CIVIC Courses
Beginning in fall 2026, 23 purpose-built CIVIC courses will be introduced within the existing 27-credit framework.
These courses were developed by faculty and approved through university governance structures. They are designed around shared program learning outcomes and are subject to ongoing review and assessment. Existing general education courses retain their designations.
New Center for Civic Excellence Courses in 2026-27
Quantitative Literacy (QL)
| Course | Description |
|---|---|
| CIVC 1000 Math for Real World Problems | Learn to make sense of complex issues in society through the use of mathematical models. Organize, evaluate, and communicate through mathematical models in order to help find successful solutions to complex contemporary problems. |
| CIVC 1010 Data and the Stories They Tell | Use data to uncover patterns and tell meaningful stories. Create visuals, explore probability and prediction, and use simple programming to investigate contemporary issues with data science. |
| CIVC 1020 Financial Foundations for Life and Society | Explore financial concepts and mathematical tools that will help you understand financial decision-making on both the personal and public level. Learn to interpret data, assess trade-offs, understand broader economic trends, and make better-informed financial decisions. |
Breadth Humanities (BHU) and Communication Literacy (CL)
| Course | Description |
|---|---|
| CIVC 1100 Flourishing and the Good Life | What is human well-being? How do we achieve happiness, fulfillment, and personal growth? Through engagement with cultures across time and place, examine varying notions of "the good life" and explore how societal structures support or hinder individual and collective flourishing. |
| CIVC 1110 Navigating Human Difference | A basic feature of the human experience is the tension between sameness and difference between people. By examining seminal humanistic texts, you will engage with different perspectives about the temperament and tools needed to engage productively with diversity and conflict. |
| CIVC 2100 Freedom, Equality, and Justice | What is freedom? What is equality? What is justice? What seem like "self-evident truths" are complicated and sometimes conflicting ideas, especially across diverse cultures. Learn how these concepts impact how we as citizens shape our legal, political, and economic systems. |
Breadth American Institutions (BAI)
| Course | Description |
|---|---|
| CIVC 1200 "The Blessings of Liberty": American Government | How does America's constitutional republic work? Explore the origins, functioning, and ongoing debates around our constitutional system and our rights and responsibilities within it. Learn how you can help shape the future of American democracy. |
| CIVC 1210 "A More Perfect Union": American History | How did Americans create America? Learn how diverse peoples formed, developed, defended, and evolved the nation's distinctive cultural, political, and economic institutions, then consider how you can help shape America's future. |
| CIVC 1220 "Promote the General Welfare": The American Economy | What makes America such a prosperous nation? Learn how Americans created and debated the nation's distinctive economic system in relationship to its politics and culture, and how you can participate in and shape the nation's economic life. |
Breadth Physical Science (BPS)
| Course | Description |
|---|---|
| CIVC 1400 Planetary Change and Human Futures | Examine Earth as an interrelated system focusing on climate dynamics and physical feedback. Analyze how energy and matter flow across spheres. Evaluate the risks and rewards of human intervention while developing scientific literacy to address modern environmental challenges. |
| CIVC 1410 Earth's Critical Resources | Explore the physical science behind Earth's critical resources: water, energy, soils, and minerals. Investigate how matter and energy distribution shape resource availability to address global sustainability challenges, innovative energy solutions, and complex human-environment interactions. |
Breadth Life Science (BLS)
| Course | Description |
|---|---|
| CIVC 1500 The Science of You: Health and the Human Body | Discover how the human body works. Ask questions and use evidence to make informed decisions about personal and public health. Develop the skills to tell solid science from sensational claims. |
| CIVC 1510 Our Place in the Natural World | Why are there over a million species on Earth? Why are species disappearing so fast? Explore how life evolves, sustains our planet, and how human decisions shape the future of the natural world. |
| CIVC 1520 Farm to Future: Sustainable Food Systems | How will science shape the future of food? Examine how evidence is used to understand food systems and their environmental and social impacts and apply scientific reasoning to discussions about sustainability and food security. |
Breadth Creative Arts (BCA)
| Course | Description |
|---|---|
| CIVC 1600 Thinking through the Arts | How do the arts help us think? Investigate visual arts, music, film, design, and drama to understand how meaning is created and shared. Strengthen interpretation, judgment, and creative thinking skills used across everyday life and society. |
| CIVC 1610 Design Thinking | The design process creates everything in our built world. Examine the social, cultural, aesthetic, and functional aspects of the built environment and the products within it, using an iterative design process to build your creative capacity. |
| CIVC 1620 Music and the Creative Life | How do creative ideas become real? Explore the creative process through experimentation, collaboration, and feedback. Learn to develop ideas, take risks, and apply your creativity to make a positive impact in your community and the world. |
| CIVC 1622 Visual Arts and the Creative Life | How do creative ideas become real? Explore the creative process through experimentation, collaboration, and feedback. Learn to develop ideas, take risks, and apply your creativity to make a positive impact in your community and the world. |
| CIVC 1624 Writing and the Creative Life | How do creative ideas become real? Explore the creative process through experimentation, collaboration, and feedback. Learn to develop ideas, take risks, and apply your creativity to make a positive impact in your community and the world. |
Breadth Social Science (BSS)
| Course | Description |
|---|---|
| CIVC 1800 Disagree Better | Conflict is a normal part of human interactions, but people often struggle to navigate it productively. Drawing on social scientific perspectives, learn the practical skills needed to transform conflict in interpersonal relationships, from roommates to families to workplaces. |
| CIVC 1810 Lead from Where You Are | Leadership is far more than a position or title. Learn how to lead by exercising positive influence through strengthening relationships, increasing trust, and aligning your actions with your core values and purpose. |
| CIVC 1820 The Social Science of Happiness | How can you be happier? Is happiness even possible? Learn how to enhance your emotional intelligence, resilience, healthy mental habits, interpersonal connections, and other virtues that will allow you to thrive both personally and in your relationships with others. |
| CIVC 1830 Pathways to Intercultural Understanding | Positively engaging with different cultures is an essential skill for civic life. Using social scientific lenses, learn how to better understand cultural differences in order to foster more effective, empathetic, and reciprocal interactions across cultures. |
Course Development Process
Faculty proposal and drafting
Curriculum Committee review
University governance approval
Syllabus review
Assessment cycle
Concurrent Enrollment
Center leadership works with district and high school partners to ensure clarity and consistency in general education offerings. Designations and transfer standards remain aligned with Utah System of Higher Education policy.