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Majors And Much More

The General Education provisions of St. Olaf's liberal arts curriculum are designed to encourage in students a breadth of knowledge. The requirement that a student complete a major in order to graduate fosters the development of knowledge in depth.

Students at St. Olaf have more than 40 Bachelor of Arts graduation majors from which to select, as well as a number of teaching majors and teaching certification programs. While a student needs one major for graduation, some students opt to pursue two majors and others add an Area of Emphasis (a program of three or more related courses within or beyond the basic major) or a Concentration (an approved program of four or more courses that cuts across departmental boundaries). Students interested in a professional music degree can pursue one of the four different emphases available within a Bachelor of Music graduation major.

Majors (with Areas of Emphasis) and Concentrations are officially listed on the student's permanent record. Students invested in a department teaching major or teaching certification must first be admitted to the Teacher Education Program.

Bachelor of Arts Graduation Majors

For information on Paracollege concentrations (self-designed majors), see Paracollege in the Index.

Bachelor of Arts Teaching Majors

* See Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary section.

Bachelor of Arts Teaching Certifications

Areas of Emphasis

An Area of Emphasis consists of three or more related courses within or beyond the basic major. Areas of Emphasis at St. Olaf are:
Asian Studies
Dance
Economics
Family Resources
Fine Arts
Music
Sport Science
Speech

Bachelor of Arts Concentrations

A Concentration is an approved interdisciplinary program consisting of a minimum of four courses. Concentrations are listed below:

Bachelor of Music Graduation Majors

Numbering and Levels of Courses

A course is an educational unit lasting one semester (14 weeks) and occupying approximately one quarter of the student's time, or an educational unit lasting one January Interim (four weeks) and occupying all the student's academic time. Fractional courses are indicated in decimals. Eighteen (18) course credits above Level I are required for the B.A. degree.

A St. Olaf course has 38 class instruction hours. An hour of class time is 55 minutes. A full-credit (1.00) St. Olaf course is equivalent to 4 semester credits and 5.50 quarter-system credits.

In the fall of 1992, St. Olaf course numbers were converted from two-digit to three-digit numbers.

Level I Courses, numbered 100 through 199, are, for the most part, introductory to a field or discipline and require student responsibility and independence commensurate with initial work at the college level.

Level II Courses, numbered 200 through 299, require student independence in the acquisition of material and a mastery of techniques and methods above that demanded in Level I courses.

Level III Courses, numbered 300 through 399, usually confined to the major, demand control of methods as well as command of a basic factual and theoretical knowledge appropriate to the discipline. A student should have at least two Level III courses in the major.

Interim Courses: A list of Interim course offerings for the past year is included in each section of regular semester courses. Descriptions of all Interim courses offered each year are in a separate Interim Announcement.

Reservation of the Right to Modify

The provisions of this catalog are to be considered directive in character and not as an irrevocable contract between the student and the college. The college reserves the right to make changes that seem necessary or desirable, including course and program cancellations.