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Globalization Course Globalization
Impressive list of speakers highlights globalization course. More


Forward Thinking: An Academic Roadmap 2005–2010
Progress Report from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (PDF)


Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Demand has exploded in recent years for individuals trained in bioinformatics and computational biology as huge amounts of data have been created through advances in genome sequencing. Learn about this new B.S. program.

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The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is Iowa State University's largest college and includes 22 academic departments and one professional school. LAS offers majors in the humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences and mathematical sciences. Every undergraduate at Iowa State University takes courses from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Academic departments offering undergraduate majors and/or minors or graduate programs in the College include anthropology; biochemistry, biophysics & molecular biology; ecology, evolution & organismal biology, chemistry, computer science, economics, English, geological & atmospheric sciences, Greenlee School of Journalism & Communication, history, mathematics, military science, music, naval science, philosophy & religious studies, physics & astronomy, political science, psychology, sociology, statistics, world languages and cultures.

Various academic programs are offered within LAS including African American Studies, American Indian Studies, biology, classical studies, criminal justice studies, performing arts, software engineering, U.S. Latino/a Studies, women's studies.

Curriculum in Liberal Arts and Sciences

To obtain a bachelor's degree from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, curriculum in liberal arts and sciences, an undergraduate student must earn a minimum of 120 semester credits including a minimum of 32 semester credits earned in residence at Iowa State University. In addition, the student must meet general education, communication proficiency, library proficiency, world language, and advanced credit requirements, as well as the requirements of a major. Courses taken on a pass/not pass basis may be counted toward the required total of 120 credits, and may be used to meet the advanced credit requirement, if appropriate, but may not be used to satisfy any other graduation requirement. No more than 9 credits of 490 (Independent Study) courses in a single discipline may be counted toward graduation.