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The Trinity Plus Curriculum

The Trinity Plus curriculum prepares students for living and working in a globalizing world, leading socially meaningful and personally satisfying lives. The curriculum is premised fundamentally on close interaction and collaborative learning between faculty and students, in and out of the traditional academic classroom. Our urban location, unique international programs, and committed global network of alumni complement the expertise and dedication of Trinity’s faculty, providing students with a wealth of resources and opportunities for engaged learning. The College’s Plus Curriculum equips students with the intellectual flexibility of a general education and the capacity to become innovative thinkers for the 21st century.

To learn more about the Trinity Plus curriculum, visit the Trinity Plus website.

General Education

Fostering intellectual curiosity and core competencies, Trinity’s general education curriculum is designed to give each student the freedom to explore academic interests, discover passions, and acquire the breadth of knowledge integral to a liberal arts education. Our general education curriculum has six key components:

  1. First-Year Seminar: All students take a first-year seminar or participate in a Gateway Program, introducing them to the intellectual life of the College and reinforcing essential academic practices, including the capacity to write compellingly and read critically, conduct research and analysis, and communicate effectively and collaboratively

  2. Foundational Skills: To ensure that all students have the basic tools needed for success in today’s world, students demonstrate writing proficiency, quantitative literacy, and competency in a second language.

  3. Distributional Breadth: Since one of the hallmarks of a liberal arts education is breadth of knowledge, students take at least one course in each of these fields: the arts, humanities, natural sciences, numerical & symbolic reasoning, and social sciences.

  4. Writing-Intensive Courses: In reinforcing writing and critical thinking skills throughout a student’s academic life, all students complete at least two writing-intensive courses, including the first-year seminar.

  5. Global Engagement: To have the knowledge and skills to thrive in a diverse global context, all students complete a course with a “global” focus or participate in a study-away program.

  6. Identity, Power, and Equity: To examine the intersections between individual experience and marginalized social groups, including those based on race, ethnicity, indigeneity, religion, ability, sexual orientation, and/or gender expression.

Majors and Minors

Specialization in a given area is achieved through the majors and minors. We offer almost 40 majors and dozens of minors, both in traditional disciplines and interdisciplinary fields. Students are advised to choose majors that excite them, cultivate their personal strengths, and in which they are most likely to excel. In addition to acquiring depth in a particular field, majors and minors permit students to hone their writing, analytical, problem-solving or artistic skills; to develop close ties with a community of academic peers, and to enjoy intensive research and experiential learning opportunities. An integrating exercise, such as a seminar, thesis or final project, marks the capstone of a Trinity education.

Wellness Requirement

(For students matriculating in the fall of 2021 or subsequently)
This holistic approach to Wellness places an emphasis on how students care for themselves, one another, and their world, establishing and sustaining positive values, habits, and behaviors during their time at Trinity and beyond.

Trinity Plus Experiences

(For students matriculating in the fall of 2021 or subsequently)

The city of Hartford as well as our study-away sites further extend the learning possibilities, offering an abundance of opportunities, from robust internships and student research grants to community learning projects and other forms of experiential learning and applied knowledge—essential aspects of a modern liberal arts education. Students in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and STEM disciplines all benefit from these agile offerings. Trinity’s rich “plus” experiences supplement in-class learning, reinforcing student skill sets and shaping academic and post-graduate trajectories.