College of Arts and Letters

Interim Founding Dean:  KandiTurley-Ames, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Fine Arts and Humanities: Randy Earles, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Social and Behavioral Sciences:  Ron Hatzenbuehler, Ph.D.

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College Introductory Information

Departments and Programs:  

• American Studies Program
• Department of Anthropology
• Department of Art and Pre-Architecture
• Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies
• Department of Economics
• Department of English and Philosophy
• Folklore Program
• Department of History
• General Studies Degrees
• Idaho Museum of Natural History
• International Studies Program
• Department of Languages and Literatures
• Leadership Studies Minor (Interdisciplinary)
• The James E. Rogers Department of Mass Communication
• Department of Military Science
• Department of Music
• Department of Political Science
• Department of Psychology
• Department of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice
• Department of Theatre and Dance
  
• Women Studies Program

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College of Arts and Letters

General Education Requirements General Studies Degrees (Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Arts) Major Requirements

Pre-Law Advising Teacher Education Program Transfer Students

Programs of study in the College of Arts and Letters introduce students to ways of thinking and expression intrinsic to the arts, humanities, and social and behavioral sciences.  Students are thereby aided in the development of intellectual skills and personal values which serve them in career planning and lifelong learning.  The College is organized into a Division of Fine Arts and Humanities, and a Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Curricular offerings in the College lead to Associate of Science, Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Public Administration, Master of Science, Doctor of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.  Courses leading to these degrees provide an introduction to a variety of academic disciplines and in-depth specialization in numerous areas.  Degrees from programs in the College of Arts and Letters may lead directly to employment in certain occupations or prepare an individual for more advanced study.  Students planning to engage in graduate or professional training (for example, law or medicine) should pay particular attention to the admission requirements of the programs that they plan to pursue.

Mission Statement of the College of Arts and Letters

The College of Arts and Letters offers a variety of academic programs that develop skills in written and oral communication and critical thinking while exploring the diversity and scope of the human experience with both undergraduate and graduate students.  Faculty in the College provide instruction and training of superior quality in the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, and behavioral sciences and produce innovative scholarship that advances knowledge.  Through student and faculty collaborative endeavors, the College promotes opportunities for research and creative activities that investigate and enrich our shared cultural, economic, environmental, health, political, and social systems.

General Education Requirements

All Associate and Bachelor of Arts and Associate and Bachelor of Science degree programs include a general education component intended to provide a depth of knowledge in liberal studies as a necessary background for the specialized knowledge acquired in the discipline in which the student majors.  Additionally, the General Education Requirements are intended to assist the student in developing the intellectual flexibility necessary for a fulfilling career.

By meeting these requirements, students develop their critical thinking skills as well as competency in oral, written, and mathematical communication.  They also acquire habits of thought traditionally associated with the well-educated person: the ability to analyze and propose solutions to problems; the ability to recognize and assess value structures; and the ability to investigate and understand the literary and expressive arts.  The General Education Requirements and Goals are detailed in the Academic Information section of the Catalog.

Transfer Students

Students transferring to Idaho State University who seek a bachelor's degree in the College of Arts and Letters should refer to the section, Transfer Credits toward General Education Requirements under "New Transfer Students" in the Undergraduate Admission section of the catalog. 

Major Requirements

In addition to the General Education component, all Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degree programs require a concentration in a departmental major of at least 24 credits, of which at least 16 credits must be in courses numbered 3000 and above. The particular course requirements of the departmental majors in the College of Arts and Letters are outlined under the department headings in the catalog.

The Teacher Education Program

The College of Arts and Letters shares responsibility with the College of Education for the Teacher Education Program. Students may fulfill the requirements of the Teacher Education Program while majoring in a discipline within the College of Arts and Letters. The Teacher Education Program admission and completion requirements are detailed in the College of Education section of this catalog.

Pre-Law Advising

The successful attorney is one who understands how changes within society affect the relationships between and among people. An effective attorney should have an understanding of human behavior; social, political and economic change; our ecological systems; and the general influence of our philosophical, literary, and historical heritage. Hence, the student with a broad undergraduate preparation and a developed insight into many facets of life attains the best educational preparation for the practice of law.

The student who aspires to attend law school should seek the counsel of one of the Pre-Law Advisors:

Dr. Ron Hatzenbuehler, History

Dr. Bruce Loebs, Communication and Rhetorical Studies

Dr. Angela Narasimhan, Political Science

Dr. Tesa Stegner, Economics

These advisors will create a pre-law curriculum designed to accommodate the student's major and help him/her prepare for the Law School Admission Test and a career in accordance with the principles discussed above.

General Studies

This is a non-specialist degree program designed to meet the needs of students interested in broadly based education in the liberal arts. It provides greater flexibility and breadth in subject matter than provided by traditional degree programs. Students in the General Studies program must complete all of the General Education goals (including 10A and 10B) as a program requirement. See the ­Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Letters for advising in this program.

Bachelor of Arts in General Studies

A student’s Bachelor of Arts in General Studies (BAGS) program must include approved coursework from these areas:

• a) English composition;
• b) speech communication;
• c) mathematics;
• d) biological science and laboratory;
• e) physical science and laboratory;
•  f) fine arts (arts, dance, film, ­music, theater);
• g) literature;
• h) philosophy;
• i) U.S. history;
• j) non-U.S. history or culture;
• k) foreign language;
• l) economics or political science;
• m) anthropology, ­psychology, or sociology.

Upper division courses - At least 48 cred­its of upper division coursework in the arts and humanities, the social and behavioral sciences, and the physical sciences and mathematics are re­quired, but no more than a total of 40 upper division credits may be earned in any one subject field. Coursework graded P/NP or S/U must be approved in advance.

Electives - Courses from all across the university may be utilized to complete the 128 credit hours required for graduation.

Associate of Arts in General Studies

This degree requires completion of the General Education Goals as outlined for the Bachelor of General Studies degree (above); 6 additional lower division credits in the arts and humanities; 6 additional lower division credits in the social and behavioral arts; and elective credits from all across the University, to total 64 credit hours.

IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY Academic Information  Contact: webmaster@isu.edu Revised: March 2011