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The Liberal Arts Core Curriculum

Programme Structure

Your degree at Richmond will usually take four years (or eight semesters), although this can be shortened through the transfer of eligible academic credit.  If you enter with A-levels at grade C or above, or equivalent qualifications, you may be exempt from some of these Liberal Arts subjects and could complete your degree programme sooner. Students entering with a US High School Diploma or equivalent usually complete in four years.

The Liberal Arts Core Programme is based on nine core curriculum courses (with a mix of required and optional courses), including an Environmental Studies course in your first, second or third year and one research course which will be specific to your programme.  The nine courses, which are spread over the first three years of a four-year degree programme, are outlined below.

Year 1 – Level 3

Three required courses

  • Tools for Change

    Our mission is to develop you as a student, an active citizen and a future employable graduate. Think of this course as an opportunity to consider your transition to university, reflecting on your development as an independent learner and a critical thinker.  You will research and create a plan for service learning in the London area. You will learn to use a range of digital platforms for individual and group project work, focusing heavily on effective communication, including oral presentation, and taking into account issues of accessibility for all.

  • Research and Writing I

    Develop your ability to read and think critically, and to analyse texts from a range of genres. How do you successfully negotiate a path through a sea of information and then write it up? Using information literacy skills to help with guided research, you will develop your ability to produce effective and appropriate academic writing across the curriculum.

    Plus Visual Thinking or Narratives of Change

  • Visual Thinking

    Explore the practice and theory of critical visual thinking with this course as you develop your visual analysis skills across a range of cultures and contexts: the arts, politics, science, sport and technology. How can we make sense of an art installation that consists of a pile of stones on a gallery floor? How can we learn to communicate ideas visually and verbally?

  • Narratives of Change

    Discover works of contemporary global literature with this course by exploring how literature both shapes and responds to our changing world, encompassing gender, race, environment and technology.

    Plus Environmental Studies

    Choose an option from courses in Environmental Studies which include Energy: A Global Perspective, World Regional Geography and Foundations in Environmental Studies, all of which will help you gain skills in scientific reasoning, data and ethical analysis.

Year 2 – Level 4

Three required courses

  • Research and Writing II

    You will learn how to produce well-researched writing that demonstrates critical engagement. How do you develop your critical research and writing skills to be effective in the academic and professional arenas? How do you design and structure an argument that is convincing? You will be able to answer these questions and more as you develop confidence in your writing skills.

  • Social Change in Practice

    This is your opportunity to make a positive change in the community through this course where you will apply a range of planning and research techniques to deliver a community-based project related to a social or environmental issue that you are interested in.

    Plus Data Analysis for Social Change or Probability and Statistics 1

  • Data Analysis for Social Change

    How do we engage with digital and social media content, and how can these reactions and behaviours be measured? This course explores the techniques, tools and debates around social media analytics, including the ethical and social implications of data analysis.

  • Probability and Statistics 1

    Gain an understanding of probability and statistics as you develop the right statistical vocabulary and perform some of the most useful statistical methods such as using statistical tables and software, learning all about the assumptions and pitfalls of various statistical methods.

    Plus Environmental Studies

    Take a course in Environmental Studies which focuses on ‘Endangered Species: Ecology and Conservation’, which will help you gain skills in scientific reasoning, data and ethical analysis.

Year 3 – Level 5

Two required courses

  • Service Learning

    Find a cause that you are passionate about and undertake a service learning placement in the local community.  This experiential learning course will not only develop your research, critical thinking and self-reflection skills, but will enhance your cultural and global awareness as you link classroom work to real world problems and needs within the local community.

  • Research Methods

    Expand your research methods skills with this course which will be specific to your programme, providing you with greater employability when you graduate.

The Liberal Arts Core – at a glance

A focus on embodying change

Nine required courses

Level 3 – Three required courses

– GEP 3102 – Tools for change
– GEP 3180 – Research & Writing I
– GEP 3150 – Visual Thinking or
– GEP 3170 – Narratives of Change

Level 4 – Three required courses

– GEP 4180 – Research & Writing II
– GEP 4105 – Change in Practice
– DGT 4110 – Data Analytics for Social Change (if no MTH in major)
– MTH 4120 – Probability & Statistics I (if MTH in major)

Level 5 – Two required courses

Service Learning, choose one from:

– GEP 5101 – Digital Collaboration
– GEP 5102 – Leadership in a Changing World
– GEP 5103 – Environment and Society
– GEP 5104 – Global Citizenship and Migration

Level 5 Research discipline specific

One Required ENV course at Level 3, 4 or 5

– ENV 3125 – Foundation of Environmental Studies or
– ENV 3120 – Energy: A Global Perspective or
– ENV 4135 – Endangered Species or
– ENV 5100 – Environmental Ethics

*if required, tested into like EAP

Subject exemptions

As outlined above, if you enter with A-levels at grade C or above, or equivalent qualifications, you may be exempt from some of these subjects and could complete your degree programme sooner. Students entering with a US High School Diploma or equivalent usually complete in four years.

In order to assess you for potential exemptions we will need to complete a TCE (transfer credit evaluation). For more information please visit our transfer credits page.