Civitae Core Curriculum at Longwood University

What does it look like for a higher education institution to make a whole-campus commitment to democratic values? Perhaps no campus offers a better example than Longwood University, a public four-year institution in Farmville, Virginia. The university embodies how classroom curricula and outside-the-classroom experiences can be leveraged toward cultivating the next generation of civic leaders.

Program Description:

In 1997, Longwood University’s board of visitors adopted a new mission, declaring Longwood “dedicated to the development of citizen leaders who are prepared to make positive contributions to the common good of society.” Longwood accomplishes this mission through its curriculum, off-campus programming, and robust student-affairs opportunities.

Core Curriculum:

Longwood’s core curriculum, known as Civitae, is the general education program for all undergraduate students at the university. It begins with a course known as CTZN 110. During this introductory class, students investigate the foundations of citizenship, including ethical reasoning, critical thought, and civil discourse. Their core curriculum experience continues with “Pillar” classes. These disciplinary courses develop students’ foundational citizenship skills through the study of world languages and cultures and creative problem-solving using quantitative and scientific reasoning. As students progress through their general education into upper-level courses, they encounter “Perspectives.” Faculty in these courses help students develop an informed perspective on a civic issue. In addition, these courses challenge students to locate, evaluate, and organize information from multiple disciplines—a key skill for a modern citizen leader. A student’s academic experience reaches its zenith with the capstone course, the Symposium on the Common Good. During this seminar course, students consider citizenship itself and all the issues a citizen faces.

Off-Campus Experiences:

To supplement the Civitae classroom learning, Longwood students engage in “Brock Experiences,” unique courses in which students explore an unresolved civic issue somewhere in America. This suite of courses immerses students by taking them to wherever that issue is most salient. One team of students might travel to Yellowstone National Park to consider the stewardship of public lands. Another group might travel to Arizona to consider immigration policy or to San Francisco to consider the future of human genetic engineering. Along the way, everyone on a Brock Experience reflects on contentious issues in their own community and ways to lead for positive change. Faculty and staff lead these academic courses, and significant effort goes into preparing them to do so. For many, the beginning of their training happens at the Chesapeake Bay Institute, a professional development version of one of the Brock Experience student courses. Faculty and staff experience a Brock course in miniature as they learn how to lead this style of class. Some faculty go on to propose new Brock Experiences and are chosen to be part of the Brock Fellowship—a two-year period of intensive professional development that leads to the launch of a new course.

Other Co-Curricular Efforts:

At Longwood, other campus activities, beyond the Civatae courses and Brock Experiences, are designed to further enhance students’ civic learning. Longwood offers many of the same activities as other campuses but suffuses these activities with a throughline of training citizen leaders. Cocurricular activities—collegiate programming outside the classroom—are organized according to a citizen leadership model and are intended to foster civic engagement, reflective and integrative learning, effective communication, professional and life skills development, intercultural engagement, and understanding of self and others. While the campus boasts the requisite student governing bodies and volunteer opportunities, it also features a robust community of secret societies that shape the student body toward such democratic ideals as service to the whole, servant leadership, and the joy of community. A robust fraternity and sorority culture is augmented by the university’s version of civil society, found in such groups as the Honors Student Association, the Wesley Campus Ministry, and the Rotunda student newspaper. Putting into practice what they were taught in the classroom, students from minoritized backgrounds united to form a new advocacy organization focused on making positive changes for nonwhite students. This resulted in campus-wide change and increased representation in university decision-making.

Impact:

Longwood University is committed to its mission of developing citizen leaders who make positive contributions to the common good. This is manifest in its curriculum through a focus on civic issues and citizenship skill development, and in cocurricular programs via opportunities for students to put those citizenship skills to work in leading their peers or advocating for change. All these efforts are supported by citizen leaders in the faculty and staff who care deeply about the common good.
 

Population Served:

All undergraduate students at Longwood University engage with the Core Curriculum, beginning with a mandatory credit-bearing course. 

Learn more here. 

Page last updated in August 2026