Curriculum Framework

The A&S College Core is built on a combination of Core Courses and Core Capacities:

Core Courses provide an invitation to the richness and breadth of an education in the arts and sciences as well as an introduction to the Core Capacities.
Core Capacities equip students with foundational competencies that they will hone across their time at Vanderbilt:
- Written & Creative Expression
- Systemic & Structural Reasoning
- Cultural & Interpretive Investigation
- Data Literacy & Computational Thinking
- Ethical & Social Engagement

Read a detailed description of the Core Capacities.

All A&S undergraduates take the First-Year Core sequence:

CORE 1010: Being Human (fall)
CORE 1020: Science, Technology, Values (spring)

After the first year, students enroll in two Exploratory Core electives (CORE 2500s) designed to probe multi-faceted questions and problems.

Students will round out their general education with a series of additional Capacity courses that satisfy up to two Core Capacities and are offered across the college. These include at least one course in each of the major divisions of the college: humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

Students will also fulfill at least one World Language course and one Inquiry Lab.

Dig deeper:

Contact: curriculum_as@vanderbilt.edu

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