Common Curriculum in Brief

The Common Curriculum provides academic breadth with a set of intellectually rigorous and challenging courses that foster skills and attributes associated with leadership and global citizenship. The program allows students to make choices in their studies, to make connections between different disciplines and ideas, and to explore their creativity by taking courses that fall into six Topics of Inquiry (TOIs) and three Competencies.

121
. . Days Until Common Curriculum Launch
August 25, 2025

Important Information

  • A running list of courses approved for TOIs is now available on the Appendix for the Common Curriculum of the Undergraduate Catalog, or as a sortable spreadsheet on the Registrar's Catalog Changes website. Select the report for "GEOC/Common Curriculum Courses" and sort as desired.
  • Common Curriculum Course Development Grants for 2025 have been awarded. Please see our awards page for the winners.
  • We are currently seeking new members for all of our subcommittees. Please contact Karen McDermott if interested.
  • If you're a current UConn student, please see our sister website for information on the General Education curriculum. The Common Curriculum only applies to students entering in Fall 2025, although you can opt into it if you so choose. Please discuss options with your advisor.
  • Reminder: Any CC course that a department would like to offer in intensive session (Winter or May) must seek special approval. Contact Karen McDermott for details.
  • For more information, please see our One-Pager and By the Numbers documents, and share with others.
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Upcoming Workshops

Please see our Workshops page for a full list of upcoming events.

NEXT UP

Spring 2025: Teaching in the New Common Curriculum Series

    NEXT: Career Readiness in the Common Curriculum (4/21/25 and 4/22/25, 2:30-3:30PM, online)

    The eight career competencies identified by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) are not just abstract ideals but practical skills that significantly enhance students' employability and career success. By embedding career competencies into courses, and specifically the Common curriculum, institutions like UConn will bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world application, preparing students for successful transitions into the workforce.  Faculty are already implementing activities and assignments that help students to develop these skills, but students are not necessarily aware.  This workshop will cover the what, why, and how of integrating NACE career competencies into curricula.  This workshop is relevant for instructors of any courses, not just Common Curriculum.

    Monday, April 21 - 2:30pm-3:30pm (Session 1)
    Meeting Link
    Meeting ID: 251 184 329 26
    Passcode: 2qk9QS2Z
    Dial in by phone: +1 475-282-1761, 108004008#

    Tuesday, April 22 - 2:30pm-3:30pm (Session 2)
    Meeting Link
    Meeting ID: 232 098 837 269
    Passcode: Ry3Yk2KG
    Dial in by phone: +1 475-282-1761, 161701411#

    Topics of Inquiry

    Creativity Icon with Stars

    Creativity: Design, Expression, Innovation

    In any discipline, creativity is a process that turns novel ideas into reality. Courses in this topic require higher-order thought processes that imagine new possibilities. Through the application of innovative thought and activity, students will conceive and/or produce new forms of expression, ideas, mechanisms, and products.

    TOI-1 Criteria

    Cultural Dimensions Icon with Globe

    Cultural Dimensions of Human Experiences

    Human cultures are fluid and interwoven sets of values, shared beliefs, language, customs, and artistic expressions shaped by experience and history. Courses in this topic promote understanding of cultures of groups of people—large or small—through examination of their specific literary and artistic expressions, their ways of thinking and behaving, their achievements and struggles, and their evolving relationships to their past.

    TOI-2 Criteria

    DEI Icon with Scales

    Diversity, Equity, and Social Justice

    The dynamics of power and privilege produce inequalities at individual, structural, and cultural levels. Human identities develop through cultural values, social group membership, and lived experiences. How societies perceive and manage this cultural, social, and biological diversity can foster or suppress human identity in democratic life, thereby shaping social and individual experiences.

    TOI-3 Criteria

    Environmental Icon with Leaves

    Environmental Literacy

    As part of natural systems, humans impact the health and well-being of natural systems and of Earth systems. Conversely, natural and Earth systems impact human health and well-being. By recognizing critical environmental concerns, individuals within social, political, and legal systems develop knowledge, skills, and motivation to make informed and responsible decisions concerning human relationships with the natural and Earth systems and take actions to improve the well-being of other individuals, societies, and the global environment.

    TOI-4 Criteria

    Institutions Icon with People

    Individual Values and Social Institutions

    Informed citizenship and leadership call on an appreciation of how society is organized on multiple scales, from individual values and actions to social institutions and economic systems.

    TOI-5 Criteria

    Science Icon with Bar Graph

    Scientific and Empirical Inquiry

    Knowledge production stems from an interplay of observation, data, hypotheses, and theory concerning the natural universe, social systems, and theoretical models. Through scientific inquiry in the form of problem-solving and questioning, a greater understanding of observable phenomena develops and facilitates well-reasoned conclusions and predictions.

    TOI-6 Criteria