Universitywide Graduation Requirements

To complete this program, students must meet all Universitywide graduation requirements .

College-Level Requirements for the College of Fine Arts

View the College-Level Requirements for the College of Fine Arts. 

College of Fine Arts (COFA) B.A. Degree Requirements

B.A. Degree and Requirements

General requirements for a B.A. are

1. a minimum of 120 semester hours;
2. 57 hours of coursework above the 1999 level;
3. the equivalent of two years of college-level foreign language;
4. at least 9 hours each of humanities, social sciences, and 6 hours of natural sciences coursework;
5. OHIO BRICKS  ; and
6. all requirements stipulated by the school for the chosen major.

Minors are optional.

B.A. Degree Language Options

B.A.: Students must complete 2120 (or its equivalent). Students taking the Spanish, French, or German placement test and who test into 3110 will have fulfilled their foreign language requirement. The placement exam does not count as college credit. Students who test into 3110 are encouraged to take the course they placed into for college credit. These higher-level courses will count as humanities courses (and A&S 2000-level or higher) as well as towards a minor or major in the field.

Students who have prior knowledge of one of the following foreign languages should contact the academic departments listed below for test-out and placement information:

American Sign Language - Contact person: Becky Brooks - saunderb@ohio.edu - 740.654.6711 - Lancaster Campus

French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, or Russian - Modern Languages - Gordy Hall 283 - contact: modern.languages@ohio.edu - 740.593.2765

Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Kikuyu, Khmer, Somali, Sudanese Arabic, Swahili, Thai, Twi, Vietnamese, Wolof, or Zulu - Linguistics - Gordy Hall 383

Greek or Latin - Classics and World Religions - Contact person: Bill Owens owensb@ohio.edu - Ellis 210

Students who have prior knowledge of a foreign language not offered at Ohio University can opt to take the NYU Foreign 12-Point exam (approximate cost $350) to complete their foreign language requirement: www.scps.nyu.edu/academics/departments/foreign-languages/testing/process.html

International Students

For international students whose first or native language is not English, and who completed high school where the first or native language was the one primarily used for instruction, the foreign language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating competence in English. This must be approved by the assistant dean in the College of Fine Arts, and it generally requires the successful completion of at least one or more courses in English as a foreign language.

You may also satisfy the foreign language requirement by taking a foreign language other than your own first language at Ohio University, or by successfully completing the NYU foreign language exam.

Enrollment in the beginning or intermediate level (under 3000) of your own first language(s) will be considered a noncredit course.

Please contact the Fine Arts Undergraduate Student Affairs office at 740.593.1808 for additional information.

Liberal Arts and Sciences Distribution Requirements

Humanities Area Requirement*

The humanities requirement may be met by selecting 9 semester hours from the following:

1. African American Studies: AAS 1060, 1100, 1500, 2100, 2110, 2500, 3100, 3170, 3500, 3520, 3530, 3550, 3560,  3570  
2. Academic and Global Communication:AGC 1300 
3. College of Arts and Sciences: CAS 1110, CAS 2300 2411,2405, 2500*
4. Art History: AH
5. Classical Archaeology, except CLAR 2110, 2120, 2130, 3650 
6. Classics in English: CLAS
7. Communication Studies: COMS 3601, 3602, 3603 
8. Dance: DANC 2700, 3550, 4710, 4750  
9. English: except ENG D150, D160, 1510, 1610, 4510, 4520, 4911, 4912 , ENG 1510L 
10. Fine Arts: FAR 1500 
11. Foreign language courses other than those used to complete the foreign language requirement and except FR 1199, FR 2930, FR 4640 GER 2930, ITAL 2930,  JPN 3410, RUS 2930, SPAN 1199, and SPAN 2930 
12. History: HIST 1210, 1220, 2270, HIST 2700 , 2530, HIST 2600 2950, 3111J, 3140, HIST 3141 3144, 3146, HIST 3147 3148, 3224, 3290, 3291, 3292, 3293, 3390, 3501, 3520,HIST 3521 3531, 3532, 3533, 3540, 3541, 3542, HIST 3550 3560, 3562, 3600, 3840 , 3860, 3861, 3864, 3900, 4536
13. Humanities: HUM
14. Interdisciplinary Arts: IART
15. International Literatures in English, International Literature: Linguistics, and International Literature: Modern Languages except ILL 3890 
16. Jewish Studies: (all), JS 1000, 2100, 2900 
17. Modern Languages: ML 2300, 2950 , 3210J , 3270J 
18. Music/Music Literature: 1250, 1240, 2240, 3210, 3625, 4210, 4211, 4212, 4213, 4214, 4215, 4216, 4270 
19. Philosophy: except PHIL 1200 
20. Portuguese:  PORT 3110, 3120, 3180, 3190 , 4110 , 4120 
21. Theater: THAR 2710, 2711 
22. University Professor: UP 1901, 1901U, 4901U (class subjects vary; check Course Offerings for more information)
23. Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: except WGS 3910  
24. World Religions: except CLWR 4340, 4350 

Social Sciences Area Requirement*

The social sciences requirement may be met by a selection of 9 semester hours from the following:

1. African American Studies: AAS 1010, 1900, 2020, 2200, 2250, 2540,  3400, 3410, 3450, 3460, 3680, 4400, 4820 
2. Academic and Global Communication: AGC 1300 
3. Anthropology: except ANTH 2010, 3460, 3550, 3600, 4470, 4480, 4740, 4960, and those listed as natural sciences below
4. Business Law: BUSL 2000, 2550, 3400 
5. Classical Archaeology: CLAR 2110, 2120, 2130, 3650 
6. College of Arts and Sciences: CAS 1120, 1415 1425, 1605,CAS 2300 , 2410, 2411, 2405, 2500, 2600, 4410, 4911*  
7. Economics: ECON
8. Environmental and Plant Biology: PBIO 2170 
9. Geography: GEOG except those listed under Natural Sciences (see below)
10. History: HIST except those listed under Humanities (see above)
11. International Studies: INST
12. International Literature: ILL 3890 
13. Japanese: JPN 3410 
14. Law, Justice, and Culture: LJC 2000, 3915, 4945 
15. Linguistics: LING
    Modern Languages: ML 2400 
16. Political Science: POLS
17. Psychology: except PSY 1110, 2110, PSY 2111 PSY 2112  2210, 3110, 3230 
18. Social Work: SW
19. Sociology: SOC
20. University Professor: UP 1901S, 4901S (class subjects vary; check Course Offerings for more information)
21. Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: WGS 3910 
22. World Religions: CLWR 4340, 4350 

Natural Sciences Area Requirement*

The natural sciences requirement may be met by selecting 9 semester hours from the following:

1. Anthropology: ANTH 2010, 3460, 3550, 3600, 4470, 4480, 4740, 4960 
2. Astronomy: ASTR
3. Biological Sciences: BIOS, BIOL 1010 
4. Chemistry: except CHEM D015, 1100, 1150, 1151, 1152, 3005, 3006 
5. College of Arts and Sciences: CAS 2411, 1415, 2405, 2600 
6. Computer Science: CS 3000, 4160 
7. Environmental and Plant Biology: except PBIO 2170 
8. Geography: GEOG 1100,GEOG 2060 GEOG 2680, GEOG 2710, 3010, 3020, 3031 , 3040, 3050, 3150, 3160, 3580, GEOG 3650, 4035 , 4060, 4070, 4080, 4090, 4110, GEOG 4130, 4170, 4660, 4670, 4712, GEOG 4730, GEOG 4760, 4770, 4941, 4942, 4943, 4944 
9. Geological Sciences: GEOL
10. Mathematics: except MATH D004, D005, 1060, 1090, 1101, 1102, 1200, 1300, 1321, 1322, MATH 1500 ,4100 
11. Physical Science: PSC
12. Psychology: PSY 2110, 2210, PSY 2111  PSY 2112 ,3110, 3230 
13. Physics: PHYS
14. University Professor: UP 1901N, 4901N (class subjects vary; check Course Offerings for more information)

* May only count in one area.

Note: Methods courses are not applicable to area requirements.

*These listings must be used as the official guide for the completion of the Arts and Sciences area (distribution) requirements. Exceptions to the 9-hour Arts and Sciences area distribution will be made only under the most unusual of circumstances and by petition only. Consideration for inclusion of courses not listed is not made on an ad hoc basis but requires formal approval of the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee.

Some courses from these categories may also be applied to the University general education requirements. However, the three Arts and Sciences area categories differ in scope from the five OHIO BRICKS  groupings. If you wish to select a course that will apply to both the Arts and Sciences and general education requirements, take care to choose a course that has been approved for the desired category in both the College and the University listings. Courses that can fulfill quantitative reasoning and written communication OHIO BRICKS requirements and the capstone requirement do not apply to the Arts and Sciences area distribution requirements. Exceptions include MATH 1350 and PSY 2110.

The list of courses appears in the OHIO BRICKS  section of the catalog.

Level-of-Study Requirement

Hours at the 2000 level or above: Within the total hours applied to the degree, at least 57 semester hours of courses must be above the freshman level (numbered above 1999). These courses are listed earlier in this section under humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, and include foreign languages, courses from the department major, and courses taught by faculty in the College of Fine Arts or Arts and Sciences intended to meet the advanced writing or capstone.

Single Application of Credit and Exceptions

Excluding the exceptions listed below, no course may satisfy more than one of the three area distribution requirements in foreign language, humanities, social sciences, or the major requirement. For example, a theater major may not apply any courses in theater toward the humanities area distribution requirement. Courses that fulfill freshman OHIO BRICKS requirements or capstone will not apply to the distribution area requirements.

Exceptions are:

• MATH 1350  and PSY 2110  (will fulfill the quantitative reasoning requirement, as well as the natural science area distribution).
• Advanced writing courses offered by departments within the College of Fine Arts or the College of Arts and Sciences  apply to the area distribution requirement except when they are required for the major.

Theater BA Core

Complete the following courses with a grade of C (2.0) or better.

Theater BA Individual Program

Complete 15 hours of Theater courses at the 2000-level or above beyond the Theater BA Core with a grade of C (2.0) or better. Courses should be chosen in consultation with student’s advisor. No more than 4 hours of any theater practicum beyond the required Theater BA Core may apply.