# Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science

**Source**: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/academics/undergraduate/humanities-and-arts-requirements
**Parent**: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/academics/undergraduate/gen-ed-requirements

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All candidates for a B.S. degree in the School of Computer Science must complete a minimum of 63 units offered by the [Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences](https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/) and/or the [College of Fine Arts](https://www.cmu.edu/cfa/) as prescribed below. Students pursuing a [Bachelor's in Computer Science and Art](https://www.cmu.edu/interdisciplinary/programs/bcsa.html) should consult the general education requirements for that program.

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## First Year Writing Requirement

Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to produce clear, well-organized, and audience-appropriate arguments on technical and non-technical topics, demonstrating effective use and citation of evidence and communication conventions across written, oral, and visual presentation formats.

Students complete one of the following options for 9 units:

- 76-101: Interpretation and Argument
- 76-102: Advanced First Year Writing: Special Topics (by invitation only)

Or two of the three writing minis below for 9 units total:

- 76-106: Writing about Literature, Art and Culture
- 76-107: Writing about Data
- 76-108: Writing about Public Problems

## Breadth Requirements

Complete three courses, one each from Category 1, Category 2 and Category 3. You may use two minis totaling 9 units or more to satisfy one of the categories — with permission of the associate dean for Undergraduate Education — if the minis meet the goals of the desired category.

**NOTE: Artificial Intelligence majors replace Category 1 with Category 1A: Cognitive Studies which is a subset of Category 1.**

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### Category 1: Cognition, Choice and Behavior

Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to make well-reasoned judgments about individual choices and behavior by critically analyzing its basis in underlying cognitive and psychological processes.

### Category 2: Economic, Political and Social Institutions

Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to analyze a given economic, political, or social institution as a complex system by identifying its constituent rules and actors, explaining the mechanisms through which it translates individual actions into collective outcomes, and evaluating its function and impacts in light of relevant historical contexts.

### Category 3: Cultural Analysis

Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to define and apply the concept of “culture” to analyze how larger populations express their collective identity in the humanities and/or arts over extended periods or across multiple locations, and how these identities intersect, coexist, or compete when appropriate.

## Electives

Complete three nontechnical courses of at least 9 units each from any of the departments in the Dietrich College or the College of Fine Arts. Some of the courses taught in these units are considered technical courses and may not be used to satisfy this requirement. (See Deletions below). Additionally, a select set of courses from Business Administration and from Environmental and Public Policy can also count for this requirement (see Additions below). You may combine humanities/arts courses with lower units together to form a single course of 9 units or more with advisor approval in consultation with the SCS associate dean for Undergraduate Programs. You are encouraged, but not required, to take courses from different departments to gain additional breadth and to create new opportunities for engagement with the university community.

Learning Outcomes: Students will be able to interpret and critically assess works, practices, or ideas from the arts, humanities, and related fields that are primarily outside the domains of computation and mathematics, to understand how people create, express, and negotiate meaning in individual or collective contexts, and evaluate the ethical, societal, or personal implications of these expressions when appropriate.

# Additions

# Deletions