Mar 29, 2024  
2011-2012 Course Catalog 
    
2011-2012 Course Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Degree Types, General Requirements, and Special Programs



Major Declaration

All Columbia students must declare a major. Transfer students with 45 credits or more will need to make this declaration at the end of their first semester at Columbia or by the time they have accumulated 60 credits. Students may complete a double major; however, both majors must lead to the same degree (BA or BFA). Credits counted towards fulfillment of requirements in one major may not be counted towards fulfillment of requirements in the second major.

Baccalaureate Degree Programs

Columbia’s undergraduate division offers programs of study leading to a Bachelor of Arts (BA), a Bachelor of Music (BMus), or a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in specific programs. In addition to Liberal Arts and Sciences Core Curriculum (LAS Core) requirements, the BA, BMus, and BFA programs may include core requirements and specialized concentrations of courses that enable students to prepare for particular careers.

Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts degree plans may meet one or both of the following curricular goals:

Bachelor of Arts in a Major with a Concentration

The degree plan offers various emphases within a basic plan of study. These degree plans ordinarily are divided between core courses and a choice of several groups of courses that offer concentrated or specialized study within the major field. Core requirements are courses that are fundamental to the field, introducing students to the discipline and providing essential skills and general knowledge as a foundation for further study. A concentration is a focused area of study within a major, a specialization that follows, in most cases, the completion of the core requirements. Some departments offer degree plans with a concentration to be taken on an elective basis; however, others, due to professional requirements, require the concentration for the completion of the major. Credit hours required for both the core and concentrations vary according to major.

Bachelor of Arts in a Major without a Concentration

The degree plan provides a breadth of understanding within a field. These degree plans consist mainly of core courses with limited emphases or specializations through minimal variations within the required program. Several of these degree plans are offered in the visual and performing arts departments as options to the BFA degree(s) in that discipline. Required credits vary according to major.

Bachelor of Arts Degree Requirements

To qualify for graduation with a Bachelor of Arts degree, students entering in the Fall 2001 or after are required to complete:

  • 120 credits with a minimum 2.0 cumulative grade point average;
  • 42 credits in LAS Core courses for students entering fall 2005 or later; 48 credits in LAS Core courses for students entering before fall 2005;
  • a declared major;
  • a writing intensive course completed at Columbia;
  • compliance with the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy (see Undergraduate Academic Policies, Procedures, and Regulations ).

Requirements for all majors can be found on the College’s Web site.

Minors

Students who have declared a major in a Bachelor of Arts curriculum are encouraged to include a minor to augment and complement their course of study. Minors consist of 18 to 24 credits and provide an introduction or sequenced specialization in an area of study from either a major or a Liberal Arts and Sciences department.

Specific credit and course requirements for each minor can be found on the College’s Web site.

Bachelor of Music

In addition to BFA s in the performing arts, the Music Department offers Bachelor of Music (BMus) degrees in Composition and in Contemporary, Urban, and Popular Music. This initial professional degree requires a total of 84 credit hours in music courses within a total requirement of 128 credit hours. The BMus curriculum includes 39 credit hours in core courses, 36 credit hours in courses of specialization, and 9 credit hours in music lessons and ensembles, including an independent project as capstone experience. Students declare their candidacy for the BMus in Composition by 60 cumulative credits. Upon acceptance in the program students need to follow the Music Department’s standards of performance to be considered for continuation.

Bachelor of Music Degree Requirements

To qualify for graduation with a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition or in Contemporary, Urban, and Popular Music students are required to complete the following:

  • 128 credits;
  • 36 credits of LAS Core requirements for students entering fall 2005 or later; 48 credits of LAS Core requirements for students entering before fall 2005;
  • 84 credits in music;
  • declaration of the major;
  • a minimum GPA of 2.5 in the major;
  • a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better;
  • a writing intensive course completed at Columbia;
  • compliance with the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy (see Undergraduate Academic Policies, Procedures, and Regulations ).

Bachelor of Fine Arts

The visual and performing arts departments offer BFA s in specific concentrations within their disciplines. Requirements range from 66 to 92 credits within a total requirement of 128 credits. These degree plans include a basic core, an in-depth specialization, a historic study of the field, and professional capstone experience. Students must declare their candidacy for the BFA by 60 cumulative credits, following the specific selection criteria as noted by the individual departments.

Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree Requirements

To qualify for graduation with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, students are required to complete the following:

  • 128 credits with a minimum departmental grade point average as designated by the department;
  • 36 credits of LAS Core requirements for students entering fall 2005 or later; 48 credits of LAS Core requirements for students entering before fall 2005;
  • a declared major;
  • the minimum GPA in the major;
  • a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better;
  • a writing intensive course completed at Columbia;
  • compliance with the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy (see Undergraduate Academic Policies, Procedures, and Regulations ).

Second Bachelor’s Degree

If a student has already earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia or another accredited institution, he or she may earn a second bachelor’s degree at Columbia by completing required courses specified by one of the major-granting departments or programs of the College. All other academic requirements will be considered fulfilled within the curriculum of the previously granted bachelor’s degree. Credits applied to the original degree and transfer credits cannot count toward this degree; however, specific courses may be waived based on work experiences or courses from the original degree. Not all departments offer second bachelor’s degrees. Please call Undergraduate Admissions for updated offerings.

Liberal Arts and Sciences Core Curriculum

Columbia College Chicago offers undergraduate students educational opportunities in the visual, performing, media, and communication arts within the context of a comprehensive liberal education. At Columbia, this liberal education centers in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ Core Curriculum (LAS Core)—a set of curricula required for all undergraduate, degree-seeking students.

These courses in literature, history, humanities, languages, mathematics, and the sciences challenge students to think in critical, independent, and diverse ways.

The LAS Core seeks to foster a community of teachers, learners, and leaders that is complementary to a student’s individual major. The courses in the LAS Core are distributed through four rubrics: Foundations of Communication: Knowledge and Practices; Culture, Values, and Ethics; Historical Narratives and Civic Consciousness; and The Physical and Material World. (To learn more about these four rubrics scroll to the bottom.)

To complete the LAS Core, students are required to do the following:

  • Complete 24 hours of LAS Core credit before entering their junior year (60 credit hours).
  • Complete Writing and Rhetoric I and II before attaining a total of 45 credit hours.
  • Complete at least 6 hours of LAS Core credit at a 2000-course level or above.
  • Complete one course that satisfies the Global Awareness requirement and one that satisfies the U.S. Pluralism requirement. (Courses that meet this requirement are designated as such.)*
  • Complete 42 hours of LAS Core credit for a BA and 36 hours for a BFA (as outlined below).

Summary Outline

AREA

CREDITS


Foundations of Communication: Knowledge and Practices 12 (9 for BFA, BMus)
First-Year Seminar 3
Writing and Rhetoric I and II 6
Oral Communication 3 (not required for BFA or BMus)
   
Culture, Values, and Ethics 15 (12 for BFA, BMus)**
Humanities 6
Literature 3
Social Sciences 6
   
Historical Narratives and Civic Consciousness 6
History 6
   
The Physical and Material World 9
Mathematics 3
Science 3
Science with lab component 3
   
*Courses designated with Global Awareness credit are those whose content concentrates on areas outside of the United States. Those designated with U.S. Pluralism credit are those whose content concentrates on diverse communities in the United States.
**For the BFA and BMus, students take 12 hours under the rubric of Culture, Values, and Ethics—three hours each in the humanities, social sciences, and literature. The remaining three hours may be taken in either the humanities or the social sciences.

The Four Rubrics

Foundations of Communication: Knowledge and Practices
Students read for comprehension and pleasure while developing their critical thinking skills. They learn how to write and speak persuasively and how to make effective use of both academic and non-academic writing styles and formatting conventions. Most importantly, they develop an informed perspective on the relationship between the liberal arts and sciences and fields within the fine, performing, and media arts.

Culture, Values, and Ethics
Students become acquainted with the diversities of human behavior and social institutions. They examine basic ethical questions that confront humankind, as well as various approaches that attempt to answer those questions. They also develop textual literacies and awareness of literary issues by reading, analyzing, and writing poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction.

Historical Narratives and Civic Consciousness
Students develop foundational knowledge of the historical periods they study by being exposed to research methodologies commonly employed by historians, and by learning to critically consider diverse sources to arrive at conclusions and support various theses. Students also develop an appreciation for historiography and how it impacts their ability to think critically about current events.

The Physical and Material World
Students understand and practice the scientific methods of questioning, analysis, testing, and “proving.” They come to appreciate the cumulative nature of advances in the sciences while developing a level of computational literacy sufficient to function responsibly and effectively in society.

College-wide Degree Requirements

Writing Intensive Requirement

In addition to the specific requirements for a major and for the LAS Core, students must also successfully complete a course designated Writing Intensive (WI). WI courses emphasize the further development of student writing skills and are offered throughout the college curriculum. These courses are designated by the code “WI” in the course descriptions.

College-wide Electives

Courses other than those that fulfill the LAS Core and major degree requirements are considered to be college-wide electives. A student’s course of study must include as many college-wide electives as needed to achieve the total number of credit hours required for his or her degree. College-wide electives may be selected from any department and program in the College.

Special Programs

Comedy Studies: A Semester at The Second City™

The Theater Department of Columbia College Chicago and The Second City™ have created a semester-long program of courses in the study of comedy which are taught by the experts in comedy at the Second City Training Center in Chicago, with college credit provided by Columbia College Chicago. The program provides a unique opportunity to study full-time at The Second City™, the nation’s center of comedy and satire, for an entire semester.

The Comedy Studies Program is open to any college undergraduate with a minimum of junior-level status who has a demonstrated interest in performance, comedy writing, and improvisation. All students enrolled in the program take the same full load of 16 credit hours during the 15-week semester. All classes are held at The Second City Training Center in Chicago.

More about Comedy Studies…

ESL Program

The English as a Second Language (ESL) program offers specialized sections of college-level writing, reading, and public speaking courses to Columbia College students with home/heritage languages other than English who have studied in the United States for fewer than eight years. These courses share goals and objectives with non-ESL sections, but are designed to specifically address the needs of ESL students, with smaller class sizes and specialized instruction.

More about the ESL Program…

Literacy Program

The Literacy Program offers courses in reading and writing that enhance students’ academic and cultural literacy. The program is also the home of “Sharing Cultures,” a trans-national online collaboration between basic writing courses at Columbia College and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The Literacy Program also plans and coordinates the English component of the Bridge program and the department’s retention efforts.

More about the Literacy Program…

Honors Program

Honors courses enhance the academic rigor of courses in Columbia’s LAS Core. As such, students best suited for Honors courses and the Honors Program are those who are ambitious, eager for greater challenges, independent in their learning and course work, and active participants in class discussions. Because every student at Columbia takes the LAS Core Curriculum, every student potentially has the opportunity to be invited to join the Honors Program.

More about the Honors Program…

Semester In L.A.

Semester In L.A. is an opportunity for Columbia Collage Chicago students to experience the business of Hollywood first hand on a studio lot with industry professionals. It is a five-week immersion program in which the student maintains full-time status through an intensive educational experience. The program is multi-disciplinary and includes Film & Video, Television, Marketing, Journalism, Music, and Arts, Entertainment Media Management students.

More about Semester in L.A…

Critical Encounters

Critical Encounters is an ongoing series of yearlong college-wide examinations of important social issues that focus, challenge, and complicate the thinking of all members of the Columbia College Chicago community. Through the curriculum, class work, co-curricular activities, and a variety of public events such as art exhibitions, performances, and multimedia communications, Critical Encounters will enable faculty, students, staff, and the community to voluntarily collaborate toward a more complex understanding of the role and responsibility of the arts and media in shaping public attitudes, opinions, and knowledge.

More about Critical Encounters…