University of Chicago College Course Catalog
Go to the Catalog Table of Contents
Go to bottom of document
In Part I:
In the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division:
In 1930 the University, under Robert Maynard Hutchins, moved to overcome the
fragmentation of modern academic life by grouping its forty or so departments
into four main Divisions--Biological Sciences, Humanities, Physical Sciences,
and Social Sciences--each responsible for granting degrees. This divisional
structure represents a quest for understanding that resists the confinement of
inquiry to any particular department. At that time the College was defined as a
fifth Division and charged "to do the work of the University in general higher
education." The role of the College was to complement the specialization of
graduate faculties by discovering ways to connect the entire universe of
knowledge. The outcome was a series of broadly conceived general education
courses that came to constitute Chicago's distinctive Common Core.
In 1965 the faculty created five Collegiate Divisions, responsible for
concentration programs (majors) as well as Common Core offerings. The new
structure ensured that the tension inherent in contemporary academic
life--between the demand for specialization and the need to provide common
learning for members of a democratic society--would be resolved in a way
consonant with the College's established mission. The faculty at Chicago is
committed to achieving the finest scholarship that specialization can produce
while bringing the disciplines into a broader exchange that benefits new
generations of learners. The College is the place where all the disciplines of
the University come together in a common dialogue, a dialogue which takes
place, to a very great extent, in the form of discussions in small classes.
While Chicago faculty design and teach the curriculum, they do so with the
expectation that students will play an active role at every stage of the
educational process. A superior education can be obtained by all students who
attend the College of the University of Chicago--but it's up to the
individual student to secure it. The Chicago curriculum is designed to give
students access to the entire world of knowledge and to lead them to an
appreciation of the possibilities of human achievement. A Chicago education
develops individual powers of judgment and expression and equips students to
ask fresh questions and to pursue them on their own. The challenge of a Chicago
education is not only to acquire tools and knowledge but also to raise
questions about the ends for which they should be used. This is what Chicago
means by "liberal education": it is an education for free persons.
Go to top of document
The faculty of the College has created a program of liberal education that
emphasizes cultural breadth, intellectual depth, and independence of mind; such
an education will enable our students to lead productive lives in a rapidly
changing world.
Breadth is assured by the Common Core, which engages students with the
natural languages of ordinary communication, the mathematical sciences, the
fine arts, the observational and analytical methods of the natural and social
sciences, physical education, philosophical issues, and historic
civilizations.
Depth is provided by programs of concentration that immerse students in one
of the methods of inquiry and direct them to apply it to pertinent subject
matters and problems.
Independence is promoted by free electives drawn from hundreds of course
offerings as well as by asking students to exercise choice in constructing
their general education and concentration programs. Students also have ample
opportunities to engage in independent study, research, and other
individualized projects.
Go to top of document
The masters and the faculties of the Collegiate Divisions are responsible for
planning and staffing both the general education courses and the concentration
programs in their respective areas. Here is a brief description of what each
Division offers.
The Biological Sciences Collegiate Division. Biology is the study of
living things. The faculty of the College believes that a sound knowledge of
biology is essential for understanding the natural world we live in and for
intelligent involvement in solving the most pressing problems of modern life.
Therefore, the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division provides a
variety of yearlong sequences designed to introduce all students to the
language of biological inquiry and acquaint them with the four core features of
all living things: continuity (genetics), organization, regulation, and
evolution. Although most of the courses beyond the introductory year are meant
to serve students concentrating in biology, many will appeal to the
nonbiologist who wishes to study some aspect of modern biology in greater
detail; some have been explicitly designed for this purpose. The Division
offers a broadly conceived concentration program that permits a variety of
special emphases from ecology and organismic development to molecular
biology.
The Humanities Collegiate Division. The disciplines of the humanities
examine the principal forms of human expression: natural language, literature,
music, visual art, history, and philosophy. Their goal is to open students'
lives to significant human problems and pleasures while sharpening their
perceptions and their capacities for analytical thinking.
Humanities Common Core courses give students access to characteristic genres of
literary, historical, and philosophic texts and of musical and visual forms.
They are specifically designed to enhance careful reading, analysis, writing,
and argumentation. The Division also offers introductory and advanced training
in more than thirty languages. Its eighteen concentration programs are
organized around particular disciplines, cultural traditions, or
interdisciplinary exploration.
The New Collegiate Division. The role of the New Collegiate Division is to
provide a place for diverse collegiate experiments unconstrained by those
boundaries that separate the several departments and divisions of knowledge.
The Division's principal concern is to locate and define coherent areas of
study that cut across the familiar academic lines and which can form the basis
for a rigorous educational program aimed above all to make the mind inventive
and the sensibility exact.
The Division assumes that there are many ways to form such coherences. Each of
its programs is specialized in that each is designed to equip students to
approach a certain range of problems with advanced competence. Nonetheless,
each is developed with a breadth and vision that make the program a liberal
education in itself.
The Physical Sciences Collegiate Division. The work of the Physical
Sciences Collegiate Division encompasses two major areas of intellectual
endeavor, the disciplines concerned with observational and experimental studies
of the inanimate environment, from the submicroscopic to the cosmic, and those
concerned with the languages of quantitative reasoning--computer science,
mathematics, and statistics.
The Division provides five sequences that introduce students to the empirical
physical sciences as well as yearlong sequences in chemistry or physics
required of students who choose to concentrate in one of the natural sciences.
It also provides a wide range of basic courses in the mathematical sciences. It
offers six concentration programs leading to the B.A. degree and four leading
to the B.S. degree. One degree program, biological chemistry, is offered
jointly by the Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences Collegiate
divisions.
The Social Sciences Collegiate Division. The social sciences examine human
phenomena at a number of levels: from that of the thinking and feeling
individual, through those of economic, political, and cultural systems, to the
level of large-scale societies and their relations.
The Division offers to all students in the College five yearlong sequences that
introduce modes of discourse and analysis that deal with human phenomena.
Students explore writings that exhibit central concepts, theories, and modes of
inquiry that form the foundation for work in the social sciences. The Division
also sponsors general education sequences on the major civilizations of the
world. Its concentration programs include seven in traditional disciplines and
seven in interdisciplinary fields of study.
Go to top of document
The curriculum has three broad components: general education (the Common Core),
a concentration program, and free electives. All students are encouraged to
round out their programs by completing a senior project.
Humanities (4 quarters)
A. Interpretation of Historical, Literary, and Philosophical Texts
(3-quarter sequence). All the following sequences are designed to enhance
the capacity to interpret various genres of humanistic texts and to strengthen
skills in expository writing:
Humanities 110-111-112. Readings in World Literature
B. Musical and Visual Arts (1 quarter). The following courses
provide an introduction to methods for analyzing, comprehending, and
appreciating works of musical or visual art by examining their formal
vocabularies and how these vocabularies are used to create meaning. These
objectives are met either by the intensive study of selected masterpieces or by
producing original works of music or art.
Art and Design 101. Visual Language I
NOTE: Students with AP test scores of 4 or 5 in art history may satisfy this
requirement with an upper-level art history course.
Foreign Languages (3 or 4 quarters)
Students are required to gain experience of sufficient depth in a second
language to enable appreciation of structural complexity and diverse
possibilities of communication in natural languages. That experience may take
the form of written and oral communication in a modern spoken language, an
ancient language, or communication in a modern manual language.
Students meet the foreign language requirement by demonstrating competency
equivalent to four quarters of French, German, Latin, or Spanish; or
three quarters of
Akkadian
Mathematical Sciences (2 quarters)
Go to top of document
Only courses beyond the level of precalculus may be used to fulfill the
mathematical sciences requirement. In other words, students must first take
Mathematics 100-101-102 or 105-106, or place into Mathematics 131, 151, 161, or
110, before taking any of the courses listed below.
The courses listed below are designed to develop the powers of formal reasoning
through use of precise artificial languages as found in mathematics, computer
science, statistics, or formal logic. These courses present broadly applicable
techniques for formulating, analyzing, and solving problems, and for evaluating
proposed solutions.
Students who anticipate concentration programs in the physical or biological
sciences, economics, or public policy studies must satisfy this requirement
with the first two quarters of a calculus sequence. Other restrictions may
apply, so students should consult with a College adviser or departmental
counselor about course choices.
Computer Science 105-106. Introduction to Computer Programming
I, II
NOTE: Mathematics 131, 151, and 161 may be used to satisfy the Mathematical
Sciences requirement only if Mathematics 132, 152, or 162 are also taken.
Students who choose courses other than calculus may combine any two of the
courses above to meet the requirement, subject to prerequisites.
Natural Sciences (6 quarters)
Course sequences in this area are designed to explore significant features of
the natural universe and to examine the exciting process of scientific inquiry.
These courses consider the powers and limitations of diverse forms of
scientific observation, scientific reasoning, and natural laws. All sequences
include laboratory experience.
Students may fulfill the natural sciences requirement by taking a three-quarter
sequence in the physical sciences and a three-quarter sequence in
the biological sciences or by taking an integrated six-quarter (two-year)
sequence in the natural sciences.
Students who concentrate in the physical or biological sciences (with the
exception of statistics) must fulfill the physical sciences requirement with
physics or chemistry. All students, except those taking precalculus, should
normally have finished their physical sciences requirement by the end of their
second year. Students are urged to complete their natural sciences requirement
by the end of their third year.
Go to top of document
A. Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences
1. Physical Sciences (3-quarter sequence)
a. Physical and biological sciences concentrators must complete one of the
following sequences to fulfill their general education requirement.
Chemistry 111-112-113. General Chemistry I, II, III
b. These course sequences are designed for students who do not plan to
concentrate in the physical or biological sciences.
Physical Sciences 108-109-110. Science and the Earth (available only to first-
and second-year students)
2. Biological Sciences (3-quarter sequence)
Go to top of document
All sequences in the biological sciences provide a strong foundation in
biological concepts, through attention to the fundamental core concepts of
biological continuity, organization, regulation, and evolution. See the course
description under the biological sciences section of this catalog for the
approved sequences. The approved natural sciences sequences are listed below.
B. Natural Sciences (6-quarter sequence)
These sequences are designed for first- and second-year students planning to
concentrate in the humanities and social sciences.
Natural Sciences 101-102-103-104-105-106. Evolution of the Natural World
Social Sciences (3-quarter sequence)
The following sequences are designed to cultivate an understanding of
fundamental concepts, theories, and philosophies in the social sciences and to
demonstrate how the social sciences formulate basic questions and inquire about
the nature of social life through acts of imagination as well as through
systematic analysis.
Social Sciences 101-102-103. Wealth, Power, and Virtue
Civilizational Studies (3-quarter sequence)
Go to top of document
Each of these course sequences provides an in-depth examination of the
development and accomplishments of one of the world's great civilizations
through direct encounters with some of its most significant documents and
monuments. Students normally undertake one of these sequences after completing
one of the required social sciences Common Core sequences.
Classical Civilization 207-208-209. The Ancient Mediterranean World I, II,
III
Physical Education (3 quarters)
Go to top of document
The physical education program is designed to cultivate physical fitness, basic
athletic skills, and an appreciation of the value of recreational physical
activity. Courses available to fulfill this requirement include
Archery
Students normally take three quarters of physical education in their first
year. A physical fitness classification test and swimming test will be given
during Orientation Week. Depending on their physical fitness classification
test scores, students may place out of one, two, or three quarters of physical
education. Students who do not pass the swimming test must take one quarter of
swimming. Although physical education is required for graduation, it is not
included among the forty-two academic courses counted toward a degree.
Concentration programs provide an opportunity to focus on a particular area of
inquiry. As a rule, these programs comprise from nine to thirteen courses.
Programs that specify thirteen courses require completion of eight electives;
programs that specify twelve courses require nine electives; and so on, so that
the combination of concentration and electives equals twenty-one courses. More
than half of these courses must be taken in the College. A concentration
program may consist of more than thirteen courses if it entails work in two or
more disciplines or subject matters. Students may be asked to fulfill such
additional requirements by taking specified courses either as part of the
general education program or as electives.
The following concentration programs are available.
In the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division:
Go to top of document
Biological Chemistry
In the Humanities Collegiate Division:
Art and Design
In the New Collegiate Division:
Environmental Studies
In the Physical Sciences Collegiate Division:
Biological Chemistry
Chemistry
Go to top of document
In the Social Sciences Collegiate Division:
African and African-American Studies
(12 to 8 quarter courses)
Elective courses may be taken in any subject matter or discipline, including
those falling within the student's concentration program. A minimum of eight
elective courses are generally required. When four courses of foreign language
are required, one of these may be counted as an elective. When Mathematics
100-101-102 or Mathematics 105-106 are required, no more than one may be used
in a student's program. Up to six credits earned by examination may be used as
electives. (See the Course Credit and Credit by Examination section elsewhere
in this catalog.)
Go to top of document
Opening Section, Part 1 of 3
Go to Second Part of Opening Section
Go to middle of document
In the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division
Liberal Education
The College of the University of Chicago has set the standard for liberal
education throughout its history; many of the courses and programs described in
this catalog are special to Chicago. The educators whose ideas and visions
shaped the College--figures such as William Rainey Harper and John Dewey,
Robert Maynard Hutchins and Edward Levi--possessed a genius for posing fresh
questions and for educational innovation. Throughout its history, the College
has undertaken a "new plan" every ten or fifteen years. At the same time, the
College has always displayed a self-conscious traditionalism. With clarity of
purpose, the faculty has held on to ideas that seemed fruitful. From the Common
Core to interdisciplinary concentrations, and from orientation to the advising
system, what were once our new ideas in collegiate education are now our
traditions.
at Chicago
Go to bottom of documentThe Baccalaureate Program
The Five Collegiate Divisions
Go to bottom of documentThe Curriculum
Go to bottom of document
(21 quarter courses)
Humanities 115-116-117. Philosophical Perspectives on the Humanities
Humanities 120-121-122. Greek Thought and Literature
Humanities 123-124-125. Human Being and Citizen
Humanities 130-131-132. Strategies of Interpretation: Form, Problem, and
Event
Humanities 135-136-137. Introduction to the Humanities
Humanities 140-141-142. Reading Cultures: Collecting, Travelling, and
Capitalist Cultures
Humanities 150-151-152. Perspectives on Language in the Humanities
Art and Design 102. Visual Language II
Art History 101. Introduction to Art
Art History 150-151-152. Art of the West
Art History 161. Art of the East: China and Japan
Art History 170-179. Art in Context
Music 101. Introduction to Western Music
Music 102. Introduction to World Music
Music 103. Introduction to Music: Materials and Design
Music 121-122. History of Music for Nonmajors
American Sign Language
Arabic
Assyrian
Babylonian
Bengali
Chinese (literary or modern)
Czech
Dutch
Ancient Egyptian
Greek (classical)
Hebrew (modern, Biblical, or post-Biblical)
Hindi
Hittite
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Sanskrit
Swahili
Swedish
Tamil
Turkish
Urdu
Go to bottom of document
Computer Science 110-111. Computer Programming as a Liberal Art
I, II
Computer Science 115-116. Introduction to Computer Programming I, II.
Mathematical Sciences 120-121-122. Mathematical Sciences
Mathematics 110-111. Studies in Mathematics I, II
Mathematics 131-132. Elementary Functions and Calculus I, II
Mathematics 151-152. Calculus I, II
Mathematics 161-162. Honors Calculus I, II
Statistics 200. Elementary Statistics
Go to bottom of document
Chemistry 121-122-123. General Chemistry I, II, III (Honors)
Physics 121-122-123. General Physics I, II, III (Variant A)
Physics 131-132-133. General Physics I, II, III (Variant B)
Physics 141-142-143. General Physics I, II, III (Honors Variant)
Physical Sciences 111-112-113. Foundations of Modern Physics I, II, III
(offered winter, spring, autumn)
Physical Sciences 118-119-120. Introduction to Astrophysics I, II, III
Go to bottom of document
Natural Sciences 151-152-153-154-155-156. Form and Function in the Natural
World
Social Sciences 109-110-111. Power
Social Sciences 121-122-123. Self, Culture, and Society
Social Sciences 141-142-143. Mind
Social Sciences 151-152-153. Classics of Social and Political Thought
Go to bottom of document
Early Christian Literature 201-202-203. Religion in Western Civilization
History 131-132-133. History of Western Civilization
History 135-136-137. America in Western Civilization
History 173-174-175. Science, Culture, and Society in Western Civilization
Humanities 200-201-202. Judaic Civilization
Near Eastern History 201-202-203. History of the Ancient Near East
Near Eastern History 211-212-213. Near Eastern Civilization
Social Sciences 220-221-222. Introduction to Islamic Civilization
Social Sciences 225-226-227. Introduction to African Civilization
Social Sciences 230-231-232. Introduction to the Civilization of South Asia
Social Sciences 235-236-237. Introduction to the Civilizations of East Asia
Social Sciences 240-241-242. Introduction to Russian Civilization
Social Sciences 261-262-263. Introduction to Latin American Civilization
Go to bottom of document
Badminton
Ballet (elementary, intermediate)
Community First Aid and Safety (American Red Cross-ARC)
CPR for the Professional Rescuer (ARC)
Emergency Response (ARC)
Golf
Jazz Dance (elementary, intermediate)
Lifeguard Training (ARC)
Modern Dance (elementary, intermediate)
Movement Improvisation
Personal Fitness (conditioning, step aerobics, jogging, walking, water aerobics, weight training)
Racquetball (elementary, intermediate)
Social Dance (elementary, intermediate)
Swimming (novice, elementary, intermediate)
Tennis (elementary, intermediate, advanced)
(9 to 13 quarter courses)
Go to bottom of document
Biological Sciences
Art History
Classical Studies
Early Christian Literature
East Asian Languages and Civilizations
English Language and Literature
General Studies in the Humanities
Germanic Studies
Jewish Studies
Linguistics
Medieval Studies
Music
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Philosophy
Religion and the Humanities
Romance Languages and Literatures
Russian and Other Slavic Languages and Literatures
South Asian Languages and Civilizations
Fundamentals: Issues and Texts
Ideas and Methods
Law, Letters, and Society
Tutorial Studies
Computer Science
Geophysical Sciences
Mathematics
Mathematics with Specialization in Computer Science
Physics
Statistics
Go to bottom of document
Anthropology
Economics
Geography
History
History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine
Latin American Studies
Law, Letters, and Society
Political Science
Psychology
Public Policy Studies
Russian Civilization
Sociology
South Asian Studies
Go to Course Credit and Credit by Examination