Gloria C. Johnson, Ph.D., Interim Dean
112 Hubert Crouch Hall ( Graduate Building)
Telephone 615-963-5971
General Statement: The College of Arts and Sciences provides a basic undergraduate education for those students planning (1) to continue in graduate study, (2) to enter the professions, or (3) to engage in other gainful occupations and vocations.
The arts and sciences address the whole person. They should stir the mind and vivify the spirit. By inducing habits of logical and dispassionate thought and by promoting the development of creative energies, the Arts and Sciences faculty aims to guide students to enrich their lives and enhance their vocational skills. In keeping with the aims of the University, the purpose of the College of Arts and Sciences is twofold: liberal and technical. The curricula and programs of the College aid students to develop skills in solving problems, communicating, and working in cooperation with others that are essential in all walks of life. Encouraging students to be lifelong learners and self-motivated individuals are also important aims of the College.
Evening Studies Program
In addition to offering traditional degrees through its eleven departments and Interdisciplinary Degree program, the College offers an Evening Studies Program designed to meet the educational and retraining needs of the working adult. It encourages non-traditional students and senior citizens to seek renewed acquaintance with the various disciplines represented in the arts and sciences. Thus, students may pursue a degree or simply take courses of interest. The Evening Studies Program offers only the B.S. degree in Arts and Sciences (the interdisciplinary degree).
The College also offers a significant number of general education classes in the evening at off-campus sites through the Center for Extended Education and Public Service. In addition, the College offers a growing number of courses through alternative means of delivery, such as videotape, compressed video, and the internet.
Accreditation
Individual academic programs in the College of Arts and Sciences are accredited by the national, regional, and state agencies which accredit programs. The Art program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the Music program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the program in Social Work is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). All teacher certification programs in the College are approved by the Tennessee Department of Education. In addition, the teacher certification program of the University is accredited by the National Council on the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
Teacher Education
The College of Arts and Sciences offers Teacher Certification curricula in the following endorsement areas: Art, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Elementary Education (with concentrations in language arts and social studies, science and mathematics, and child development and learning), English, Government, History, Mathematics, Modern Foreign Languages (with a concentration in either French or Spanish), Music, Speech Communication, and Theatre.
All students who seek certification in any of these programs must be formally admitted through the College of Education, usually in the sophomore year. Admission requires a 2.75 cumulative quality point average and a passing score on the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) or the Computer-Based Academics Skills Assessments Test (CBT). Students who have previously earned a 21 on the ACT, a 22 on the Enhanced ACT, or a combined 990 on the verbal and mathematics portions of the SAT are exempt from the PPST and the CBT). For a complete list of admission and retention requirements in the Teacher Certification Program, see College of Education in the Catalog. Admission is a prerequisite for upper-level certification courses. Students interested in certification should consult the teacher certification advisor in the program of their choice.
General Education Core Requirements: Students in Arts and Sciences must satisfy all of the general education requirements. Individual departments may insist that their students fulfill these requirements in particular ways, such as by specifying which courses may be used to satisfy the literature, social science, natural science, or humanities requirements. Students should consult the departments’ requirements in their program descriptions in this section of the Catalog.
In addition to the core education requirements for all students in the University, students in the College of Arts and Sciences must take Arts and Sciences Orientation (ASOR) 1001,1002,1003 or the equivalent as part of their general education. Teacher certification students should take EDCI 1010 in place of ASOR 1001,1002,1003.
Admission to Upper Division of Programs: Student majors in all Arts and Sciences programs must be formally admitted to the upper-division components of their programs of study. Students must apply for this status through their department or program, and the department or program must give official admission to its upper division: students must initiate the process, and admission is not automatic.
For full admission to the upper division of a program, students must have achieved at least a grade point average of 2.0 on all college-level work. Some programs require a higher average; see individual programs in the Arts and Sciences portion of the Catalog, and consult departmental forms. Students must also have completed the following requirements:
- Completed all basic and developmental requirements.
- Removed all high school deficiencies.
- Completed all general education requirements, including
- an acceptable orientation course
- six (6) semester hours of English composition (ENGL 1010, 1020), with a minimum grade of C in all courses , and three (3) semester hours of Speech (COMM 2200).
- at least three (3) semester hours of sophomore literature
- six (6) semester hours of American history (HIST 2010, 2020)
- a college-level mathematics course (MATH 1110 or above)
- two (2) semesters (8 hours) of science, including the laboratories accompanying the lectures
- two (2) social science courses from the approved general education list
- two (2) humanities courses from the approved general education list
4. Completed the Rising Junior Examination administered by the University.
Some departments and programs may specify additional general education courses or introductory courses in the major discipline before students are admitted into the upper division of the degree program. For these other requirements, students should see statements in individual departments and programs in the Arts and Sciences portion of the Catalog, and should consult advisors.
For students seeking teacher certification, the requirements for admission are those for the Teacher Education Program, spelled out in the College of Education section.
Students may seek a temporary status of tentative admission to begin work on the upper division of their major in the same semester they are completing their general education and other introductory courses. Students must be enrolled in all remaining remedial-developmental, high school deficiency, and general education courses before tentative admission is granted. Tentative admission is valid only for the semester for which it is issued. Students who seek a second semester of tentative admission must re-apply for tentative status and will have their total course load restricted in that semester.
The College wants to assist students toward completing degree requirements as quickly as possible. It recognizes that it can best achieve this goal by seeing that students proceed toward the degree in a logical fashion, so that they first remove all deficiencies that prevent them from taking college-level courses, and then meet general education requirements and lower-level requirements in their major programs before embarking on their upper-division programs.
Graduation Requirements: As well as satisfying the University requirements for graduation, all graduates of the College must earn at least a C in all courses which are used to satisfy the program requirements in the major (as opposed to the general education requirements and electives). Required courses in the major program in which less than a C is earned must be repeated until the minimum grade is earned. As part of University requirements, all students must earn at least a C in Freshman English (ENGL 1010 and 1020).
All graduates of Tennessee Board of Regents institutions are required to take an examination or examinations in the academic year in which they graduate to measure the effectiveness of their core curriculum and/or their major program. At the present time, all students are required to take the ETS Academic Profile examination to evaluate the core curriculum (or general education program). Students should register for this test through their departments in the academic year in which they graduate. The test is a graduation requirement, and failure to take it will delay a student’s graduation. Foreign-born students whose first language is not English are exempt from the test, but they must present documentation to support their claim to exemption.
To minimize the likelihood that last-minute problems will delay students’ graduation, they should thoroughly familiarize themselves with all departmental, College, and University degree requirements, and stay in frequent contact with their advisors. The College requires that students fill out a Senior Standing Form and an application for graduation with their advisors at least one semester before the semester of anticipated graduation, to determine what remains of their requirements. The deadline for filing this application is posted in departmental areas. Students should look for notice of this deadline and must meet the deadline. They must also take the initiative for informing their department of their intent to graduate. At the time of applying for graduation, students must either have expunged all Incomplete grades from their record or submit a copy of a signed agreement with the instructor of any class in which an Incomplete is outstanding; this agreement must specify the date by which the Incomplete will be removed. If students do not graduate in the semester for which they apply, they must subsequently re-file for graduation.
Orientation Classes
The Freshman Orientation classes for Arts and Sciences majors are taught under the ASOR designation. These courses are designed to orient all new students—both freshmen and transfers—to the University, its major policies and regulations, degree requirements, career opportunities, study skills, and campus facilities. Special programs and speakers are also offered during orientation sessions. The Arts and Sciences orientation program offers three courses, which should be chosen by students on the basis of their own majors. Students who intend to become licensed to teach should take EDCI 1010 for their orientation, rather than any of the courses listed below .
ASOR 1001 Orientation for Science Majors (1) (Formerly ASOR 100A). A required orientation and advisement class for new students in the sciences, including biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, pre-medicine, pre-pharmacy, and physics. The course focuses on topics related to the sciences.
ASOR 1002 Orientation for Social Science Majors (1) (Formerly ASOR 100B). A required orientation and advisement class for new students in the social sciences, including Africana studies, communications, criminal justice, history, political science, social work, and sociology. The course focuses on topics related to the social sciences.
ASOR 1003 Orientation for Humanities Majors (1) (Formerly ASOR 100C). A required orientation and advisement class for new students in the arts and humanities, including art, English, foreign languages, interdisciplinary studies, music, and theatre. The course focuses on topics related to the humanities.
Minor in Liberal Arts and Business
The Liberal Arts and Business minor is available to all Arts and Sciences majors. It is designed to supplement a liberal arts education with courses that emphasize technical skills, including accounting, basic computing, economics, management, and business writing. The minor curriculum provides the student with a minimal background to seek business and corporate opportunities.
The student may major in any area or seek any degree within the College of Arts and Sciences and take the minor (21-27 semester hours). In addition to the suggested curriculum for the minor, certain elective courses are suggested to broaden the major’s background in liberal arts and business. Technical courses coupled with a “generalist” education give a strong, broad background for the liberal arts and sciences student to enter various training programs and careers, including ones in industry and business.
| Required Courses | 18 semester hours | |
| ACCT 2110 or | ||
| ACCT 2120 | Principles of Accounting I or II | 3 |
| ECON 2010 | Economic Principles I | 3 |
| MGMT 3010 | Management and Organization Behavior | 3 |
| BISE 2150 | Microcomputer Applications | 3 |
| BLAW 3000 | Legal Environment of Business | 3 |
| MGMT 4030 | Human Resources Management or | 3 |
| or BISE 4300 | Administrative Office Management | |
| Elective Courses | 3-9 semester hours | |
| BISE 3150 | Business Communication | 3 |
| HIST 3690 | Economic History of the United States | 3 |
| PHIL 3350 | Business Ethics | 3 |
| BISE 1210 | Microcomputer Keyboarding | 3 |
Coordinating Committee: Samantha A. Morgan-Curtis, Ph.D. (chair)
121 Humanities Building
Telephone: 615-963-1536
General Statement: The Minor in Women’s Studies is open to any degree-seeking student at Tennessee State University . The Women’s Studies Minor at Tennessee State University seeks to develop, enhance, and strengthen the University’s general education program by providing an organizational structure for the focused study of women as serious academic inquiry. An 18-hour undergraduate minor, the Women’s Studies Program brings together and integrates courses from across many departments of the University that explore issues of gender, sexuality, and inequality through examinations of the lives of women, the work of women, and the social representations of women, in contemporary and historic contexts, around the globe and within the U.S., and across differing races, ethnicities, classes, and social groups. The Women’s Studies Program is expressly multidisciplinary and interdepartmental, and its purpose is to provide a framework for new scholarship about women--multiculturally, multidimensionally, and multinationally. Within a University community richly diverse in gender, age, race, nationality, ethnicity, faith, economic structures, and sexual orientation, the Women’s Studies program provides another forum for students to consider the social construction of difference through analyses of literature, the arts, the media, social theory, histories, and cultures. The Women’s Studies Program at TSU promotes integrative thinking, reevaluation, and new ideas about women, as a local contribution toward expanded global understanding and respect for women.
Participating students may major in any area or program leading to a bachelor’s degree at the University while taking the minor (18 semester hours).
The goal of the Women’s Studies minor is to enhance students’ understanding of the complexity of our shared world through the analysis of the construction of gender identities. The students as citizens and educated members/leaders of their communities and the world need to know and appreciate their own gendered human cultural heritage and its development in historic and global contexts. Because of its implicit multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach, the Women’s Studies Program borrows substantively from all fields of study, and Women’s Studies paradigms will concomitantly serve to strengthen both the investigations and goals of students’ major fields of study and their materials, and to deepen the students’ appreciations of their own major fields.
| Core Required | ||
| WMST 2000 | Introduction to Women’s Studies | 3 |
| WMST 4000 | Independent Study/Capstone | 3 |
| 12 hours (any 4 of the following—only one 2000 level class may be taken) | ||
| AFAS 3000 | African Male | 3 |
| AFAS 3050 | African Female | 3 |
| AFAS 3600 | African Extended Family | 3 |
| AFAS 3620 | African American Family | 3 |
| ANTH 2300 | Introduction to Cultural Anthropology | 3 |
| ECFS 4630 | Family Relationships | 3 |
| ENGL 3010 | Critical Approaches to Literature | 3 |
| ENGL 3860 | Women in Literature | 3 |
| *HIST 3100 | American Women's History to 1890 | 3 |
| *HIST 3110 | American Women's History 1890 to the Present | 3 |
| PSYC 3310 | Principles of Human Sexuality | 3 |
| SOCI 2400 | Courtship and Marriage | 3 |
| SOCI 3101 | Sex, Gender, & Social Interaction | 3 |
| SOCI 3200 | Anthropology | 3 |
| SOCI 3600 | The Family | 3 |
| WMST 4100 | Special Topics in Women’s Studies | 3 |
Students who took HIST 4325 (formerly 432B) Vital Topics: Women’s History may count that course towards the minor requirements.
WMST 2000. Introduction to Women’s Studies. (3). Functioning as an overview to and integration of the women’s studies courses available to TSU students across the University, this introductory course to the Women’s Studies program and minor offers a conceptual and theoretical baseline from which each student may develop her/his trajectory of study. The course is expressly multidisciplinary and multicultural; it explores feminist theories and looks at women and gender as treated in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. This introduction may be team taught and may represent ideas from the perspectives of faculty within differing disciplines. No prerequisites.
WMST 4000. Capstone/Independent Study. (3). This one semester course acts as the capstone for the Women’s Studies minor in that the individual student will produce an independent research work that synthesizes his/her major field with the required course work in the Women’s Studies minor. This course will be monitored by the WS Coordinator/Coordinating Committee, but the student will also work with a faculty member from her/his major area. Enrollment by permission of the WMST Coordinator/Coordinating Committee. Prerequisite WMST 2000 or by permission.
WMST 4100. Special Topics. (3). This interdisciplinary course can be proposed by the instructor either based on individual or student interest. The course must be approved by the Women’ Studies Coordinating Council/Committee and fulfill the competencies of the Women’s Studies Program. Topics may include but are not limited to the history of Women’s Studies, representations of women in music, a comparative study of women’s movements and activisms, feminism and racism, specific representations of women within different nationalities, etc. Permission of the instructor required.
This program is open to students throughout the University regardless of major. The minor in International Affairs has a core component of Political Science, History, and Geography courses. In addition students are asked to specialize in a specific concentration. These are area studies (African, Asian, European, Latin American, and Middle Eastern studies); International Security, Law, and Organization; International Development; Foreign Policy Analysis and Comparative Politics; and International Peace and Justice Studies. This minor offers a multidisciplinary approach to the study of international affairs. The International Affairs minor provides students with exposure to various disciplines (Africana Studies, Agriculture, Anthropology, Business, Communications, History, Geography, Philosophy and Religious Studies, Political Science, and Sociology). By taking a menu of courses students develop an understanding of cultural, economic, historical, geographical, and political aspects of the international system.
Course Requirements:
- Required Courses 12
- Concentration Electives 9
- Total Hours 21
Required Courses
POLI 2200 Introduction to International Politics
POLI 3690 Theoretical Approaches to International Relations
One History Course: From the Following
- HIST 4520 Latin American History II
- HIST 4820 Asian Civilizations II
- HIST 4860 History of Africa II
- HIST 4890 Modern Africa , 1960-Present
- HIST 3030 Europe , 1871-1945
- HIST 3040 Europe , 1945-Present
One Geography Course: From the Following
- GEOG 4700 Political Geography
- GEOG 4750 Economic Geography
- GEOG 4640 Environmental Geography
- GEOG 4440 Cultural Geography
- GEOG 4300 Social Geography
Summary of the Core in International Affairs: 12 credits
POLI 2200: Provides an introduction to the various economic, political, and social issues in international affairs. 3 credits
POLI 3690: Provides a multi-perspective approach to the theoretical philosophies of international affairs. 3 credits
One upper-level History Course: Gives students exposure to a particular region of the world. 3 credits
One upper-level Geography Course: This provides students with a broad global geographical understanding. 3 credits
This core gives students a background in aspects of the politics, history, and geography of international affairs while also providing a theoretical and methodological foundation.
b. Summary of Areas of Concentration: Students will take three electives (9 credit hours) from one of the areas below, drawn from the following menus. (All courses are 3 credits.)
- Area Studies (African, Asian, European, Latin America , and Middle East )
- International Security, Law, and Organizations
- International Development
- Foreign Policy Analysis/Comparative Politics
- International Peace and Justice Studies