Majors and Minors
Undergraduates in the College of Arts and Letters can choose from more than 60 academic majors and minors offered by the College’s many departments and interdisciplinary programs. No matter which they choose, their liberal arts degree will prepare them for success after graduation.
Click here to read a letter from the dean (PDF) about how to plan your academic career and make the most of your time in the College of Arts and Letters.
To learn more about each academic program and its requirements, browse the lists of majors, supplementary majors, and minors below.
Majors
*indicates honors track available
Africana Studies
American Studies*
Anthropology*
Arabic Studies
Art History*
Chinese*
Classics
Design*
Economics*
English*
Film, Television, and Theatre*
French and Francophone Studies*
German*
Greek and Roman Civilization
History*
Italian Studies*
Japanese*
Mathematics*
Medieval Studies*
Music*
Philosophy*
Philosophy and Theology*
Political Science*
Program of Liberal Studies
Psychology*
Romance Languages and Literatures
Russian*
Sociology*
Spanish*
Studio Art*
Theology*
Self-Designed Majors
Note: The College also partners with Saint Mary’s College to offer a program in education.
Supplementary Majors
A supplementary major is one that cannot stand alone in qualifying a student for an undergraduate degree but must be taken in conjunction with a primary major. Several departments offer both majors and supplementary majors.
Art History
Asian Studies
Chinese
Classics
Computer Applications
French and Francophone Studies
Gender Studies
German
Greek and Roman Civilization
Italian Studies
Japanese
Latino Studies
Medieval Studies
Peace Studies
Preprofessional Studies (ALP2)
(pre-med and other health professions)
Russian
Russian and East European Studies
Spanish
Theology
Minors
Africana Studies
Anthropology
Art History
Asian Studies
Business Economics
Catholic Social Tradition
Chinese
Classical Literatures
Constitutional Studies
Education, Schooling, and Society
European Studies
Gender Studies
German
Greek
Greek and Roman Civilization
Hesburgh Program in Public Service
International Development Studies
Irish Language and Literature
Irish Studies
Italian Studies
Japanese
Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy
Korean
Latin
Latin American Studies
Latino Studies
Liturgical Music Ministry
Medieval Studies
Mediterranean/Middle East Studies
Peace Studies
Philosophy
Philosophy and Literature
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
Philosophy Within the Catholic Tradition
Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
Poverty Studies
Russian
Russian and East European Studies
Science, Technology, and Values
Technology, Business, and Society
Theology
More Information
Liberal Arts at Notre Dame
The College Viewbook
Check out the Viewbook for potential undergraduate students to read more about programs, majors, and life in the College.
Arts and Letters News
History Major Explores Work of Missionaries in Colonial Peru
It is widely known that Spanish missionaries played a significant role in introducing Catholicism to the peoples of the Andes throughout the colonial period. Notre Dame senior history major Joseph VanderZee traveled to archives in Lima and Rome to dig a little deeper and find out what these early missionaries thought of the indigenous population—and how their attitudes affected the development of the Peruvian Church. Read More >
Theologian Gary Anderson Elected to American Academy of Jewish Research
Gary Anderson, Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Theology at the University of Notre Dame, has been named a fellow of the American Academy of Jewish Research (AAJR). The AAJR is the oldest organization of Judaic scholars in North America, and fellows are nominated and elected by their peers. The group has approximately 100 members in the United States—and Anderson is one of a select few who are not Jewish. Read More >
Solving a Fascinating Puzzle
Robert Goulding, an associate professor in the University of Notre Dame’s Program of Liberal Studies, was recently awarded a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) to support a research project that combines mathematics, philosophy, and Renaissance science. Goulding, who also teaches in the History and Philosophy of Science graduate program, says his work focuses on English scientist and mathematician Thomas Harriot (1560–1621), whom he calls “a really unusual figure” in intellectual history. Read More >
Microfinance Yields Mixed Results in Thailand, Economist Joseph Kaboski Finds
Large-scale microfinance programs are widely used as a tool to fight poverty in developing countries, but a recent study by University of Notre Dame economist Joseph Kaboski and MIT colleague Robert Townsend suggests that microfinancing can have varying results for participants and may not be the most cost-effective use of funds for many situations. The study was published in a recent issue of Econometrica. Kaboski and Townsend used the Thai Million Baht Village Fund, one of the largest government microfinance initiatives of its kind, to evaluate and understand the benefits and disadvantages of microfinance interventions. Read More >
