The College of Arts and Sciences is a liberal arts college that is both historically and educationally the core of USD. The intellectual disciplines within Arts and Sciences assist students in developing a coherent, integrated, and rich world view. Students in the college spend their undergraduate years discovering themselves as individuals, probing the commonalities of our lives on this planet, and deepening their appreciation of the sacred. In all disciplines in the college, the meanings of life in all its forms and processes are explored. Likewise, each intellectual discipline in the college reflects a sense of community by involving students in a network of scholars. Many areas in Arts and Sciences immerse students in intensive study of the patterns of human, social, and cultural organization. In addition, all curricula in the college emphasize higher order cognition and the centrality, precision, and integrity of written and oral communication.
The intellectual vitality of arts and sciences is manifested at three levels:
- exposure to the most current information on our complex social and physical worlds
- cross-disciplinary integration of methods and perspectives
- rigorous application through writing, research, oral communication, creative expression, and personal-career development.
Arts and sciences faculty, then, are dedicated to a cooperative effort with students to construct knowledge from information, to shape wisdom from knowledge, and to secure competence that is united with conscience and a sense of values. Success will be evidenced in a renewed wonder at life, increased self-discipline, and a more refined sense of the potential of community.
Administration
Mary K. Boyd, PhD, Dean
James O. Gump, PhD, Associate Dean
Carole Huston, PhD, Associate Dean
Noelle Norton, PhD, Associate Dean
Pauline Berryman Powell, MS, Assistant Dean
Neena Din, PhD, Assistant Dean
Angelo Orona, PhD, Chair, Department of Anthropology
Can Bilsel, PhD, Chair, Department of Art
Richard Gonzalez, PhD, Chair, Department of Biology
Deborah C. Tahmassebi, PhD, Chair, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Eric Pierson, PhD, Chair, Department of Communication Studies
John H. Glick, PhD, Chair, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Sister Mary Hotz, RSCJ, PhD, Chair, Department of English
Michel Boudrias, PhD, Chair, Department of Marine Science and Environmental Studies
Alberto López Pulido, PhD, Director, Department of Ethnic Studies
Kenneth P. Serbin, PhD, Chair, Department of History
Richard Stroik, PhD, Chair, Department of Languages and Literatures
Fred Miller Robinson, PhD, Chair, Department of Music
Jack S. Crumley, PhD, Chair, Department of Philosophy
Gregory D. Severn, PhD, Chair, Department of Physics
J. Michael Williams, PhD, Chair, Department of Political Science and International Relations
Daniel Moriarty, PhD, Chair, Department of Psychological Sciences
Eren Branch, PhD, Chair, Department of Sociology
Robert Barry Fleming, PhD, Director, Theatre Arts Program
Ronald Pachence, PhD, Chair, Department of Theology and Religious Studies
