By means of this requirement the College seeks to instill an understanding and an appreciation of the major areas of learning. Students are not expected to master all areas in detail, but should develop a coherent view of essential concepts, structures, and intellectual methods that typify these disciplines.

 

Courses offered by the academic departments and programs of the College are divided into five area categories:

the natural sciences,

the social sciences,

the humanities,

mathematics and symbolic analysis, and

creative expression.

Each of these divisions represents a different perspective on human knowledge and learning; some departments and programs overlap these divisions while others may stand outside them.

 

Definitions

Natural Science

Natural Science courses focus on the understanding of our natural world through application of the scientific method, which emphasizes observation, experimentation, formation of testable hypotheses about natural phenomena, and testing of those hypotheses.

Social Science

Social science courses focus on the study of the social behavior of individuals, groups, societies, nations, and states. Social scientists often use qualitative methods, such as ethnography, oral history, and descriptive analysis of archival materials and artifacts. They also use quantitative tools grounded in the scientific method to collect and analyze data, and form testable hypotheses about social phenomena.

Humanities

Humanities courses focus on the human condition as expressed, for example, in literature, religion, philosophy, and the visual and performing arts. Its methods are analytical, critical, and speculative, and can often be contrasted with the quantitative and qualitative methods employed in the social sciences.

Interdisciplinary courses combine the approaches of two area category in order to examine the differences and similarities between disciplines and explore alternative ways of discovering and organizing knowledge.

Area Distribution Requirement

All candidates for the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees from the College must fulfill the 30-credit Distribution Requirement.

This broad intellectual experience, which forms an essential part of a liberal arts education, is to be achieved in the following way:

  1. Students must complete 7 credits in each of the following three areas: Natural Science (NS), Social Science (SS), and Humanities (HU), for a total of 21 credits.
  2. Students must also complete 3 additional credits in three of the following five areas: (NS), (SS), (HU), Mathematical and Symbolic Analysis (MSA), and Creative Expression (CE), for a total of 9 credits. Credits in courses designated Interdisciplinary (ID) may be used to satisfy up to 9 credits of this part of the requirement.

 

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LSA Bulletin

 

General Policies for Area Distribution Plans

An area distribution plan may include:

  1. Prerequisites to a concentration elected outside the department of concentration
  2. Courses elected pass/fail, credit/no credit, or by any other non-graded pattern
  3. Courses elected to satisfy one of two concentration plans by students who elect a double concentration (see "Double Concentration" below in this chapter).
  4. Transfer credit from other schools and colleges of the University of Michigan and from other academic institutions
  5. A course elected outside the department of concentration or concentration requirements used to meet the Upper-Level Writing Requirement, the Race & Ethnicity Requirement, or the Quantitative Reasoning Requirement
  6. Courses in Non-LS&A Units offering courses with Creative Expression designation (Credits are counted as Non-LS&A ):

An area distribution plan may not include:

  1. Any course from the department of concentration
  2. Required cognates in a concentration plan
  3. Courses at the 400-level and above.
  4. Experiential courses, Independent Study, and University (UC) mini-courses
  5. Advanced Placement credits.