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In the College of Arts and Sciences
Students must complete four courses in science and quantitative reasoning, identified below under the categories Physical and Biological Sciences (PBS-AS/PBSS-AS) and Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (MQR-AS). In addition, they must complete five courses of 3 or more credits each from four of the five categories of courses in the humanities and social sciences with no more than three in the same department. The five categories of courses fulfilling the distribution requirements in humanities and social sciences are: Cultural Analysis (CA-AS), Historical Analysis (HA-AS), Knowledge Cognition and Moral Reasoning (KCM-AS), Literature and the Arts (LA-AS), and Social and Behavioral Analysis (SBA-AS). How an individual course is categorized is indicated with the appropriate abbreviation in its course description.
It is important to recognize that only courses with the proper designation in the Courses of Study can be used toward fulfilling the distribution requirements in Arts and Sciences. Some topics courses and courses offered through the Society for the Humanities, among others, do not count toward distribution. Unless otherwise specified, variable credit courses, including independent study courses, may not be used for distribution credit.
Policies on Applying Cornell and Non-Cornell Courses and Credits to Distribution and Breadth Requirements
Restrictions on Applying AP/Test Credit and Courses from Other Institutions to the Distribution Requirements
- Students may not apply AP/test credit or transfer credit from another institution to the breadth requirements or to any distribution requirement.
- Students who transfer to the college from another institution are under the above rules for advanced placement credit, but are eligible to have credit for post–high school course work taken during regular full-time semesters (not summer terms) at their previous institution count toward all distribution requirements. Transfer students receive a detailed credit evaluation when they are accepted for admission.
Restrictions on Applying Cornell Courses to the Distribution and Breadth Requirements
- First-year writing seminars and ENGL 2880 or ENGL 2890 taken to satisfy a first-year writing seminar requirement may not count toward any other college requirement.
- No single course may satisfy more than one distribution requirement.
- Only courses with the proper designation in the Courses of Study can be used toward fulfilling the distribution and breadth requirements in Arts and Sciences.
- Students may not petition to change the rubric of any given course, nor may any faculty member change the rubric of a course for an individual student. Faculty members wishing to change the rubric for a course in which they are the primary instructor must petition the Educational Policy Committee for a change in rubric. If granted, the new rubric must be applied to the course as a whole and not for an individual student.
Courses That May Fulfill More Than One Requirement
A course may fulfill more than one college requirement in any of the following situations:
- Courses in the major may be applied to the distribution and breadth requirements (except if prohibited by one of the restrictions noted on applying AP/test credit, transfer credit, and Cornell courses to distribution requirements).
- A one-semester course in foreign literature (not language) or culture that is acceptable for certifying option 1 in that language may also be applied to the relevant distribution requirement and, if appropriate, to the breadth requirement.
- Courses may count toward breadth requirements and toward any other requirement except first-year writing seminars.
Distribution Rubrics:
Cultural Analysis (CA-AS):
Courses in this area study human life in various cultural contexts through interpretive analysis of individual behavior, discourse, and social practice. Topics include belief systems (science, medicine, religion), expressive arts and symbolic behavior (visual arts, performance, poetry, myth, narrative, ritual), identity (nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality), social groups and institutions (family, market, community), power and politics (states, colonialism, inequality).
Historical Analysis (HA-AS):
Courses in this group interpret continuities and changes—political, social, economic, diplomatic, religious, intellectual, artistic, scientific—through time. The focus may be on groups of people, dominant or subordinate, a specific country or region, an event, a process, or a time period.
Knowledge, Cognition, and Moral Reasoning (KCM-AS):
Courses in this area investigate the bases of human knowledge in its broadest sense, ranging from cognitive faculties shared by humans and animals such as perception, to abstract reasoning, to the ability to form and justify moral judgments. Courses investigating the sources, structure, and limits of cognition may use the methodologies of science, cognitive psychology, linguistics, or philosophy. Courses focusing on moral reasoning explore ways of reflecting on ethical questions that concern the nature of justice, the good life, or human values in general.
Literature and the Arts (LA-AS):
Courses in this area explore literature and the arts in two different but related ways. Some courses focus on the critical study of artworks and on their history, aesthetics, and theory. These courses develop skills of reading, observing, and hearing and encourage reflection on such experiences; many investigate the interplay among individual achievement, artistic tradition, and historical context. Other courses are devoted to the production and performance of artworks (in creative writing, performing arts, and media such as film and video). These courses emphasize the interaction among technical mastery, cognitive knowledge, and creative imagination.
Social and Behavioral Analysis (SBA-AS):
Courses in this area examine human life in its social context through the use of social scientific methods, often including hypothesis testing, scientific sampling techniques, and statistical analysis. Topics studied range from the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes of individuals to interpersonal relations between individuals (e.g., in friendship, love, conflict) to larger social organizations (e.g., the family, society, religious or educational or civic institutions, the economy, government) to the relationships and conflicts among groups or individuals (e.g., discrimination, inequality, prejudice, stigmas, conflict resolution). Please note that CRP 1100 - The American City and CRP 1101 - The Global City satisfy SBA-AS.
Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (MQR-AS):
Courses satisfying this requirement help students develop the skills to solve problems through understanding abstract, logical relationships. Such skills include mathematical analysis of data, modeling natural and manmade systems, and creating algorithms essential to computation. These courses explore specific quantitative methods, strategies for applying quantitative reasoning in diverse areas, and the intrinsic elegance of mathematics.
In completing four courses in science and quantitative reasoning, students must take at least one course from the “Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning List” below.
Physical and Biological Sciences (PBS-AS/PBSS-AS):
Courses satisfying this requirement provide an appreciation of how science generates and categorizes knowledge about nature, explore the relevance of science to society, develop proficiency in techniques of the natural sciences, and assess the limitations and strengths of science as a mode of inquiry. These courses expose students to both the process and substance of science and introduce them to the frontiers of contemporary research in the natural sciences.
In fulfilling the four courses in science and quantitative reasoning, students must take at least two science courses. At least one of these must be from the “Physical and Biological Sciences Primary List” below.
Physical and Biological Sciences Primary List (PBS-AS):
(The courses listed individually are all cross-listed in an Arts and Sciences science department.)
Animal Science:
Applied and Engineering Physics:
Astronomy:
All 3- or 4-credit courses except:
Biological Sciences:
All 3- or 4-credit courses except:
Biological and Environmental Engineering:
Biology & Society:
Biomedical Engineering:
Biometry and Statistics:
Chemistry and Chemical Biology:
All 3- or 4-credit courses.
Chemical Engineering
Cognitive Science:
Computer Science:
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences:
All 3- or 4-credit courses except:
Electrical and Computer Engineering:
Engineering:
Entomology:
Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies:
Food Science:
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Studies:
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering:
Music:
Natural Resources:
Physics:
All 3- or 4-credit courses.
Plant Sciences:
Plant Soil and Crop Sciences:
Psychology:
Science and Technology Studies:
Veterinary Medicine:
Physical and Biological Sciences Supplementary List (PBSS-AS):
Note: all courses that appear on the Physical and Biological Sciences Supplementary list count toward the 100 credits required in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Students may select additional science courses from the following list:
Animal Science:
Anthropology:
Applied and Engineering Physics:
Archaeology:
Biology & Society:
(When taken for 3 credits, will count for Science Supplementary)
Biometry and Statistics:
Cognitive Science:
Computer Science:
Electrical and Computer Engineering:
Engineering:
Entomology:
(When taken for 3 credits, will count for Science Supplementary)
Food Science:
Natural Resources:
Near Eastern Studies
Nutritional Sciences:
Plant Biology:
Plant Horticulture:
Plant Sciences:
Psychology:
Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning List (MQR-AS):
Additional Requirements:
If students choose two courses from this list to satisfy part of the distribution requirement, those two courses may not have significant overlap. For example, students may not choose two beginning courses in statistics. Nor may they earn credit toward the degree for overlapping courses: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .
Note: all courses that appear on the Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning list count toward the 100 credits required in the College of Arts and Sciences.
American Studies
Applied Economics and Management:
Architecture:
Art:
Astronomy:
Biometry:
City and Regional Planning:
Classics:
Cognitive Science:
Computer Science:
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences:
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology:
Economics:
Electrical and Computer Engineering:
Engineering:
English
Human Development:
Industrial and Labor Relations:
Information Science
Linguistics:
Mathematics:
All 3- or 4-credit courses except first-year writing seminars.
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering:
Medieval Studies:
Music:
Operations Research and Information Engineering
Philosophy:
Policy Analysis and Management:
Psychology:
Sociology:
Statistical Science:
Breadth Requirements
Students must include in their undergraduate program at least one Arts and Sciences course that focuses on an area or a people other than those of the United States, Canada, or Europe and one course that focuses on an historical period before the 20th century. Courses that satisfy the geographic breadth requirement are marked with a (GB) when described in this catalog. Courses that satisfy the historical breadth requirement are marked with an (HB). Many courses satisfy both requirements (GHB), and students may in fact use the same course to satisfy both. Students may use courses satisfying distribution, major, or elective-but not writing-requirements in satisfaction of either of the breadth requirements. They may also apply Cornell courses (not credit from an examination) conferring Option 1 in a non-Western language toward the geographical breadth requirement.
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