Arts & Sciences Academic Programs
We offer 10 select graduate programs and dozens of undergraduate majors and minors, connecting the breadth and depth of knowledge across the arts and sciences.
Africana Studies (major, minor)
Africana Studies ProgramMajor | Minor Africana Studies is an interdisciplinary major with a global focus that explores scholarship on the history, cultural traditions, and political and economic circumstances that together define more than 1.2 billion people of African descent. Majors may select one of three tracks: African Studies, African-American Studies, or African-Diaspora Studies. |
American Studies (major, minor) (Master's, Ph.D.)
Department of American StudiesMajor | Minor | M.A. | Ph.D. The American Studies Program explores the histories of cultural, racial, and national encounters that have come to shape the past and present of the United States and the Americas. Working with a wide array of methods, themes, and materials, students discover first-hand our society's rich and often conflicted history of cultural, racial, and sexual diversity. |
Anthropology (major, minor) (Master's, Ph.D.)
Department of AnthropologyMajor | Minor | M.A. | Ph.D. Anthropology is the study of human culture – all humans, at all times and places. Anthropological study places markets, representative governments, legal and religious belief systems, social inequalities, sexual orientations, families, and general human capacities in a broad comparative framework. Students gain a broad background in all four subfields: Socio-cultural Anthropology, Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, and Linguistics. We offer minors in Anthropology and Native Studies. |
Applied Science (minor) (Ph.D.)
Applied Science ProgramMinor | M.S. | Ph.D. Applied Science uses the tools, the techniques, and the understanding involved in a wide range of scientific disciplines in order to solve complex scientific and technical problems. Faculty are active in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology, and nearby research facilities. |
Art & Art History (major, minor)
Department of Art & Art HistoryMajor | Minor The Art & Art History program offers two tracks: Studio Art introduces and cultivates proficiency in the practices of the artist and the creative process. The program offers training in drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, and architecture within the context of a liberal arts education. Art History focuses on how to look at works of art and develop methods of critical inquiry and analysis. |
Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies (minor)Asian & Pacific Islander American StudiesMinor Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies is a formalized minor within the Interdisciplinary Studies program. The program of study explores the societies and cultures of indigenous peoples of the Asian and Pacific Islands and their experience of and influence on the United States. |
Biology (major, minor) (Master's)
Department of BiologyMajor | Minor | M.S. The Biology program provides a sound introduction to the principles of biology. Students gain an understanding of the diversity and complexity of living things, studied through behavioral, developmental, ecology and evolutionary, and molecular and cell biology. |
Biochemistry (minor)BiochemistryMinor Biochemistry is a formalized minor within the Interdisciplinary Studies program. A Biochemistry minor is especially appropriate for those interested in advanced studies in Biology, Chemistry, or Neuroscience. |
Chemistry (major, minor) (Master's, Ph.D.)
Department of ChemistryMajor | Minor | M.S. | Ph.D. The Chemistry program begins with the general principles of chemistry and then elaborates these principles with courses in organic, physical, inorganic, and analytical chemistry. |
Classical Studies (major, minor)
Department of Classical StudiesMajor | Minor The Department of Classical Studies provides language instruction in Ancient Greek, Latin, and Biblical Hebrew; and courses in all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization, including literature, history, religion, society, art, and archaeology. Choose among four concentrations: Greek, Latin, Classical Civilization, or Classical Archaeology. |
Computational & Applied Mathematics & Statistics (major, minor) (Master's, Ph.D.)
Computational & Applied Mathematics & Statistics Program (CAMS)Major | Minor The Computational & Applied Mathematics & Statistics (CAMS) program is an interdisciplinary program that teaches skills in mathematical modeling, data analysis, and computer simulation. Two tracks are offered: Applied Statistics and Mathematical Biology. |
Computer Science (major, minor) (Master's, Ph.D.)
Department of Computer ScienceMajor | Minor | M.S. | Ph.D. The Department of Computer Science explores the fundamental question: What can be (efficiently) automated? Students explore the development of algorithms and data structures for representing and processing information, as well as the logical organization of computers themselves. |
Data Science (minor)Data ScienceMinor Data Science is a formalized minor within the Interdisciplinary Studies program. Data Science is the study and discovery of methods that extract knowledge from frequently large, diverse sets of data. |
Economics (major, minor)
Department of EconomicsMajor | Minor Economics students explore how consumers and firms respond to incentives, how they interact through trade in markets, and how the whole economy works, in terms of productivity, unemployment, and growth. Students focus their studies by choosing from a large, diverse set of electives. |
Educational Studies (minor)Educational StudiesMinor The minor in Educational Studies is an interdisciplinary program focusing on domestic or global educational issues. Students may choose from two distinct concentrations within the minor: Global Education concentration, Policy and Equity concentration The program is jointly offered by the School of Education and Arts & Sciences. |
English (major, minor)
Department of EnglishMajor | Minor Students of English explore the aesthetic, rhetorical, historical, philosophical, cultural, and ideological dimensions of the ways in which men and women have represented their worlds, real or imagined, in literature. Minors are offered in English and Creative Writing. |
Environmental Science & Policy (secondary major, minor)
Environmental Science & Policy (ENSP)Secondary Major | Minor The major in Environmental Science & Policy is a secondary major, intended to supplement and complement the primary major. Students integrate knowledge and skills from the natural, physical, and social sciences and the humanities to solve current environmental problems within ethical and realistic frameworks. Students choose from two tracks: Environmental Science or Environmental Policy. |
Film & Media Studies (major, minor)
Film & Media Studies (FMST) ProgramMajor | Minor Most of us approach human communications as content seen through a window. Film & Media Studies insists on looking at - describing, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating - the window. |
Gender, Sexuality & Women's Studies (major, minor)
Gender, Sexuality & Women's Studies (GSWS) ProgramMajor | Minor Students of Gender, Sexuality & Women's Studies enroll in an organized series of courses, starting with small seminars that introduce gender, sexuality, and women's studies issues in disciplines that span the humanities and social sciences. Many courses are discussion-centered, and all are interdisciplinary, so that students become agile thinkers who can move beyond static thinking and restrictive boundaries. |
Geology (major, minor)
Department of GeologyMajor | Minor The Geology department takes a broad view on the Earth, offering courses that focus on the workings and history of the Earth's interior, surface, and atmosphere. The geology curriculum is designed to be flexible enough to allow students to explore their own interests. Two concentrations are offered: Geology and Environmental Geology. |
Global Studies (major, minor)
Global Studies ProgramMajor | Minor Through coursework on the culture, history, languages, literature, politics, and religions of major world regions, students of Global Studies explore the ways in which global forces are realized in and through local contexts, and the interconnections between global regions. Concentrations are offered in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, European Studies, Latin American Studies, and Russian and Post-Soviet Studies. |
Government (major)
Department of GovernmentMajor Government is the study of politics and governance, including the moral and ethical implications of political action. Courses fall into one of political science's four broad subfields: American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Politics, or Political Theory. Non-majors are welcome to take courses as part of their electives or to inform other majors. |
History (major, minor) (Master's, Ph.D.)
Department of HistoryMajor | Minor | M.A. | Ph.D. The diverse History curriculum explores the human experience across the globe, from the end of the ancient world to the dawn of the twenty-first century. Students of history read intelligently, think critically, and write effectively. |
International Relations (major, minor)
International Relations ProgramMajor | Minor The International Relations program promotes the systematic study of political, economic, and historic relations among states and other actors in the international system. Students address the interactions among states, markets, and non-state actors. |
Judaic Studies (minor)Judaic StudiesMinor Judaic Studies affords students an exceptional and unusual educational opportunity to cultivate an appreciation of the historic role played by Jewish culture and the Jewish religion in the development of human civilization. |
Kinesiology & Health Sciences (major, minor)
Department of Kinesiology & Health SciencesMajor | Minor The Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences explores human health and movement at the cellular level, the human level, and the population level. The department offers multiple paths of study in health sciences, pre-medicine, and public health. |
Linguistics (major, minor)
Linguistics ProgramMajor | Minor Linguistics is the study of language both as a faculty of mind and as a social institution. Courses approach language from a variety of perspectives, including in the subfields of history, grammar, syntax, phonology, phonetics, sociolinguistics, culture, and geography. |
Marine Science (minor)Marine ScienceMinor The program in Marine Science introduces students to the global importance of marine ecosystems and their significance to society as a source of food and energy and in regulating climate. The minor is jointly offered and administered by Arts & Sciences and the W&M School of Marine Science/Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences. |
Mathematics (major, minor)
Department of MathematicsMajor | Minor The study of mathematics is motivated by its wide applicability and its intrinsic beauty. Students may concentrate in Standard Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, or Pre-College Mathematics Teaching. |
Medieval & Renaissance Studies (major, minor)
Medieval & Renaissance Studies (Med-Ren) ProgramMajor | Minor The Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program encourages the interdisciplinary study of Europe between 300 CE and 1700 CE - what Francesco Petrarca (d. 1374) called "the gap of time." |
Military Science (ROTC)
Military ScienceCourses in Military Science also serve as the cornerstone of the United States Army's Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), the fundamental training program for the nation's future military officers. |
Modern Languages & Literatures (major, minor)
Department of Modern Languages & LiteraturesMajor | Minor The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures teaches eight languages encompassing cultural activities across the globe: Arabic Studies, Chinese Studies, French and Francophone Studies, German Studies, Hispanic Studies, Italian Studies, Japanese Studies, and Russian Studies. Students may also minor in Teaching English as a Foreign/Second Language. |
Music (major, minor)
Department of MusicMajor | Minor The faculty of scholars, composers, and performers in the Department of Music teach interrelated subdisciplines: music history, ethnomusicology, music theory, composition, and performance. The department collectively values the contributions of all musical cultures and styles, and in any given semester offers courses that reflect this diversity. |
Neuroscience (major)
Neuroscience ProgramMajor Neuroscience is a rigorous interdisciplinary study of the nervous system. It integrates the function of molecules, cells, and networks as they give rise to fully formed behavioral and cognitive processes. |
Philosophy (major, minor)
Department of PhilosophyMajor | Minor Students of Philosophy learn to think critically and reflectively about fundamental questions of knowledge and value. Students explore topics including moral psychology, social justice, practical rationality, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, theory of knowledge, philosophy of art, free will, moral responsibility, and ethics. |
Physics (major, minor) (Master's, Ph.D.)
Department of PhysicsMajor | Minor | Ph.D. Physicis is the study the physical nature of the universe and how it works. Research areas in the department include atomic, molecular, and optical physics, computational physics, condensed matter physics, nuclear and hadronic physics, high energy physics, and plasma and non-linear physics. Majors may choose from several tracks: Standard Physics, Pre-Med Physics, and Engineering Physics and Applied Design. |
Psychological Sciences (major, minor) (Master's)
Department of Psychological SciencesMajor | Minor | M.S. Psychological Sciences describes the connected disciplines that study mental processes and behaviors: Why and how do people act, think, and feel as they do? Students take classes that cover topics such as human development, psychopathology, learning, personality and motivation, physiology, social behavior, community and health psychology, statistics, and research methods. |
Public Health (minor)Public HealthMinor Public Health minors seek an understanding of the interdisciplinary relationships between disease processes and the social and biological environment of the community. |
Public Policy (major, minor) (Master's)
Department of Public PolicyMajor | Minor | M.P.P. Public Policy is an interdisciplinary program that focuses on analytical decision-making. It emphasizes quantitative and economic analysis, the study of political institutions that produce policy, and the examination of specific policy areas such as environment and health. |
Religious Studies (major, minor)
Department of Religious StudiesMajor | Minor Religious Studies faculty feel that religion forms a basic and essential element of all cultures, including our own. If one is to understand a society, it is vital to study its religious writings and beliefs. Students of religious studies gain an understanding of religious traditions across the globe. |
Self-Designed (major)Self-designed InterdisciplinaryThe curriculum of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences provides for interdisciplinary majors whereby a student, working in consultation with a faculty advisor, may formulate an interdisciplinary major that is uniquely tailored to his or her interest. |
Sociology (major, minor)
Department of SociologyMajor | Minor Sociologists study many of the major issues of the day: crime, immigration, globalization, sexuality, families. Students of sociology gain the empirical and theoretical tools to make sense of these topics. Majors choose from five concentrations: Generalist Sociology, Globalization, Health, Medicine, & Well-Being, Criminology, Law, & Society, Social Problems, Policy, & Justice. |
Theatre, Speech & Dance (major, minor)
Department of Theatre, Speech & DanceMajor | Minor The Department of Theatre, Speech, and Dance is committed to preserving, transmitting, and expanding our understanding of these disciplines within the larger context of a liberal arts education. Students participate in extensive original work in the form of direction, design, production, playwriting, dramaturgy, choreography, and performing as well as research and publication. |
All Majors and MinorsThough 90% of all undergraduate degrees are in Arts & Sciences, the School of Education and the School of Business also offer undergraduate degrees. Complete list. |
