Students in the Francis Lieber Undergraduate Forum are encouraged to take these classes to support their growth as an academic cohort.
Lieber Forum students will receive a $200 stipend for each Foundations class taken to be used for additional reading and other educational materials beyond the required course texts. Lieber Forum students enrolled in these classes should contact Christopher Tollefsen, ctollefs@mailbox.sc.edu, to discuss the stipend for educational materials.
Professors teaching Foundations courses will receive a stipend for activities related to the class such as visiting speaker, a meal with students or a local trip. Faculty interested in designating a future class as a Foundations class should also email Professor Tollefsen.
Each semester, the Center designates two classes from around the University as “Foundations” classes, because of their salience for the mission and priorities of the Center. Members of the Francis Lieber Undergraduate Forum who enroll in Foundations classes receive a research stipend for further work on the course topic, and faculty receive financial assistance for co-curricular programming for the class, such as a visiting speaker or a field trip.
The Center invites faculty to propose their class for consideration as a Foundations class. All USC instructional faculty may contact the Director of the Center, Christopher Tollefsen (ctollefs@mailbox.sc.edu) to ask for consideration; the email should be accompanied by a syllabus, and a brief statement of why the class would be appropriate for inclusion in the Foundations series. Courses will be selected which support the Center’s mission of developing dialogic, cultural, and civic literacy among University of South Carolina students. For full consideration, proposals should be submitted prior to a semester’s advising period.
Fall 2026 Foundations in Civic Education and Public Discourse Classes
POLI 304, “Contemporary Political Theory”
Samuel Bagg, Department of Political Science
Schedule: TR @ 4:25-5:40 p.m.
Nineteenth and 20th century political theories.
HIST 373, “History of Freedom”
Christine Ames, Department of History
Schedule: MWF @ 12:00-12:50 p.m.
An examination of the concept of freedom from its ancient origins to modern debates over free speech.