2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
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Message From the Dean
Welcome to the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at UMBC!
From visual arts to economics to psychology, from ancient studies to media & communication studies, and from Asian Studies to American Studies, our College spans the disciplines, the centuries, and the globe. True to the liberal arts mission, we ask questions fundamental to human existence: Who are we? Where have we been? What matters? Through diverse, challenging programs of study, with countless opportunities for research, creative work, internships, and other co-curricular activities, our students develop skills and knowledge that prepare them for a variety of careers and a lifetime of thoughtful citizenship and leadership in a complex world.
Several missions cut across the breadth of our College. First is our commitment to research and creative inquiry. Undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty are all engaged in creating new knowledge, rethinking what has gone before, and developing innovative forms of expression. Second, we dedicate ourselves to thinking, teaching, and learning across boundaries and borders: beyond traditional disciplines or familiar classroom settings and approaches, across backgrounds, nationalities, and experiences. Third, we believe in and promote civic agency: the power, skills, and dispositions to make a positive difference in the communities and societies in which we live and work. Finally, we promote UMBC’s core value of inclusive excellence: the conviction that the best ideas emerge in a collaborative, rigorous, diverse community that values every voice.
At the heart of our College is our faculty: dedicated, inspiring undergraduate and graduate teachers and creative, path-breaking scholars and artists. Faculty members have won research grants, fellowships, and awards from such organizations as the National Endowments for the Humanities and the Arts, the National Institutes of Health, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation. Their research contributes new ideas and approaches to issues ranging from education and environmental systems to health and aging. Their articles, books, compositions, performances, and exhibitions place them at the forefront of their fields internationally as well as in the United States.
Under faculty mentorship, our students make a difference. They develop exciting research projects and creative endeavors in every field, and present their work at regional and national conferences and professional venues as well as for audiences on campus. Many continue in graduate and professional study at the most distinguished universities in the U.S. and abroad. They pursue careers in fields too numerous to list: business, health sciences and services, education, government, nonprofit organizations, media and journalism, the arts, and many more.
On this website you’ll find information about our academic programs: more than 30 bachelor’s, 16 master’s, and 6 Ph.D. programs, including several offered at the Universities at Shady Grove in Montgomery County. Our College is also home to outstanding scholars programs for students in the arts, humanities, and public affairs. Our research centers promote important multi-disciplinary inquiry and sponsor a variety of speakers, seminars, and exhibitions every year. I invite you to browse our site and direct specific inquiries to specific departments, to the College’s Academic Advisor or to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions or the Graduate School. The Dean’s Office will also be glad to assist you in any way we can-and we would be delighted to hear from you!
Scott E. Casper
Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and Professor of History
Departments
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