Undergraduate Overview

Liberal Arts is constituted by the areas of humanities, languages, natural sciences, and social sciences. In addition to the courses required by the department of your major, you will select classes from the liberal arts department, which will expand your scope of knowledge and inform your artistic practices from outside the discipline. You will have the opportunity to study with writers, historians, philosophers, psychologists, scientists, and musicians who bring years of accomplishment and teaching experience in their respective fields to the classroom. Credit hour requirements in these areas vary depending on your degree program.

You may choose among courses offered in History, Literature, Music Theory, Religion, and Philosophy. The wide selection of courses and syllabi pull from Western and non-Western subjects, a variety of historical periods, and a diversity of genres, approaches, authors, and subject matters—such as ethics, science fiction, ancient greek plays, hip-hop, philosophy of sex, and Shakespeare. Course selection changes every semester.

You can choose from language courses in Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, and German. These courses will teach speaking, reading, writing, listening, and cultural skills that will serve students who travel, study abroad, or continue to graduate programs with foreign language requirements. More information about each language concentration is below.

In the Natural Sciences, you’ll find courses that span a widespread understanding of knowledge of the physical world. You may choose among courses offered in biology, chemistry, cognitive science, earth science, mathematics, and physics. Past courses have covered a wide variety of subject areas and interests, including animal behavior, neuroscience, mushrooms, the history of earth, the insect world, and the elegance of proof. Course selection changes every semester.

Social Sciences cover relationships among groups, institutions, and the ways in which society works. You may choose among courses offered in anthropology, economics, history, political science, and psychology. SAIC offers an assortment of courses that have included focus on the anthropology of childhood, the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, an examination of human food chains, green choices, and the cultural history of modern America. Course selection changes every semester.

Undergraduate Admissions Events

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