Core Curriculum Resources for Faculty

The Core Curriculum, designed by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, is central to Fordham's larger mission.

As stated in the University's mission statement, "Fordham affirms the value of a core curriculum rooted in the liberal arts and sciences. The University seeks to foster in all its students life-long habits of careful observation, critical thinking, creativity, moral reflection, and articulate expression."

The core curriculum advances the design of the undergraduate curriculum as a whole. As students' majors and electives allow specialization and individualization in their studies, the core curriculum assures that every student's undergraduate education is anchored, as a whole, in the liberal arts as presented by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

The Fordham Core Curriculum is unique in its integration of requirements throughout the student's attendance and development at the university.

Proposals for Core Curriculum Courses

To submit a proposal for a course to fulfill a core requirement, please use CourseLeaf.

1. Find CourseLeaf on the MyApps tab of the portal, and click on Courses.

Note: to submit a new core attribute proposal, the course must not currently be under review in CourseLeaf workflow for some other change.

2. Start the course change request.

    1. If this is a request to add a core attribute to an existing course, type the course number or title into the search box and click Search. Select the course in the search results and then click Edit Course.
    2. If this is a new course proposal, click Propose New Course.
      Note: the course will wait at the core attribute approval step until the relevant committee approves it. Core Curriculum Committee approval can take up to a few months. For new courses that need expedited treatment, submit first without the core attribute so the course can complete workflow and be created in Banner. Then once the course has completed workflow, submit a change to add the attribute.

3. Scroll down to find the core attributes area. Click the checkbox for the attribute(s) you are proposing. You can check more than one box. Please consider the following regarding attributes:

    1. Some attributes will always go on the course whenever it is offered. Click the checkbox under “Does this course (all sections) count”.
    2. Some attributes, namely EP1, EP3, Pluralism, Global Studies, and Community Engaged Learning, may go onto only specific course sections depending on the instructor’s syllabus. For these, check the box under “Will some (but not all) sections of this course count”.

4. Checking the attribute box for some attributes (American Pluralism, EP, Global Studies, Interdisciplinary Capstone Core, or Values Seminar) will cause a questionnaire to open up where you can attach the course syllabus and answer questions about how the course meets the core requirement. Please fill these in following the instructions. For these attributes, please email the Associate Deans, Rachel Annunziato ([email protected]) and Bob Moniot ([email protected]), as well as the Chair of the Core Curriculum Committee, Julie Chun Kim ([email protected]), so they will be aware of your submission.

5. You can click Save Changes at the bottom of the window to save your work and return to it later. When ready to submit, click Start Workflow. You can view the course proposal and see what stage of the workflow it has reached at any time by returning to CourseLeaf.

The Approval Timetable is available for these courses.