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Bachelor of Arts Degree

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree allows students to combine computer science with another discipline. We provide below the general requirements for the BA as well as pre-defined BA formulas for specific focuses.

General Degree Requirements

Students must complete the Bachelor of Arts General Education Core, which is described in the General and Graduate Information Catalog, and an advising sheet available from the College of Arts and Sciences Student Academic Services office.

For the major, students must complete:

  • Required courses: ICS 111/L, 141, 211, 212, 241, 311, 312 or 331, 313 or 361, 321
  • Junior/senior electives: three ICS (or approved) 400-level courses, including at most three credits of ICS 499 and three credits of ICS 491.
  • Area concentration electives: four upper division (300-level or above) courses in some area of concentration (e.g., art, business, music, education).

All seven electives must be approved by an ICS advisor. The intent of the Bachelor of Arts degree is to allow computer science to be combined with another discipline. Students seeking a BA should write a short (one page or less) proposal specifying the seven courses they will use for their ICS and area concentration electives. The proposal should explain how these courses form a coherent plan of study combining computer science with another field. Some examples of reasonable proposals are:

  • I want to work in computer games programming, which requires art/drawing, computer graphics, and software engineering skills. ICS electives: ICS 481 Intro. to Computer Graphics, ICS 413 Software Engineering I, ICS 414 Software Engineering II. Area electives: ART 313 Advanced Drawing, ART 322 Advanced Color, ART 363 Design: Studio 2, ART 309 Image in Motion Studio II.
  • I want to do machine translation of Japanese and English, which requires artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and Japanese language skills. ICS electives: ICS 461 Artificial Intelligence I, ICS 661 Artificial Intelligence II(3.0 GPA required), ICS 464 Intro. to Cognitive Science. Area electives: JPN 301 Third-Year Japanese, JPN 302 Third-Year Japanese, JPN 350 Intro. to Japanese Linguistics, JPN 425 Japanese Translation.
  • I want to create web pages, which requires hypermedia, databases, and graphic design skills. ICS electives: ICS 465 Intro. to Hypermedia, ICS 665 User Interfaces & Hypermedia (3.0 GPA required), ICS 421 Database Systems. Area electives: ART 363 Design: Studio 2, ART 364 Design: Studio 3, ART 465 Design: Typography 3, ART 322 Advanced Color.
  • I want to use computers to predict the stock market, which requires statistics, databases, and business skills. ICS electives: ICS 442 Analytical Models & Methods, ICS 471 Probability, Statistics, & Queuing, ICS 421 Database Systems. Area electives: BUS 310 Statistical Analysis for Business Decisions, BUS 311 Information Systems for Global Business Environment, BUS 316 Quantitative Business & Economic Analysis, BEC 389 Applied Business Economics: Forecasting.

This course proposal must be approved by an ICS undergraduate advisor and can be modified later with written approval to account for availability of courses or changes in the student's interests (which may require a new proposal and rationale).


See our Information and Advice for Computer Science Majors and Minors document for more information regarding  our program and our requirements.

BA: Bioinformatics Focus

Requirements: Minor or BA in biology, and a BA in ICS

  • Minor in Biology
    • BIOL 172 (Introduction to biology II) , 265 (Ecology and evolutionary biology), 275(Cell and molecular biology) and 375 (Concepts of genetics)
    • Min 3 credits in: BIOL 401 (molecular biotechnology), 402(Principles of biochemistry), 405(Biochemistry), 406/406L (Cellular biology), 407/407L(Molecular biology), 409(Biology seminar), 441 (Basic biochemistry), 499 (Biological problem).
    • For these courses you need at least (BIOL 171 (Introductory biology), CHEM161(General chemistry I), 162(General chemistry II), 272, (Organic chemistry I), and 273(Organic chemistry II) if you take BIOL 402, 405, 406, 407 or 441.
    • Min 3 credits: approved upper level botany, biochemistry, microbiology, physiology and zoology.
  • BA in ICS
    • ICS 111, 141, 211, 212, 241, 311, 312 or 331, 313 or 361, and 321
    • 3 (300-level or above) courses from the minor will double count (BIOL 375, BIOL 4xx, and the course in botany. Biochemistry microbiology, physiology and zoology).
    • 4 ICS (300-level or above), with the three courses below required for the Bioinformatics focus:
      • ICS 475 (Bioinformatics: Introduction)
      • ICS 476 (Bioinformatics: Advanced)
      • ICS 499 (project) in a Bioinformatics related subject. This is an internship that can be done in a university research lab, a government agency or a private company.

BA: Information Technology (IT) Focus

Requirements:

  • ICS 111, 141, 211, 215, 314, 315, 321, 351, 414, 425, 426, and 464
  • At least  four additional ICS courses at the 300-level or above