Area Requirements
Overview of Requirements and Restrictions
All undergraduate students except Echols Scholars are required to fulfill Area Requirements by earning the proper number of credits from courses taken in each of five different academic subject areas. The basic list of subject areas and their related credit requirement is:
- Social Sciences - 6 credits from two different departments
- Humanities - 6 credits from two different categories
- Historical Studies - one 3 or more credit course
- Non-western Perspectives - one 3 or more credit course
- Natural Science and Mathematics - 12 credits from two different departments
Transfer credit earned before matriculation may be applied toward fulfillment of area requirements.
One course, including cross-listed courses such as AAS 101 and HIAF 203, may simultaneously meet no more than two area requirements; it may additionally satisfy the Second Writing Requirement (view a list of Second Writing Requirement courses), which is one of the Competency Requirements. No course may be counted towards both the humanities and the foreign language requirements (the foreign language requirement is a competency requirement), but language courses at the 202 level may be used for the humanities requirement if they are in a second foreign language.
All courses taken to fulfull the area requirements must be for a grade, and not use the Audit (AU) or Credit/No Credit (CR/NC) grading options.
Liberal Arts Seminars (LASEs) and University Seminars (USEMs) do not fulfill area requirements.
Courses taken to fulfill the area requirements may be counted toward the major.
It is strongly recommended that all area requirements be completed by the end of the fourth semester.
To help students keep track of their earned area requirements, the College offers a College Area Requirements Checklist.
Social Sciences (6 credits)
You must pass at least one course worth 3 credits or more from 2 of the following departments and programs:
- AMEL 301, AMEL 302
- Anthropology; except ANTH 237; some foreign language courses offered as ANTH will not satisfy this requirement
- Economics (except ECON 371, 372, 472)
- Environmental Sciences (EVSC 230 only)
- ETP 386, ETP 481
- MDST 317
- Politics; except Political Theory
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Afro-American and African Studies (AAS); except AAS literature courses
- Linguistics; 200 level or above
- Studies in Women and Gender (SWAG)
Courses taken for this requirement may also count toward one other Area Requirement.
Humanities (6 credits)
You must pass at least one course worth 3 credits or more from 2 of the following groups of departments and programs:
- Literature
- Classics (CLAS)
- Comparative Literature (CPLT)
- English (except ENWR 105/106, 110, 210, 220, 270, 282, 370, 371, 372, 380, and ENSP 106 and 107) and Foreign Literature [East Asian Languages, Literatures and Cultures (except CHIN 101/102, 206, JAPN 101-202, KOR 101-202, and TBTN 101-202), French, German, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures (except ARAB 225, 226, 323/523, and 324/524), Slavic Languages and Literatures, and Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese courses in translation, and all foreign language courses above the 202 level (except PORT 212, which satisfies the foreign language requirement)].
- MDST 301
- Fine Arts
- ANTH 237
- Art History (ARTH)
- Studio Art (ARTS; not ARTS 207)
- Drama (DRAM)
- Music (MUSI) (except courses MUSI 150 - MUSI 159, MUSI 150A - MUSI 159Z, MUSI 160 - MUSI 169, MUSI 160A - MUSI 169Z, MUSI 351 - MUSI 369 and other performance classes denoted by VISTAA)
- MDST 201, 350, 361, 511
Architectural History (AR H) 100, 101, 102, 150, 180, 203, 303, 321, 381, 331/531 and 333/533 - Architecture (ARCH) 101, 200 (only 3-6 credit courses are accepted).
- Moral, Philosophical, and Religious Perspectives
- Political Theory (PLPT)
- Philosophy (PHIL)
- Religious Studies
- MDST 401
Courses taken for this requirement may also count toward one other Area Requirement.
Historical Studies (3 credits)
You must pass at least one course worth 3 credits or more in either the Department of History or in another department whose courses have been determined by the faculty to be substantially historical (view a list of Historical Studies courses). The courses that meet this requirement are listed in the COD and change each semester. A list is also available at the start of each semester in the lobby of Garrett Hall.
Courses taken to fulfill the Historical Studies Area Requirement may also count toward fulfilling one other Area Requirement.
Non-Western Perspectives (3 credits)
You must pass at least one three-or-more credit-course from any department among those which the faculty recognizes as dealing substantially with a culture other than Western (see list of Non-Western Perspectives courses). The courses that meet this requirement are listed in the COD and change each semester. A list is also available at the start of each semester in the lobby of Garrett Hall.
Courses taken to fulfill the Non-Western Perspectives Area Requirement may count also toward fulfilling one other Area Requirement.
Natural Science and Mathematics (12 credits)
Students must pass 12 hours of natural science and/or mathematics courses from at least two departments. Courses that count toward this requirement may be chosen from:
- the Departments of Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences Mathematics, Physics, and the Division of Statistics;
- ECON 371, ECON 372 and ECON 472
- PSYC 220, PSYC 321 and PSYC 420 (effective fall 2008)
Students are strongly encouraged to include courses in mathematics, the physical sciences, and the biological sciences. For this requirement, economics, statistics, and mathematics are considered as one department.
Exceptions include BIOL 000T, CHEM 000T, PHYS 000T, ASTR 000T, EVSC 000T and EVSC 230, MATH 000T, 100T, and MATH 103. The courses designated as 000T and 100T are equivalencies as determined by the College of Arts & Sciences. These courses are considered elective credit and DO NOT satusfy this requirement.