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College of Arts and Sciences Centennial

About A&S Today:

Overview

A&S Centers and Institutes

International Programs

Diversity and Outreach

Research and Scholarship

 

 

About the College of Arts and Sciences Today

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Overview of the College Today

Since the College was established in 1907 with an enrollment of 104 students, the College has grown to be the University’s largest academic unit, enrolling more than 8,900 students and employing more than 500 full-time faculty and staff. The College’s three divisions -- Humanities, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences -- encompass 23 departments that offer more than 50 degree programs.

Campus

The departments and programs of the College are located in more than 20 buildings across Belknap campus, including some of the campus’ oldest buildings, like 19th century Gardiner and Gottschalk halls, and its newest—the Belknap Research Building completed in 2005.

Belknap Research Building

More than 40 research scientists and engineers from diverse disciplines come together in the new Belknap Research Building, which houses a
10,000 square foot multi-user clean room--one of the premier multidisciplinary research facilities in the region. The cleanroom allows UofL researchers to use a wide range of equipment to fabricate, package and test various microelectronic devices and circuits. Having this and other laboratory facilities in the same building promotes and enhances multidisciplinary research across fields in biology, chemistry, physics, engineering and medicine.

For more about the Belknap Research Building, visit this site:
http://www.louisville.edu/a-s/chemistry/brb.htm

A Constant Commitment...

Despite the College’s remarkable growth, it has held constant in its commitment to the value of an education in the liberal arts and sciences for all students. In fact this commitment, as expressed in some of the early descriptions of the College’s mission, holds equally true today.

From the 1909-1910 Catalog

The 1909-10 catalog stressed the need to continue support for the recently established College of Liberal Arts saying that Louisville cannot afford to neglect this opportunity “for advancing higher education, broader culture, and better citizenship.”

From the 1953-1954 Catalog

The 1953-54 catalog describes these objectives of the College:

  • To assist students in the development of exact, critical, and independent thinking, and to provide them with an insight into contemporary scholarship;
  • To further the general education of students with special emphasis on an awareness of civic and international responsibilities;
  • To provide students with a cultural foundation for further personal and professional growth.

 

Excerpt from the current mission of the College:

"We believe that an excellent education in the liberal arts and sciences is the best preparation for life and work in a world of increasing diversity and ever-accelerating change because it prepares our graduates to be informed and critical thinkers, creative problem-solvers, and confident communicators... the College brings the heritage of the intellectual tradition to bear on the challenges of the future."

Read the College's current Mission Statement

Our Students

Undergraduate Education

With an enrollment of more than 8,100 undergraduate students, the College is the home to the majority of the university’s undergraduate students. In addition to providing instruction for the majors within A&S departments, the College also provides most of the general education instruction for all undergraduate students regardless of the school or college in which they are enrolled. In fact, faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences teach more than 271,000 credit hours per year--more than half the student credit hours taught for the entire University.

Student Awards and Honors

Over the last five years, A&S students have been recipients of several prestigious scholarships and fellowships. Some of those programs and scholarships include the USIA Fulbright Student Program, the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program, the Gilman Scholarship for Study Abroad, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, the James Madison Fellowship, the National Security Education Program (NSEP)/David L. Boren Scholarship, Rotary Scholarship, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, and the Morris K. Udall Foundation Scholarship. We have also had finalists for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship and the Rhodes Scholarship.

Honors Program

The College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, established in 1982, was renamed the University Honors Program in 2001 in recognition of the opportunities in the liberal arts that it provides to students from all disciplines. The program has grown significantly in terms of the number of students, facilities, and learning opportunities. As of Fall 2006, 1,300 students are active in the Honors Program; and the number of students enrolled in Honors Seminars has risen from 32 in 1998-99 to 363 in 2005-06. Honors Program students are enjoying new facilities. Threlkeld Hall was renovated to become an Honors dormitory in 2002 and the Etscorn Honors Center was created in one wing of Threlkeld Hall in 2004 housing a high technology classroom, student study area and offices for academic counselors and other staff. These new facilities complement the lounge, study, classroom and office space in the Overseers Honors House that has housed the Program since 1992. The Honors Program offers travel abroad and within the U.S. through the Overseers International Travel Seminars, World Scholars Program, and the Woodcock Society National Seminars. The Overseers Scholars Program, Overseers Professional Mentoring Program, undergraduate research, and community service are among the opportunities open to Honors students. http://www.louisville.edu/a-s/honors/

Graduate Education

The College of Arts and Sciences offers graduate degrees in almost every discipline, from Art and Art History to Women's and Gender Studies. Current plans call for having a graduate degree program in every department in the College within the next few years. Graduate faculty are leaders in their disciplines, active scholars and teachers, and recipients of major grants and honors. At present, roughly 925 students are enrolled in A&S graduate programs; and a number of these students receive support from teaching or research assistantships and/or fellowships. Graduates with PhDs go on to teach at major schools throughout the nation; graduates of MA and MS programs work in a variety of disciplines, from business to education to industry, helping to build Kentucky’s present and future.

Graduate degrees currently offered are:

 

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