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Sweet Briar’s leadership core curriculum provides a foundation in the values, skills, knowledge, and perspectives that are essential for women’s leadership. The core curriculum is designed to develop in students the habits of communication (written and oral) and quantitative skills..

Our core curriculum is structured to help students move from ideas to actions. In the first course, students explore the ways in which problems are identified and ideas are generated. Core courses help students develop a firm ethical grounding, an ability to sift through evidence, and an understanding of diverse culutral and disciplinary perspectives. The development of communication skills is woven through the core.

At Sweet Briar College, we value innovation-not perfection. We understand that the process is often as important as the result, and that great ideas are grown through experimentation. We see occasional failure as in indispensable step in the experimentation process, a step that demonstrates an appropriate level of risk in striving for innovation. Our curriculum invites students to look squarely upon the problems that our world faces, and it empowers women to craft the solutions that our world needs by creating an inclusive environment, one that seeks out diverse perspectives to rise to diverse challenges.

Core courses will raise questions, identify interdisciplinary connections, and encourage intellectual open-mindedness. Because the core curriculum is compact, composed of just 30 credits, students have space and time to explore what truly excites them, by individualizing their academic program.

Core Curriculum Policy for Transfer Students

For transfer students entering Sweet Briar College as of Fall 2019, an associate degree from a regionally accredited community college will replace Sweet Briar’s required Leadership Core. These students will be eligible to move directly into coursework that will fulfill the requirements of their major of choice. The associate degrees that are eligible under this agreement are: Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Associate of Arts and Science. The qualifying associate degree must include a minimum of 30 semester credits for its general education requirement and students must have earned credit for at least one 3-credit course in each of the following areas:

- humanities/fine arts

- social/behavioral sciences

- natural sciences/mathematics

Credit awarded by the community college for AP or IB examination scores will be re-evaluated by Sweet Briar College. If all of the AP and IB examination scores meet SBC criteria, the associate degree qualifies for this agreement. If there is AP or IB credit that does not meet SBC criteria, the student’s associate degree will be evaluated and applied to the Leadership Core requirements as appropriate.

Sweet Briar does not evaluate or grant credit for CLEP examinations. A student using CLEP credit to satisfy any associate degree requirement would not be eligible for this agreement. Instead, the associate degree credit will be evaluated and applied to the Leadership Core requirements as appropriate.

Students earning an associate degree concurrently with high school graduation (sometimes referenced as dual enrollment or Early College) are not eligible for admission under the above terms of this policy. These students should complete the undergraduate application process for first-year students. Community college credit earned by these students will be evaluated and accepted on a course-by-course basis. These students must complete the Leadership Core requirements at Sweet Briar College.

Courses

• CORE 110 - Design Thinking
• CORE 120 - The Mindful Writer
• CORE 130 - Women and Gender in the World
• CORE 140 - Sustainable Systems
• CORE 150 - Creative Thinking and Practice
• CORE 160 - STEM in Society
• CORE 170 - Decisions in a Data-Driven World
• CORE 180 - Dollars and Sense
• CORE 210 - Contemporary Ethical Questions
• CORE 300 - The Consequential Citizen

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