College of Arts and Sciences 

Admissions, Academic and Degree Requirements

Please Note: Fine Arts majors should refer to program requirements listed in the Division of Fine Arts section of this Bulletin.

Divisional Studies Requirements

The divisional areas of the college are:

Fine Arts. Art, Music, and Theatre Arts. 

Humanities. Classics, English, French, German, Philosophy, Russian and Spanish.

Natural Sciences. Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physical Education and Recreation, Physics/Astronomy and Psychology.

Social Sciences. African Studies, Afro-American Studies, Economics, History, Political Science, Sociology-Administration of Justice/Anthropology.

Following is the appropriate distribution of the required number of divisional courses:

Social Science Majors. 4 Division A courses, 2 Division B courses, 0 Division C courses and 4 Division D courses.

Humanities Majors. 2 Division A courses, 2 Division B courses, 2 Division C courses and 4 Division D courses.

Natural Science Majors. 4 Division A courses, 2 Division B courses, 2 Division C courses and 2 Division D courses.

Students majoring in biology, chemistry or physics who are required to begin the major in the freshman year will take the introductory course in the major and satisfy the Divisional Studies D requirement in the sophomore year.

Please note that no more than two (2) courses in a single department, whether in the College of Arts and Sciences or in any other school or college, can be counted to satisfy the Divisional Studies requirement.

Divisional Studies A: Humanities—(required of all freshmen in the College of Arts and Sciences).CLAS 014, CLAS 015, ENGL 014, ENGL 015, GERM 014, GERM 015, FREN 014, FREN 015, HUM 107, RUSS 014, RUSS 115, SPAN 014, SPAN 015. Introduction to Humanities I and II (all departments above), and Women in Literature (all departments above). No knowledge of a foreign language is needed for these courses.

Divisional Studies A: Humanities (recommended for upperclassmen, open to all students).
CLAS 016, CLAS 101, CLAS 102, CLAS 103, CLAS 108, CLAS 109, CLAS 111, CLAS 113, CLAS 114, ENGL 054, ENGL 055, ENGL 168, ENGL 180, GERM 100, GERM 101, GERM 109, and GERM 111, FREN 100, RUSS 100, RUSS 101, RUSS 103 and RUSS 109, SPAN 100, MUSC 100, ARTH 161, THEA 010. No knowledge of a foreign language is needed for these courses.

Divisional Studies B: Social Sciences
CLAS 104, CLAS 105, CLAS 112, CLAS 115, GERM 145, GERM 146, POLS 001, HIST 001, HIST 002, HIST 005, HIST 006, SOSC 011, SOSC 012, SOCI 001, HIST 101, HIST 102, RUSS 145, RUSS 146, RUSS 150, AFRO 005, AFRO 006.

Divisional Studies C: Social Sciences— (not recommended for freshmen) CLAS 110, ECON 001, ECON 002, ECON 199, POLS 003, POLS 005, POLS 010, POLS 011, *POLS 143, HIST 003, HIST 004, HIST 009, HIST 010, HIST 030, HIST 031, HIST 040, HIST 041, HIST 050, HIST 051, HIST 054, HIST 055, HIST 060, HIST 061, SOCI 160, ANTH 120, ANTH 110, AFST 101, AFRO 131, AFRO 133, AFRO 191.

Divisional Studies D: Natural Sciences
PHYS 010, PHYS 011 (Gen. Astronomy), BIOL 101, BIOL 102; CHEM 003, COMP 001, COMP 002, COMP 003, COMP 004, MATH 006, MATH 007, MATH 009, MATH 010, MATH 026, PHYS 001, PHYS 002, PHYS 013, PHYS 014, PSYC 050.

Fine Arts majors should refer to program requirements listed in Division of Fine Arts section of this Bulletin.

Honors Program

The Honors Program offers a unique opportunity for intensive study within a small community of highly motivated young scholars. Freshmen are selected for the program on the basis of their school records, test scores, and recommendations of counselors or high school principals. Other students are eligible to enter the program after their first year at Howard if they have maintained a 3.5 cumulative grade point average (GPA). Once students enter the Program, they must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.

Students satisfy the general education requirements through designated honors courses. During the freshman year students take special sections of composition and of the humanities, social science, and natural science courses. During the sophomore year students take a philosophy course, and during the sophomore and junior years additional seminars are taken. Directed readings courses in the major fields are available from the sophomore to the senior year. These encourage independent study under careful faculty guidance. Students write a senior thesis and present it before an assemblage of students and faculty. Honors students are encouraged to take an active part in their educations. Students assist in planning and organizing the lectures, colloquia, workshops, field trips and other activities that extend the Honors Program beyond the classroom.

Departmental Honors

Students not in the Honors Program may be admitted to departmental honors in their major department if their grade point average is 3.2 or higher in both the major and the overall cumulative average. Students who earn a B in the departmental honors project and a final GPA of 3.2 will graduate with honors. Students who earn an A in the departmental honors project and a final average of 3.5 will graduate with high honors.