Foundational Disciplines
Bachelor’s degree students complete coursework in three foundational disciplines—humanities, scientific inquiry and quantitative reasoning, and social sciences—to obtain broad experience in the liberal arts.
Students must complete 12 units from the following areas that satisfy the foundational disciplines requirement.
- Humanities (4 units)
- Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning (4 units)
- Social Sciences (4 units)
Two foundational disciplines courses must fulfill a U.S. and global perspectives requirement. One philosophy course within the four humanities units fulfills a professional ethics requirement.
Humanities
Courses from these areas satisfy the humanities requirement:
Art history, classics, comparative literary studies, English literature, languages other than English (up to two units), history, humanities (HUM), music history, philosophy, religion, and some courses in Black studies, languages with literature, gender studies, performance studies, radio/television/film, and theatre.
SPS humanities courses include the following:
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ART_HIST 255-CN | Introduction to Modernism |
| CLASSICS 110-CN | Scientific Vocabulary through Classical Roots |
| ENGLISH 285-DL | Topics in Literature and Culture |
| ENGLISH 300-CN | Seminar in Reading and Interpretation |
| ENGLISH 313-CN | Studies in Fiction: |
| ENGLISH 324-CN | Studies in Medieval Literature: |
| ENGLISH 385-DL | Studies in Literature and Culture |
| FRENCH 111-A | Elementary French |
| FRENCH 111-B | Elementary French |
| FRENCH 111-C | Elementary French |
| FRENCH 121-A | Intermediate French |
| FRENCH 121-B | Intermediate French |
| FRENCH 121-C | Intermediate French |
| HISTORY 250-A | Global History: Early Modern to Modern Transition |
| HISTORY 250-B | Global History: Modern World |
| HISTORY 393-CN | Approaches to History |
| HISTORY 395-CN | Research Seminar |
| HUM 341-DL | Revolution and Society in Cold War Latin America |
| HUM 342-DL | The Art of Looking: Visual Literacy in the Age of the Image |
| MUS_HIST 335-CN | Selected Topics in Music: |
| PHIL 110-CN | Introduction to Philosophy |
| PHIL 264-DL | Professional Ethics |
| PHIL 269-DL | Bioethics |
| PHIL 364-DL | Business and Professional Ethics |
| RTVF 298-CN | Studies in Media Topics |
| RTVF 310-CN | Television History |
Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning
Courses from these areas satisfy the scientific inquiry and quantitative reasoning requirement:
Astronomy, biological sciences, chemistry, computer information systems, earth and planetary sciences, engineering, mathematics, physics and some courses in anthropology, communication sciences and disorders, psychology, radio/television/film, and statistics.
SPS scientific inquiry and quantitative reasoning courses include the following:
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ASTRON 101-CN | Modern Cosmology |
| ASTRON 120-DL | Highlights of Astronomy |
| ANTHRO 213-CN | Human Origins |
| BIOL_SCI 170-CN | Concepts of Biology |
| BIOL_SCI 170-DL | Concepts of Biology |
| BIOL_SCI 201-CN | Molecular Biology |
| BIOL_SCI 202-CN | Cell Biology |
| BIOL_SCI 203-CN | Genetics and Evolution |
| BIOL_SCI 217-DL | Introduction to Human Physiology |
| BIOL_SCI 302-CN | Fundamentals of Neurobiology |
| BIOL_SCI 302-DL | Fundamentals of Neurobiology |
| BIOL_SCI 308-CN | Biochemistry |
| BIOL_SCI 310-CN | Human Physiology |
| BIOL_SCI 312-CN | The Evolutionary Biology of Human Anatomy, Health and Disease |
| BIOL_SCI 312-DL | The Evolutionary Biology of Human Anatomy, Health, and Disease |
| BIOL_SCI 313-CN | Human Anatomy |
| BIOL_SCI 313-DL | Human Anatomy |
| BIOL_SCI 315-CN | Advanced Cell Biology |
| BIOL_SCI 316-CN | Human Structure and Function |
| BIOL_SCI 318-CN | Advanced Human Physiology |
| BIOL_SCI 318-DL | Advanced Human Physiology |
| BIOL_SCI 327-CN | Biology of Aging |
| BIOL_SCI 328-CN | Microbiology |
| BIOL_SCI 342-CN | Evolutionary Processes |
| BIOL_SCI 355-CN | Immunobiology |
| BIOL_SCI 355-DL | Immunobiology |
| BIOL_SCI 390-DL | Advanced Molecular Biology |
| CHEM 110-CN | Quantitative Problem Solving in Chemistry |
| CHEM 131-CN | Fundamentals of Chemistry I |
| CHEM 132-CN | Fundamentals of Chemistry II |
| CHEM 215-A | Organic Chemistry I |
| CHEM 215-B | Organic Chemistry II |
| CHEM 215-C | Organic Chemistry III |
| CSD 301-DL | Anatomy and Physiology of the Vocal Mechanism |
| CSD 305-DL | Phonetics |
| CSD 318-DL | Introduction to Audiology |
| CIS 110-DL | Introduction to Programming |
| CIS 130-DL | Tools and Technology of the Web |
| CIS 212-DL | Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming |
| CIS 313-DL | Telecommunications and Computer Networks |
| CIS 317-DL | Database Systems Design and Implementation |
| CIS 323-DL | Python for Data Science |
| CIS 324-DL | Applied Data Science |
| CIS 325-DL | Enterprise Data Science |
| CIS 326-DL | Data Engineering |
| CIS 330-DL | Human Computer Interaction |
| CIS 345-DL | Information Security |
| CIS 350-DL | Information Technology Strategy |
| CIS 360-DL | AI with Deep Learning |
| CIS 361-DL | Natural Language Processing AI |
| CIS 370-DL | System Analysis and Design |
| CIS 385-DL | Programming for the Web |
| MATH 100-DL | Quantitative Reasoning |
| MATH 101-DL | Algebra |
| MATH 202-CN | Finite Mathematics |
| MATH 220-A | Single-Variable Differential Calculus |
| MATH 220-A-DL | Single-Variable Differential Calculus |
| MATH 220-B | Single-Variable Integral Calculus |
| MATH 220-B-DL | Single-Variable Integral Calculus |
| MATH 240-CN | Linear Algebra |
| PHYSICS 130-A | College Physics I |
| PHYSICS 130-B | College Physics II |
| PHYSICS 130-C | College Physics III |
| PSYCH 201-CN | Statistical Methods in Psychology |
| PSYCH 221-CN | Introduction to Neuroscience |
| PSYCH 228-CN | Cognitive Psychology |
| PSYCH 324-CN | Perception |
| PSYCH 342-CN | Evolutionary Psychology |
| STAT 202-DL | Introduction to Statistics and Data Science |
Social Sciences
Courses from these areas satisfy the social sciences requirement:
Anthropology, economics, history, linguistics, political science, social sciences, sociology, and some courses in Black studies, communication sciences and disorders, gender studies, psychology, and statistics.
SPS social sciences courses include the following:
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ANTHRO 211-CN | Culture and Society |
| ANTHRO 214-CN | Archaeology: Unearthing History |
| ANTHRO 215-CN | The Study of Culture Through Language |
| ECON 201-CN | Introduction to Macroeconomics |
| ECON 201-DL | Introduction to Macroeconomics |
| ECON 202-CN | Introduction to Microeconomics |
| ECON 310-A | Microeconomics |
| ECON 310-B | Microeconomics II |
| ECON 311-CN | Macroeconomics |
| HISTORY 250-A | Global History: Early Modern to Modern Transition |
| HISTORY 250-B | Global History: Modern World |
| HISTORY 393-CN | Approaches to History |
| HISTORY 395-CN | Research Seminar |
| POLI_SCI 220-CN | American Government and Politics |
| POLI_SCI 230-DL | Introduction to Law in the Political Arena |
| POLI_SCI 240-CN | Introduction to International Relations |
| POLI_SCI 250-DL | Introduction to Comparative Politics |
| POLI_SCI 374-CN | Politics of Capitalism |
| POLI_SCI 390-CN | Special Topics in Political Science |
| POLI_SCI 395-CN | Political Research Seminar |
| PSYCH 110-CN | Introduction to Psychology |
| PSYCH 110-DL | Introduction to Psychology |
| PSYCH 201-CN | Statistical Methods in Psychology |
| PSYCH 213-CN | Social Psychology |
| PSYCH 213-DL | Social Psychology |
| PSYCH 215-CN | Psychology of Personality |
| PSYCH 228-CN | Cognitive Psychology |
| PSYCH 244-CN | Developmental Psychology |
| PSYCH 301-CN | Research Methods in Psychology |
| PSYCH 303-CN | Psychopathology |
| PSYCH 306-CN | Introduction to Clinical Psychology |
| PSYCH 310-CN | Special Topics in Social/Clinical/Personality |
| PSYCH 311-CN | Psychology of Attitudes |
| PSYCH 313-CN | Relationship Science |
| PSYCH 317-CN | The Holocaust: Psychological Themes & Perspectives |
| PSYCH 324-CN | Perception |
| PSYCH 342-CN | Evolutionary Psychology |
| PSYCH 344-CN | Cultural Psychology |
| PSYCH 350-CN | Special Topics in Psychology |
| PSYCH 366-CN | Stereotyping & Prejudice |
| PSYCH 367-CN | Child Psychopathology |
| PSYCH 369-CN | Psychological Tests & Measures |
| SOC_SCI 211-DL | Human Culture in Global Perspective |
| SOC_SCI 320-DL | Social and Public Policy |
| SOC_SCI 322-DL | Identity and U.S. Policy |
| SOC_SCI 330-DL | Human Rights and Social Institutions: A Global Perspective |
| SOC_SCI 331-DL | Social Justice Movements |
| SOC_SCI 334-DL | Social Justice, Human Rights, and the Commercial Sector |
| SOC_SCI 335-DL | Social Entrepreneurship and the Non-profit Sector |
| SOC_SCI 389-DL | Qualitative Research in Social Sciences |
Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Included in the foundational disciplines requirement are two courses that apply perspectives on power, justice, and equity: one course focused within the United States and one course focused globally.
SPS United States perspectives courses include the following:
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ENGLISH 205-DL | Intermediate Composition (Immigrant Stories) |
| ENGLISH 285-DL | Topics in Literature and Culture (Diversity in American Literature) |
| POLI_SCI 230-DL | Introduction to Law in the Political Arena |
| SOC_SCI 320-DL | Social and Public Policy |
| SOCIOL 201-DL | Social Inequality |
| SOCIOL 318-DL | Sociology of Law |
SPS global perspectives courses include the following:
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ART_HIST 255-CN | Introduction to Modernism |
| HISTORY 250-A | Global History: Early Modern to Modern Transition |
| HISTORY 250-B | Global History: Modern World |
| HUM 341-DL | Revolution and Society in Cold War Latin America |
| POLI_SCI 250-DL | Introduction to Comparative Politics |
| POLI_SCI 374-CN | Politics of Capitalism |
| SOC_SCI 211-DL | Human Culture in Global Perspective |
| SOC_SCI 330-DL | Human Rights and Social Institutions: A Global Perspective |
Professional Ethics
A philosophy course on professional ethics is required for one of the four humanities foundational disciplines courses.
SPS professional ethics courses:
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| PHIL 264-DL | Professional Ethics |
| PHIL 364-DL | Business and Professional Ethics |