About the College of Humanities and Fine Arts

204 South College

Contact: Vincent DiMarco

Office: Arts & Sciences Advising Center

E-24 Machmer Hall

Phone: 545-2192

E-Mail: artsci@cas.umass.edu

Web site: www.umass.edu/hfa

Dean: Lee R. Edwards. Associate Dean: Harlan Sturm. Associate Dean for Undergraduate Advising: Vincent DiMarco.

All departments in the College offer programs leading to the Bachelor of Arts. There are also programs leading to the Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.), and to the Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Studio Art, Design, and Dance.

Students have great freedom in choosing a program of study and a major. However, a student may be admitted to the Art and Design majors through portfolio acceptance only, and to the Dance and Music majors only by audition. The B.F.A. and B.Mus. programs require sequences of courses which can extend over seven or eight semesters. Likewise, the language majors require pre-major preparation which may take several semesters before commencing the major. Students who do not consider this in their course selection during their first year may have to use summer sessions or extra semesters to accommodate these sequences.

The Field

The humanities focus on human creativity, endeavor, and culture. The imaginative and creative artsóliterary and performingóderive from life, and teach about human behavior and constructs of social reality. The history of social, political, and economic systems illuminates and shapes our present and future lives. Students in the College are expected to broaden their perspectives on individual and cultural expression within their own and other societies, to understand the development and evolution of the discipline of study in relation to the culture from which it emanates, and to learn the methods by which knowledge in the discipline is gained.

Academic Advising Services

All students in the College are encouraged to meet regularly with an academic adviser. Faculty and staff advisers are available to assist students with questions or concerns they have as they progress through their academic careers. This includes advice on course selection; departmental, College and University requirements; career guidance; assistance with academic problems; and referral information about other services.

Each department in the College has a chief undergraduate adviser who facilitates advising to students concerning the major. Advising regarding College requirements, general academic advising, and information concerning other academic matters (e.g., repeat options, repeat course substitutions, late course adds, late course drops, academic discipline) and programs within the College are handled through the Arts and Sciences Advising Center, in E-24 Machmer Hall. This office also houses the College Records Office.

Career Opportunities

Humanities majors acquire a broad liberal arts background and communication skills, which are an excellent foundation for many fields of employment and graduate study. Graduates of the College have gone on to careers in teaching, journalism, social and community work, medicine, law, technology, management, international relations, television and radio broadcasting, corporate and technical communications, and public relations. Graduates of the fine arts programs have also been successful visual and performing artists.

Career and Field Experience Advising

Students are encouraged to explore the world beyond the University as early as possible in their education. The humanities majors are flexible enough to accommodate international study, which is encouraged, and internships and other learning opportunities outside the classroom. The Campus Career Network operates the College of Humanities and Fine Arts Career Planning and Field Experience Offices, with offices in 262 and 264 Barlett Hall. Staff are available to help students make intelligent, well-informed career choices, and to provide opportunities to obtain experience through internships, cooperative education, and service learning programs.

College Requirements for the B.A.

All students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts are subject to College requirements in addition to the University's requirements and the requirements of the major. These requirements do not apply to the Bachelor of Music, or to the Bachelor of Fine Arts.

Arts and Sciences courses outside the College: Students must complete two courses in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and/or the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. These two courses may carry a General Education designation, but must be completed in addition to all courses applied to General Education requirements. The courses may not be graded on a Pass/Fail basis. Students may not apply to this requirement any practicum, independent study, thesis, or internship course, or any course below the 100 level. Students may petition the undergraduate dean to apply certain experimental, seminar and special topics courses (courses with numbers ending in 90, 91-95, or 97).

Foreign Language: All students must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language at the intermediate level, by one of the following methods:

a. Completion of a foreign language course at the fourth semester level (Intermediate II or Intermediate Intensive courses numbered 240-249). Intermediate II courses may be graded on a Pass/Fail basis.

b. Degree credit equivalent to such a course earned through an appropriate score on a College Board Foreign Language Test or a College Board Advanced Placement Test.

c. Proficiency demonstrated in a test designed by a University of Massachusetts language department, or a test administered and validated by a local faculty member if the language is not one offered by a department at the University.

d. Satisfactory completion in high school of either a fourth-level foreign language course, or of a third-level course in one language and a second-level course in another language.

e. Successful completion of one year in a high school in which English is not the language of instruction.

f. Successful completion of a semester or year's study abroad program that leads to foreign language proficiency at the fourth semester (Intermediate II) level as approved by the appropriate language department.

Students who have not satisfied the Foreign Language requirement on admission to the College must select a foreign language course each term in residence until the requirement has been satisfied. The University offers sequences that satisfy this requirement in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Students who have not yet completed the Foreign Language requirement may not apply their Pass/Fail option to foreign language courses numbered below 240.

Students who are certified by the Disability Services Office as having a significant hearing impairment that is seriously limiting to the auditory reception of language may fulfill the Foreign Language requirement either by demonstrating proficiency in American Sign Language at the intermediate level, or by completing two semesters (6 cr.) of foreign language, plus two courses (6 cr.) taught in English on the history, culture, or literature of non-English speaking countries or regions. These courses must be in addition to courses used to fulfill the General Education requirements, and may not be graded on a Pass/Fail basis. A list of courses that may be used in this manner is available from the Arts and Sciences Advising Office.

Students with a documented learning disability may submit a request for a foreign language modification to the Foreign Language Committee of Learning Disabilities Support Services (LDSS). For more detailed information about the petition process and required documentation, students should contact LDSS, tel. 545-4602.