What is this thing called ‘CIV’?

One of the best descriptions of our cornerstone course at PC came during a campus visit just a few years ago. One prospective student asked the telling question, "What is this thing called Civ?” In response, Dr. Rodney Delasanta, professor of English, opened his desk drawer and took out two rocks. In one hand, Dr. Delasanta held a rock from the Acropolis in Greece and in the other, he held a rock chipped from the Berlin Wall. "Civ," he explained, "is everything between these two rocks."

Widely hailed by educators as one of the finest and most academically ambitious programs in the country, the Development of Western Civilization Program is the cornerstone of the Providence College Core Curriculum. The required two-year interdisciplinary program is taken during the freshman and sophomore years.

Civ is taught chronologically and each course covers the areas of history, philosophy, literature, theology, and the fine arts, throughout all of the most prominent Civilizations in History.  It is team-taught by four faculty members from each of these disciplines sharing their thoughts and perspective on the events, art, literature, thoughts, and religious ideals of the time.

Setting high academic standards and featuring intense discussions and frequent writing assignments, the program has become an intellectual rite of passage for Providence College students.