Just as the Core provides the foundation for addressing key intellectual questions, one’s major program of study is intended to provide a depth of knowledge and sophistication in a defined field of study.
Majors range from nine to 19 courses, depending on the specific requirements of the different departments. When selecting a major, students should carefully review the requirements as described in the College Catalog.
Minors permit students to use their free electives with intellectual effectiveness and precision—to take a cohesive set of courses that complement studies in one’s major or to explore an unrelated area of intellectual interest.
Minors typically require five to seven courses and are counted towards one’s electives. Each program outlines its particular requirements for a minor, so check the College Catalog for more information and a complete list of available minors. Minors are not available in all academic departments, yet some minors do not have a corresponding major.
Art History encompasses the visual arts and material culture of a wide range of regions and historical periods. The major in art history introduces students to a variety of cultures and approaches while providing analytical skills.
Cinema and Media Studies provides a framework within which students can approach the history of film and related media from a variety of historical, critical, and theoretical perspectives. The program enables students to analyze how cinema creates meanings through particular forms, techniques, and styles; how industrial organization affects the way films are produced and received; and how the social context in which they are made and consumed influence the way we understand and make meaning of films.
The BA degree in Classical Studies allows students to explore Greek and Roman antiquity in a variety of ways and provides excellent preparation for careers that require strong skills in interpretation and writing, such as teaching, scholarly research, law, and publishing, and in the humanities in general.
Comparative Literature offers an interdisciplinary plan of course work focused on the study of literature in various languages and in various parts of the world.
Creative writing at the University of Chicago can position itself as part of the intellectual framework of any program or major, and provides unique opportunities for interdisciplinary work. Students may pursue creative writing as part of the formal program in English Language and Literature or Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, as a stand-alone minor with any other major, as part of another major that accepts writing courses to count towards requirements, or as an elective.
The BA program in East Asian studies introduces students to the traditional and modern civilizations of China and Japan and provides them with the opportunity to achieve a basic reading and speaking knowledge of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
English Language and Literature provides students with the opportunity to intensively study works of literature, drama, and film originally written in English. Courses address fundamental issues, such as the literary history of a period, the achievements of a major author, the defining characteristics of a genre, the politics of interpretation, the formal beauties of individual works, and the methods of literary scholarship and research.
Gender and Sexuality Studies allows undergraduates the opportunity to shape a disciplinary or interdisciplinary plan of study focused on gender and sexuality. Students can create a program linked by a focus on gender as an object of study or by gender categories in topics such as sexuality, social life, science, politics and culture, literature and the arts, or systems of thought.
Germanic Studies is intended to provide students with a wide ranging and highly personalized introduction to the language, literature, and culture of German-speaking countries and to various methods of approaching and examining these areas.
Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities offers qualified undergraduates the opportunity to shape an interdisciplinary plan of course work centered in, but not necessarily restricted to, study in the humanities. To be considered for admission to this BA program, a student must submit a written proposal.
Jewish Studies provides a context in which students may examine the texts, cultures, languages, and histories of Jews and Judaism over three millennia. The perspective is contextual, comparative, and interdisciplinary. The long and diverse history of Jews and Judaism affords unique opportunities to study modes of continuity and change, interpretation and innovation, and isolation and integration of a world historical civilization.
Linguistics provides a solid, integrated introduction to the scientific study of language through course work in the core sub-disciplines of linguistics, as well as to ensure that the student has a language background sufficient to provide a complement to the theoretical parts of the program and for an understanding of the complexities of human language.
Medieval Studies acquaints students with a broad range of medieval materials from a variety of perspectives (e.g., historical, literary, artistic, theological) as preparation for writing a BA paper on some aspect of medieval civilization. Students investigate the Middle Ages through studies in historical, literary, and adjunct areas. Interested students are encouraged to attend the medieval studies workshops.
Music aims to broaden the exposure to and enrich the understanding of the various musical traditions of the world. The BA program offers a balance of practical, historical, and conceptual approaches to music. Courses address the materials of tonal music in the Western tradition, the analysis of individual works, the study of composers and genres, non-Western and vernacular repertories, musical composition, critical approaches to music, and the role of music in society.
The BA degree programs in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC) are as varied as the wide subject matter they embrace. Areas of specialization within NELC include: Archaeology and Art of the Ancient Near East, Classical Hebrew Language and Civilization, Cuneiform Studies, Egyptian Languages and Civilization, Islamic and Modern Middle Eastern Studies, Modern Hebrew, Kazakh, Persian, Turkish, and Uzbek, and Near Eastern Judaica.
Philosophy covers a wide range of historical periods and fields. The BA program acquaints students with some of the classic texts of the discipline and trains students in rigorous methods of argument. The intensive track option is for qualified students interested in small group discussions of major philosophical problems and texts. The option in philosophy and allied fields is designed for students who wish to pursue an interdisciplinary program involving philosophy and some other field.
Romance Languages and Literatures offers programs of study leading to the BA degree in French, Italian, or Spanish literature; or in some combination, which may include Catalan or Portuguese. The BA programs give students knowledge of the literature and culture of their area of concentration, and develops their linguistic competence in one or more of the Romance languages.
The BA degree in Russian and East European Studies is designed to provide students with skills and facility in the languages and cultures of the region, through courses in the Bosnian/
South Asian Languages and Civilizations (SALC) students gain a broad knowledge of the literature and history of the South Asian subcontinent (i.e., Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), and proficiency in at least one South Asian language that is equivalent to two years of study or greater. Students currently may study Bangla (Bengali), Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Pali, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Tibetan, or Urdu.
Theater and Performance Studies (TAPS) seeks to animate the intersection of theory and practice in the arts. The program requires its students to acquire a competence in the practice of two media (e.g., theater, film, video, dance, music, creative writing) while gaining fluency in the critical analysis of those media. To this end, students receive training in both performance practice and analysis.
Visual Arts students develop communicative, analytical, and expressive skills through the process of artistic production. While the concentration in the Visual Arts builds on the UChicago tradition of emphasis on critical thinking and the development, this course of study also develops a powerful set of skills that allow students to become more sensitive to phenomena, such as the relative nature of color; the particular measure of space; and the ways in which our perceptual experiences give meaning to forms in the visual field.