The College Program

The College Program

The CAS College Program is based on the principles of a liberal education, and on our dedication to the goal that all CAS undergraduates should receive a rigorous and engaging education that will serve them for the rest of their lives.

The College Program is a common framework of three elements that drive the basic requirements for every BA earned in the College of Arts & Sciences: critical skills and competencies graduates will need to continue to learn, create, and flourish; a breadth of knowledge and understanding provided by the general education requirement; and a depth of knowledge and expertise gained through completing a major. The College Program is also dedicated to exploration and discovery as a fundamental part of the undergraduate experience. Flexibility is built into all courses of study to encourage students to delve into any of the many fascinating fields of learning available in CAS or other colleges or to take advantage of some of the special academic opportunities we offer.

Skills and Competencies

Writing

The Writing Program is a year-long sequence of freshman seminars taught by BU faculty and an experienced staff of full-time writing instructors. The readings, class discussions, and writing assignments are organized around a compelling theme or topic in literature, thought, and society.

All entering College of Arts & Sciences students are required to take a two-semester writing sequence — most often, WR 100 (Writing Seminar) in the fall and WR 150 (Writing and Research Seminar) in the spring. These courses differ in content, but are all designed to help students acquire the skills and habits of mind essential to fully participate in the intellectual life of the University. By giving students an opportunity to work intensively on their writing, the courses lay the foundation of a strong liberal education. A comprehensive Writing Center where students can have one-on-one conversations about their writing with seasoned tutors supports and augments classroom work.

In developing the Writing Program, Boston University has crafted a freshman academic experience befitting one of the nation’s best liberal arts institutions. Students throughout the University, not just at the College of Arts & Sciences, take these seminars to satisfy their various writing requirements, and the Writing Program offers upwards of 300 courses a year. The results have been dramatic, measured not just through an assessment process unique to BU, but also through positive student feedback and the encouraging reports of faculty at higher levels, who are encountering better-prepared and more articulate learners.

Foreign Language

Language is the most important vehicle of culture. Learning a second language forces us out of our deeply ingrained habits of mind and broadens our range of thinking. Knowledge of a foreign language permits direct access to the creative achievements and everyday life of other peoples, fostering awareness of cross-cultural differences and leading to heightened self-understanding. The ability to communicate in a foreign language prepares CAS students to travel and live abroad, and increases employment opportunities in all professions of the global economy.

Mathematics

All students must demonstrate basic mathematics skills. The comprehension of mathematical principles is vital to the study of the natural and social sciences.

General Education

There are two ways to complete the General Education requirement, through which students achieve a breadth of knowledge and understanding: the Core Curriculum and Divisional Studies.

For more information

Core Curriculum Core Curriculum Website


For more information about completing the College Program, see Degree Requirements.

Core Curriculum

The Core Curriculum is an innovative and wide-ranging interdisciplinary program and a coherent way to complete the general education requirement.

It is based on in-depth study of classic works (Western and non-Western) in the humanities, important ideas in the natural sciences, and the concerns and theoretical bases of the social sciences. The Core’s eight courses emphasize careful, analytic reading of great works in small faculty-led seminars, an understanding of the most important scientific thinking of our times, the development of critical and logical thinking, and clarity and precision in writing and oral expression. Regular lecture series supplement the seminars.

The Core Curriculum offers the advantages of a small learning community within a large and diverse university.

Divisional Studies

The Divisional Studies Program introduces students to a variety of disciplines. The curriculum comprises four divisions: humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics and computer science.

Students choose a division in which to concentrate and must also take at least two courses in each of the three other divisions. If the major falls into the humanities, social sciences, or mathematics and computer science division, one of the chosen natural sciences courses must have a laboratory component.

Beyond mastery of specific content, the Divisional Studies courses aim to promote general understanding of the given discipline’s area of study and principal modes of inquiry. 

Majors and Minors

For more information

Complete list of majors and minors

Majors

The role of majors in the curriculum is to ensure that all graduates have experienced the challenges and rewards of studying an academic discipline or interdisciplinary subject in consider­able depth. With the help of an advisor, each student chooses and completes one major of between 9 and 18 courses. Some students elect to double-major, or to supplement their major with a minor in a sec­ond field of strong personal interest.

Most students select their major from a comprehensive list of existing departmental and interdisciplinary majors, but in certain cases, students may instead complete an independent major planned in consultation with an advisor.

Minors

Because engaging in wide-ranging academic exploration is fundamental to the undergraduate experience at the College of Arts & Sciences, space is preserved in every student’s course of study for several free electives such as minors.

Although minors are not required, they are available to students who wish to study an area other than their major. Each minor consists of a coherent sequence of five to eight courses in a single department or interdisciplinary field.

For more information about completing the College Program, see Degree Requirements.