Welcome
Creativity
and critical thinking are the hallmarks of an education in the
arts, humanities, and social sciences in the Dorothy F. Schmidt
College of Arts and Letters. A dedicated faculty of
distinguished artists, scholars and researchers offers 24
undergraduate degrees that combine the best of a traditional
arts and liberal arts education with cutting-edge instruction
in the emerging fields of the 21st century. Our undergraduate
degrees have prepared over 15,000 students for successful
advanced study and careers in fields as diverse as law,
archaeology, international business, and journalism. In
addition, study in the College’s programs has prepared
these students to lead lives of greater aesthetic richness,
civic purpose, resilience and reflection, multicultural
sensitivity, and personal challenge. We pride ourselves on
providing our undergraduate students with a broad and exciting
general education as well as focused and distinctive training
in the majors of their choice.
In addition to our majors and minors, the
College offers
a range of interdisciplinary certificate programs, and
encourages students to add fields such as Ethnic Studies, Peace
Studies, and Caribbean and Latin American Studies to their
transcripts. We offer study-abroad programs in Italy, Ecuador,
Ghana and a range of other sites, preparing our students to be
sophisticated and adaptable international citizens.
The
College
offers 23 graduate degrees that provide high-quality advanced
education in fields ranging from Anthropology to Women’s
Studies. Students benefit from small seminars, active mentoring
by professors, and opportunities to be involved in faculty
research and teaching. They work closely with acclaimed authors
and artists, respected researchers, and influential scholars.
The innovative Ph.D. in Comparative Studies continues to draw
students seeking a doctorate that prepares them to work across
disciplinary boundaries, offering three tracks: 1) the
Public Intellectuals Program, focusing on social and public
issues; 2) the Program in Literatures, Literacies and
Linguistics; and, (3) the Program in the Fine and
Performing Arts.
We are particularly proud of the quality and
appeal of
our public programming. Last year, for example, more than
14,000 people attended our public lectures, symposia and
workshops on subjects as diverse as ancient Greek artifacts,
counterterrorism, Holocaust memoirs, and American electoral
politics; another 28,000 attended great performances and
acclaimed exhibitions in theatre, music and the visual arts,
featuring outstanding student and faculty artwork and recitals
as well as distinguished visiting artists.
The College’s public offerings have always been
as
attractive to the community as to the students. In the early
years of the College, its ambitious programs attracted the
support of prominent philanthropist Dorothy F. Schmidt.
Following her death, her family memorialized her life and
values through an endowment to provide enduring support to arts
and liberal arts at FAU. To honor her and them, the College was
named the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Humanities in
1992 and, after its expansion, renamed the Dorothy F. Schmidt
College of Arts and Letters.
The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and
Letters
consists of the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies,
and seven liberal arts departments: Anthropology;
English; History; Languages, Linguistics and Comparative
Literature; Philosophy; Political Science; and Sociology. The
School of the Arts houses the departments of Music, Theatre,
and Visual Arts and Arts History as well as the University
Galleries. The College offers an array of distinctive
interdisciplinary degrees and certificates: a Ph.D. degree in
Comparative Studies, M.A. degrees in Liberal Studies and
Women's Studies, and a B.A. in Jewish Studies, with certificate
programs in Classical Studies; Environmental Studies; English
as a Second Language; Ethnic Studies; Ethics, Law and Society;
Film and Video Studies; Peace Studies; Jewish Studies;
Caribbean and Latin American Studies; Religious Studies; and
Women's Studies. Most undergraduate majors are available at the
Boca Raton campus, many majors are available at the Davie and
Fort Lauderdale campuses, and some majors are available at the
MacArthur campus. Most graduate degrees are offered on the Boca
Raton campus.
Explore what the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of
Arts and
Letters has to offer.
