COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

Administrative Officers

CLA: A Commitment to Learning

UMass Boston’s complex identity as an urban university committed to teaching a vigorously diverse student body and to accomplishing research and creative activity that enrich life in metropolitan Boston, New England, and the nation is nowhere more vibrant than in the College of Liberal Arts. Courses in the Arts, the Humanities, and the Social Sciences prepare students to think analytically and interpretively; to understand and express the diversity of human experience; to comprehend social institutions and negotiate change in them; to enter various professions in an era of globalization, and to pursue lifelong learning. All liberal arts majors provide students with the transferable skills they will need for the world of work or further education.

More than 3,000 students—a third of the university’s undergraduates—are currently working toward undergraduate degrees in the twenty-three majors offered by the College’s fourteen departments. These departments additionally offer degrees and/or certificates in twenty-nine departmental, interdisciplinary, or intercollegiate programs. More than 350 graduate students are working toward the M.A. in eight departments, and over fifty are earning the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Moreover, most of UMass Boston’s nearly 13,000 students depend on the College for its range of courses. The College is a mainstay of both the University General Education Program and the University Honors Program.

Faculty in the College are strongly committed to teaching, and class sizes are limited so as to engage participants fully. Faculty members mentor students in Honors work, independent study projects, and internships; in addition, faculty often invite undergraduates to join in their scholarly and creative work. Faculty in the college do research at the cutting edge of their disciplines. College faculty participate in fifteen university research centers and institutes that bring research and creative achievements to the community.

All undergraduates are required to complete a major, allowing them to study a field in depth. In addition to the major, students may add further focus to their studies by completing a minor, program of study, or certificate. The rest of a student’s program is made up of general education courses (see p.49) and elective courses.

Academic Majors in the College of Liberal Arts

Africana Studies (BA)*
American Studies (BA)*
Anthropology (BA)*
Art (BA)
Classical Languages (BA)*
Classical Studies (BA)*
Criminal Justice (BA)*
Economics (BA)*
English (BA)
Ethics and Social and Political Philosophy (BA)
French (BA)*
German Studies (BA)*
History (BA)
History and Archaeology (BA)
Individual Major Option (BS or BA)
Italian (BA)*
Music (BA)*
Philosophy (BA)*
Philosophy and Public Policy (BA)
Political Science (BA)*
Psychology (BS or BA)*
Psychology and Sociology (BA)
Russian Studies (BA)*
Sociology (BA)*
Spanish (BA)*
Theatre Arts (BA)*
Women’s Studies (BA)*

*Students in the college may minor in these disciplines, and also in art history, dance, and management.

An academic minor is a sequence of at least six courses in a field for which there is a major. At least a third of the courses in the minor are advanced. Minors are optional.

Certificate Programs and Programs of Study*

Programs of study are groupings of courses that offer significant exposure to a field of academic, often interdisciplinary study. Certificate programs are groupings of courses that relate to a specific set of professional skills.

Alcohol and Substance Abuse Studies
American Studies
Asian American Studies
Biobehavioral Studies
Communication Studies
Creative Writing
East Asian Studies
European Studies
International Relations
Irish Studies
Latin American Studies
Latino-Latina Studies
Linguistics
Philosophy and Law
Professional Writing
Public Policy
Science, Technology, and Values
Study of Religion
Technical Writing
Translation (Spanish; summer only)
Women’s Studies

*Open to non-degree students.

Special Course Groupings

Chinese Language and Literature
Humanities
Japanese Language and Literature
Portuguese Studies

Cross-College Programs for CLA students

Asian American Studies Program

This program offers an interdisciplinary curriculum, including courses in literature, social science, and education, coupled with research opportunities and service linkages to diverse local Asian communities. The culminating experience of the program requires students to integrate theory and practice from prior course work by conducting a substantial research project or by participating in a supervised community-based internship.

Criminal Justice Major

A major in criminal justice is now offered by the Sociology Department in collaboration with the College of Public and Community Service. The major provides training in criminology, substance abuse, race and ethnic relations, law and public policy, policing, corrections, and a range of other areas.

Study in Philosophy and Law Program

Since 1998, UMass Boston has offered a Study in Philosophy and Law Program, which provides background in the philosophical and moral aspects of the law. This interdisciplinary program is administered by the Philosophy Department in collaboration with the Legal Education Services area of the College of Public and Community Service.
The Program in Science, Technology and Values
This program encourages students to examine the impact of science and technology on other aspects of society and to examine the impact of society on the directions taken in science and technology. Students can supplement their science or nonscience majors with courses in history, philosophy, politics, and many other fields, on topics that range from moral issues in medicine to science fiction, from media and information technology to economics and sustainable development. Premed and prelaw students especially will find that the STV program of study enhances their applications.

Latino Studies

This is an undergraduate intercollegiate program of study open to all students of every college at UMass Boston. The program’s interdisciplinary character permits students in all majors to enhance their education by examining the history and experience of Latino populations in the U.S. At UMass Boston, we frame Latino Studies within the experience of people of Hispanic descent in the U.S. We posit that although Latinos continue to come from every country in Latin America, their predecessors have produced a history in the U.S. and contributed to its development through their work, attitudes, and culture, which spans four centuries, and that the interaction between those who were here before and those who are recent immigrants are part of a larger “Latino Project” in the U.S. This interaction takes place when several generations interrelate — i.e., U.S.-born Latinos who share spaces (same communities or barrios), and common conditions with Latin Americans of different national identities (for example, Dominicans, Ecuadorians, Columbians, Puerto Ricans, etc.) who may also self-identify with different racial and/or ethnic groups, work out their varying identities into a “situational” pan-ethnic identity that may be emerging as Latino. The complexities, contradictions, and richness of this newly emerging identity fosters an understanding of the intersection of race, class, ethnicity, national origin, language, and culture.

Minor in Management

CLA and CSM students may take a minor in management through a program offered in cooperation with the College of Management. This program permits students with a primary interest in science, mathematics, or one of the liberal arts disciplines to acquire skills and knowledge that will be of value in pursuing managerial careers. Admission to the minor in management program is competitive and by application only.

Teacher Education Program

The University of Massachusetts Boston currently offers an undergraduate teacher education program to meet the most recent certification requirements of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. All prospective teachers complete a major in the liberal arts and sciences, many of them as CLA or CSM students, and will also be enrolled in the teacher education program. For more information, see the “Teacher Education” section of this publication.