Rome through present times, students take at least one Global Cultures course, which compares hierarchical structures, cultural frameworks, and regional and global networks from the beginning of human history to the present. Western Culture has been described as "the bedrock of Hampden–Sydney's liberal arts program and one of the most important of its core academic requirements." The Core Cultures program draws on professors from all disciplines.
=== Rhetoric Program ===
The Rhetoric Program is based on a 1978 faculty resolution that states: "All Hampden-Sydney graduates will write and speak competently." Every student must prepare for and pass the Rhetoric Proficiency Exam, which consists of a three-hour essay that is graded for grammatical correctness and the coherence, quality, and style of the argument.
While the program was formalized in 1978, the emphasis on rhetoric dates back to the college's founding. In a September 1775 advertisement in the Virginia Gazette, founding president Samuel S. Smith wrote, …
