College Overview

Objectives

The College of Arts and Sciences, the oldest and largest undergraduate division of Seattle University, is the heart and foundation of Seattle Universitys mission to the undergraduate. That mission is to provide a liberal education in the humanities, the arts, and the social sciences along with selected graduate and professional programs. Grounded in the Catholic and Jesuit intellectual tradition and respectful of their vision of the human person, the faculty of the college educate students for leadership, spiritual growth, responsible citizenship, and service through curricula both in the core program and in the majors that develop the whole person: the intellect, the imagination, the aesthetic sense, the capacity for ethical reflection, and skills of analysis and communication. Small classes, taught primarily by full-time faculty, and the availability of faculty advisers create a supportive as well as challenging environment for our community of learners. It is the goal of the faculty that students be educated to think critically and to act responsibly so that they may be prepared to welcome the challenges of the future.

Organization

The college departments are Communication; Environmental Studies; English; Fine Arts; Modern Languages and Literature; History; Military Science; Philosophy; Political Science; Psychology; Society, Justice and Culture; Theology and Religious Studies; Institute for Public Service. The college programs are Honors; International Studies; Liberal Studies; Asian Studies and Non-Profit Leadership. Each department chair or program director, in collaboration with the faculty, arranges study programs and counsels individual students. All programs are coordinated and supervised by the dean of the college. Students wishing to inquire about programs in detail should consult either the dean or the respective department chair or program director.

Admission Requirements

Students entering the college must satisfy all entrance requirements for the university as outlined in the Admission section in this bulletin. Some departments list further requirements for admission into certain major programs. Concerning these, the respective departmental sections in this bulletin should be consulted.

Degrees Offered

Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Criminal Justice
Bachelor of Public Administration
Bachelor of Science

General Program Requirements

Students in the College of Arts and Sciences must satisfy the core curriculum requirements of the university given in this bulletin. Additionally, the College requires of all students a second five-credit course in history chosen from either HIST 121 or HIST 231.

All students with a major in the College of Arts and Sciences must also demonstrate competency in a foreign language through the 135 level. This competency is ordinarily achieved by successful completion of the three-course sequence: 115, 125, and 135. Because these courses are a college requirement, no courses in the sequence may be taken on a pass/fail, correspondence, or audit basis. Placement into other than the beginning course of the sequence is achieved by acceptable performance on the Foreign Language Competency Examination. See the Foreign Language Department for details on the examinations. It is strongly recommended that students fulfill this program requirement as early as possible in their studies, preferably in their first year. Students educated to the age of 16 in a language other than English are presumed to have satisfied the goal of this requirement. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 must be obtained in the major courses taken at Seattle University for degrees in the College of Arts and Sciences. Additional specific requirements are set by the department or program division in which the students major is pursued. For these requirements consult the respective sections in this bulletin.

Premajor

Premajor is a freshman and sophomore program for students who wish to explore academic programs and careers before committing themselves to a major program. See the Premajor section for more information.

Subject Majors

In all programs having a specific subject major, the number of required courses and hours varies according to the department or program division. The minimal number required in any subject major is 40 credits; majors in departments having core sequences must consist of 35 credits beyond the core sequence.