College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences consists of thirteen academic departments: Art and Visual Studies, Behavioral Sciences and Social Work, Chemistry, Computer Science, English, Interdisciplinary Studies, Life Sciences, Mass Communications, Mathematics, Music, Psychological Sciences, Social Sciences, and World Languages and Cultures. It offers 26 undergraduate academic major programs; a certificate program in Computer Science; and one graduate program – Computer Science and Information Technology.

Housed in the College are a number of special programs such as:

the Biomedical Research Center (BRIC) which seeks to facilitate and expand biomedical research at WSSU by strengthening the research infrastructure of the institution and providing an environment conducive to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge, and the professional growth of its faculty;
the Center for Community Safety (CCS) which promotes community based problem solving through training and engagement, research data and analytics, teaching and applied experience, and partnership;
the Military Science Program, administered by the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (AROTC) and offered on a cross-enrolled basis with the host program at Wake Forest University (housed in the Social Sciences Department);
the Diggs Gallery, offering one of the largest exhibition spaces dedicated to the arts of Africa and the African Diaspora in North Carolina with exhibitions, publications and programs addressing a broad range of artistic expression, with special concentration on African-American and regional art; and
the Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education (CMSTE) which is one of the North Carolina legislative Math and Science Education Network (NC-MSEN) centers and has a mission to strengthen the quality and increase the number of teachers in mathematics and science education and to increase the pool of North Carolina high school graduates prepared to pursue careers requiring mathematics and science.

The College’s goals, listed below, provide a general context for the delineation of program objectives for the academic departments:

To provide opportunities through the exploration of the liberal arts for students to engage a variety of perspectives across academic disciplines;
To provide courses across disciplines that emphasize skills in Critical Reading, Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, Oral Communication, Quantitative Literacy, Scientific Literacy, and Written Communication;
To provide opportunities for students to acquire knowledge and skills in an academic discipline, both at the undergraduate and master’s levels, from a faculty recognized for effective teaching and scholarship;
To provide experiences which expose students to current and critical issues such as globalization, diversity, sustainability, civic knowledge, healthful living and ethical reasonsing.