Mission
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is the intellectual and cultural heart of the University of Delaware. We emphasize both the enduring value of a liberal arts education and the importance of cultivating new and emerging fields of knowledge and artistic representation. Our faculty are dedicated artists, scholars, scientists, and professionals, who teach, mentor, and advise while creating new knowledge. We foster excellence in scholarship, creative work, and public service as we educate students to be thoughtful, ethical, and engaged leaders. The College offers the Associate in Arts degree as well as major programs leading to the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Bachelor of Music degrees.
Undergraduate students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences may choose from a number of degree programs and options designed to permit flexibility in the pursuit of their educational goals. In addition to the requirements for major and minor degree programs, all CAS students must fulfill breadth requirements that expose them to representative coursework in each of the major disciplinary groupings in the College: Creative Arts and Humanities, History and Cultural Change, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology. The intent of these breadth requirements is to provide students with an appreciation for history, sensitivity to issues of national and global citizenship, and an understanding of the materials and methodologies of the academic disciplines that contribute to a liberal arts education. In the process, students develop scientific and quantitative literacy, higher-order critical thinking and research skills, oral, written and visual communication skills, and the cultural competencies that will assist them both in achieving a full and satisfying life and in competing effectively in a global job market.
In addition to the college’s requirements for various degrees, students must fulfill the general University requirements for baccalaureate degrees, which are listed in the Academic Regulations for Undergraduates section.
For more information about the College of Arts and Sciences, please visit the College web site.
For information about the College’s Strategic Plan, see “Leading the Way in Academics, Research and Public Engagement”.
Advisement
Students in the College of Arts and Sciences will be assigned an academic advisor in the CAS Undergraduate Academic Services (UAS) office until they reach junior status. First-semester transfer students at any level will also be assigned an advisor in UAS. Students who are juniors and seniors will be assigned an advisor who is a faculty member in the appropriate department. All freshman students who have earned fewer than 28 credit hours are expected to seek advisement during preregistration for the spring and fall semesters. All other students are strongly encouraged to meet at least once each semester with their academic advisors.
Preprofessional advisement committees are available to advise students who plan to study dentistry, law, and medicine. Dean’s Office personnel will be glad to direct students to appropriate faculty members and advisement resources.
English Language Institute (ELI)
The University of Delaware English Language Institute (ELI) is an academic unit of the College of Arts and Sciences. The ELI provides English instruction to international students and business professionals who wish to improve their language skills for university study or for career enrichment. The ELI’s intensive daytime program includes four tracks of study: business, academic, American culture, and general English classes. ELI services include university and college placement, housing, host family programs, language partners, and cultural activities.
Special offerings include a legal English program, a Pre-MBA program, an executive English program, and an EFL teacher training program. The Institute also provides individual tutoring, computer assisted learning, a testing preparation course focusing on skills and strategies for language proficiency sections of such tests as the TOEFL and the GMAT, and community evening classes. The ELI manages the ITA program, which provides testing and training for the University of Delaware International Teaching Assistants. The ELI administers the University’s Master’s Degree program in Teaching English as a Second Language through the School of Education. Graduate students in the program include both Americans seeking certification in Delaware and international students planning to return home to teach.
The ELI intensive language program is fully accredited by the Commission on English Program Accreditation, and is ranked among the top English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in the United States.
For more information, please see www.udel.edu/eli.
General Degree Requirements Information
Pass/Fail Grade Option. Courses to fulfill degree requirements may not be taken pass/fail unless they are offered only on a pass/fail basis. Students may elect to take one course per semester pass/fail. A total of no more than 24 credits may be taken pass/fail for a Bachelor’s degree and no more than 12 credits for an Associate degree. For more detailed information on the pass/fail grade option, see the section Academic Regulations .
Physical Education. A maximum of two credits of BHAN 120 may be counted toward the required minimum credits of all degrees in the College.
Duplicate Credits. Credits may be counted only once toward a degree. Courses repeated to improve a passing grade may not be counted a second time toward the minimum total credit hours required.
Course of Study Options
Single Major: A departmental major consists of at least 30 credits with the specified and elective courses determined by the individual department.
Several departments, History included, have a number of internal options or specializations. To round out the departmental major, students may be required to take a designated number of credits of related work determined in consultation with a faculty advisor.
The faculty of the College have ruled that for the Bachelor of Arts degree, a maximum of 45 credits with the same departmental prefix may be applied to the total number of credits required for the degree. A cross-listed course will be considered a part of the 45 credit total, regardless of which prefix a student used to register for the course.
Students who choose a single major will normally have a number of “free elective” credits. Considerable thought should be given to the best use of these elective credits.
Double Major: This involves fulfilling the major requirements, including all college requirements, of two Bachelor of Arts or two Bachelor of Science majors. The advantage of a double major is that the student is able to develop and demonstrate strength in each area covered in the undergraduate program. Admission to double major status requires the approval of both departments and the dean(s) of the college(s). The minimum grade necessary in all courses required for the double major is the same as that needed for a single major in that degree program.
Interdepartmental Major: Students whose goals and interests heavily involve materials from two departments but do not extend to all aspects of each subject area may work out and submit for the approval of both departments and the dean of the college an interdepartmental proposal. More detailed instructions on the Interdepartmental Major are available in the Dean’s Office, but basically this major involves a minimum of 21 credits from each department with another nine credits that may be distributed in a number of ways. Examples of departments frequently combined in such programs are Communication and English or Political Science and Economics. With the approval of the other college or department, one area of the interdepartmental major may be from outside the College of Arts and Sciences. The interdepartmental major always leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree.
A minimum grade of C- is normally required in all courses constituting the 21 credits of each area, and a C average is necessary for all the 51 credits in the interdepartmental major.
Area Study: Opportunity is provided for students interested in pursuing a broader field of study such as Comparative Literature, International Relations or Latin American and Iberian Studies. Students majoring in International Relations are required to take 51 credits distributed among appropriate departments. Thirty of the 51 credits must be earned with at least a C- grade, and a C average is required for the total of the 51 credits.
Minors: In addition to the major, students may also elect to complete one or more minor programs. Departments offering a minor set their own requirements, but these always include at least 15 credits of course work. A minimum grade of C- is required in all courses for a minor.
Bachelor of Arts
This degree, offered by all departments of the College of Arts and Sciences is awarded to those students who follow a broad course of study and is designed to provide a liberal education. For this degree, students must complete a minimum of 124 credits composed of requirements for general education, college skills and breadth requirements, required courses in a major, and elective courses. A grade of C- is required in all major courses. No more than 45 credits with the same departmental prefix (including cross-listed courses) may be counted toward the total required for the degree.
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requirements.
Second Writing Requirement
A second writing course involving significant expository writing experience including two papers with a combined minimum of 3,000 words to be submitted for extended faculty critique of both composition and content. This critique must be applied to a revision of the original essay or to subsequent essays within the course. This course must be taken after completion of 60 credit hours. Appropriate writing courses are designated in the semester’s course offerings. Only the specific sections designated within each academic term will satisfy the second writing requirement. Please check the UDSIS registration system to ascertain whether a particular course section will be offered as a second writing course. These credits may also fulfill some of the breadth requirements. Whereas the second writing courses demand significant interaction between faculty and students, enrollment in a second writing section must not exceed 30 students. To fulfill this requirement, students must earn a minimum grade of “C-“ .
The intention of the second writing requirement is:
- Provide students with a significant expository writing experience in English prose.
- Provide students the opportunity to practice and improve written communication skills that will be applicable to their academic and professional goals.
Bachelor Of Science, Bachelor Of Fine Arts, Bachelor Of Music
Students whose goals indicate a high level of concentration or specialization may elect to fulfill requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree offered in a number of majors. Similar degrees are the Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a heavy concentration on studio work, and the Bachelor of Music, with its own areas of specialization. Curricular details for all of these degree programs can be found in the sections devoted to the individual departments.
Bachelor Of Arts In Liberal Studies
An option that offers a great deal of flexibility is the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies (BALS). The degree is designed for students who have need and justification for developing their own undergraduate major program within the 124-credit minimum. For requirements, see the Liberal Studies section.
Academic Enrichment Opportunities
The Dean’s Scholar Program exists to serve the needs of students whose clearly defined educational goals cannot effectively be achieved by pursuing the standard curricula for all existing majors, minors, and interdepartmental majors sponsored by the University. Driven by an overarching passion or curiosity that transcends typical disciplinary bounds and curricula, a Dean’s Scholar’s intellectual interests may lead to broad interdisciplinary explorations of an issue or to more intense, in-depth studies in a single field at a level akin to graduate work. The Dean’s Scholar Program exists to serve the needs of these extraordinary students by allowing them to design, in consultation with faculty advisors, imaginative and rigorous individual plans of study to meet the total credit hours required for graduation. It is expected that the course of study outlined by the Dean’s Scholar candidate will represent a program that cannot be effectively achieved using other options already available within the University.
Dean’s Scholar Program
Liberal Arts/Engineering
These five-year programs combine work in liberal arts and engineering and lead to the simultaneous awarding of a Bachelor’s degree in Arts and Sciences and a Bachelor’s degree in the appropriate engineering field. For complete details on these programs, see the Arts and Sciences-Engineering Curricula section.
Teacher Education Programs
The College of Arts and Sciences offers teacher education programs for students who wish to prepare themselves to be certified teachers in Delaware or in other states and the overseas dependency schools. For secondary certification (high school, junior high school, middle school), programs are offered in biology, chemistry, English, foreign languages (French, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish), mathematics, physics, and social studies (anthropology, history, political science, psychology, and sociology). For K-12 certification, teacher education programs are offered in the department of Music (instrumental, keyboard, voice) and the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures.
Each degree program in teacher education requires a certain minimum GPA for enrollment in EDUC 400 , Student Teaching, a course required for the degree. The appropriate teacher education program advisor should be consulted for the exact GPA requirements and other policies concerning qualifications for student teaching.
See Teacher Education Programs in the relevant College of Arts & Sciences content department of this catalog for more information.
Pre-Law
Students interested in admission to law school are free to major in any subject they choose. Because no single major is preferred for entry to law school, the University provides advisement and information about law school admissions through the Pre-Law Advisement Committee. The Committee’s members come from different disciplines across campus, so students have a choice of advisors. The Committee is a member of the Northeast Association of Pre-Law Advisors and regularly receives and circulates information from the American Association of Law Schools. UD students enjoy a rate of acceptance into law school that is higher than the national average, according to figures released by the Law School Admission Council.
The Career Services Office provides information on internships, summer job opportunities, and volunteer opportunities in the legal profession, and sponsors an annual Law School Fair, usually held in September. There is also an active Pre-Law Fraternity, Phi Alpha Delta.
For more information, consult the Advisement Committee’s bulletin board on the third floor of Smith Hall or the Pre-Law web site at www.cas.udel.edu/prelaw. Questions may be addressed to Committee Chair Professor Wayne Batchis, 459 Smith Hall, tbatchis@udel.edu, or by contacting any of the committee advisors listed at the pre-law web site.
Pre-Medicine, Pre-Dentistry, Pre-Pharmacy
Preparation for admission to professional schools in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and related fields must include specific course work in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. Although many preprofessional students major in biology or chemistry because these disciplines include the science training required, non-science majors are acceptable and, in fact, encouraged by many professional schools.
The Center for Health Professions Studies assists students who are pursuing careers in the health professions, including medicine, dentistry, optometry, podiatry, advanced nurse practitioner, pharmacy, and physical and occupational therapy. The center supports all pathways for premedical studies and provides advisement and referral services for students pursuing careers in other health-related professions: http://sites.udel.edu/healthpro/.
Pre-professional students usually begin their career-related course work in the first semester of the freshman year in order to complete the relevant courses before taking professional aptitude tests as juniors. Early academic advisement is essential to ensure that the pre-professional curriculum requirements are met. The Health Professions Evaluation Committee (HPEC) writes letters of recommendation for students and provides advisory services for any student preparing for admission to health-related professional schools. Call (302) 831-4535 for information or visit the HPEC website at: https://sites.udel.edu/healthpro/hpec_home/.
The University of Delaware participates in cooperative medical education programs with the Christiana Care Health System of Delaware (CCHS), St. Francis Healthcare Wilmington, the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and the Delaware Institute for Medical Education and Research (DIMER). Under the terms of the DIMER program, up to twenty students who are Delaware residents may be admitted to Thomas Jefferson and ten at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Information regarding this program may be obtained at http://dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dhcc/dimer.html or by contacting the Center for Health Profession Studies (302 831-4949
Military Science - Army ROTC
Telephone: (302) 831-8213
http://www.udel.edu/armyrotc/
The mission of the Military Science - Army ROTC program is to produce leaders of character to serve in the nation’s defense. The cornerstone of the leadership program is developing self-confidence, teamwork, responsibility, professional ethics, and the development of all aspects of leadership.
Students at the University of Delaware can earn a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army upon completion of the military science program and a baccalaureate degree. The normal four-year ROTC program requires the completion of eight one-semester courses, totaling 12 credit hours, and successful completion of a five-week leadership camp during the summer prior to the senior year. Many challenging and fun training events are scheduled.
ROTC Program
The ROTC program consists of two major subsets - the Basic Course and the Advanced Course. Both courses are straightforward rather than conceptual and tend to be small (25 or less) with much personal interaction between the cadre and the students.
Basic Course - for freshmen and sophomores. A series of four 1-2 credit classes that are open to all students with no military obligation. Student instruction includes basic leadership skills, orientation to the US Army, time management and other academic skills, decision making, and adventure training opportunities (rappelling, land navigation, etc.).
Faculty and the advanced course Cadets form support groups and act as mentors to the basic course students, providing assistance, and a positive environment. Students enrolled in the basic course can compete for two and three-year scholarships that will pay full tuition/fees and provide stipends.
While the Army may not be for everyone, and some of the Basic Course students decide not to continue in the Advanced program, they all unequivocally state that the ROTC Basic Course instruction provided them with excellent life skills, abilities, and confidence.
Advanced Course - for juniors, seniors, and graduate students leading to a commission as a Second Lieutenant. This series of four 2-3 credit classes involves advanced practical leadership and military skills training as well as a four-credit summer training course conducted at Fort Knox, in Kentucky. Students are paid and all travel, medical needs, lodging, and meals are provided while attending the Leadership Development and Advanced Course.
No military obligation is incurred until the beginning of this phase. Once the student satisfactorily completes all ROTC requirements and graduates from the University, they receive a commission in the US Army (Active Duty or Reserve status).
Army ROTC Benefits
Four, three, and two-year scholarships are awarded to deserving ROTC students each year. Scholarships provide for total tuition costs (in- or out-of-state rates) plus a $1,200 book allowance and a tiered stipend which starts at $3,000 annually. All these benefits may be combined with other scholarship benefits. Typically, 60% of all UD ROTC students are on some type of scholarship incentive.
Many of the graduating Cadets elect to go on Active Duty to put their ROTC leadership training into practice. The annual salary for a new Second Lieutenant exceeds $45,000.
For those Cadets who request and receive Reserve Forces duty, many receive better civilian jobs (increased pay and responsibility) because of the practical leadership training and experience they gained in the ROTC program.
Most UD degree programs accept all 12-25 military science credits toward graduation. Exceptions are those in the College of Engineering (3 credits) and in the Departments of Medical Technology (four credits), Nursing (six credits), and Nutrition and Dietetics (four credits), each of which accepts four credits.
Associate Degrees
The nonterminal degrees of Associate in Arts (AA) and Associate in Science (AS) may be awarded upon application; students must apply before completing 75 credit hours. Information regarding admission requirements and eligibility for the associate degree programs may be found in the Undergraduate Admissions section of this catalog. Academic advisement is coordinated by the College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Academic Services office at 109 Mitchell Hall (302-831-3020).
The Associate in Arts represents completion of the first half of a Bachelor of Arts program; the Associate in Science, the first half of a Bachelor of Science program. Specific requirements follow:
Majors and Minors
Every attempt has been made to present an accurate description of curriculum requirements in programs. However, programs and policies may be changed during the academic year, and students are advised to check with the department concerned or the College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Academic Services Office, Room 109, Mitchell Hall, (303) 831-3020, for the most current information.
Departments and Programs
