questions Students Will Explore
The curriculum is organized around eight central questions:
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What does it mean to be an American?
Competing sources of national identity and the customs that can build civic unity across differences.
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What enables liberty and human flourishing?
How enduring principles and inherited practices can guide a free society amid contemporary challenges.
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How do institutions shape our common life?
The role families, religious communities, civil associations, and other institutions play in forming character and sustaining the common good.
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How should the United States exercise power abroad?
Competing views of America’s role in the world and the ethical responsibilities of statesmanship.
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What is democracy, and what sustains it?
How democracy is defined and measured, including its development and present challenges in Eastern Europe.
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What makes leadership principled and effective?
How judgment, character, responsibility, and practical wisdom shape leadership in public and professional life.
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What grounds moral judgment and the common good?
Major ethical traditions concerning natural law, virtue, wisdom, and human flourishing.
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How has natural law shaped American political life?
Traces natural law’s political application and its relevance to contemporary political polarization.
These offerings are in development and remain subject to the university’s approval process.