Degree Programs and Curriculum
- Majors
- Minors
- Certificates
- Joint Degree Programs
- Accelerated Bachelor/Master Degree Programs
- Special Academic Programs for First-Year Students
- Interdisciplinary Programs
- Undergraduate Research
1. Majors
Georgetown College offers the following majors for the Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree:
- African American Studies
- American Musical Culture
- American Studies
- Anthropology
- Arabic
- Art
- Art History
- Biological Physics
- Chinese
- Classics
- Computer Science
- Computer Science, Ethics & Society
- Economics
- English
- French
- German
- Global & Comparative Literature
- Global Medieval Studies
- Government
- History
- Interdisciplinary Studies
- International Business, Language & Culture*
- Italian
- Japanese
- Justice & Peace Studies
- Korean
- Linguistics
- Mathematics
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Economy
- Portuguese
- Psychology
- Public Policy**
- Russian
- Sociology
- Spanish
- Spanish & Portuguese Studies
- Theater & Performance Studies
- Theology & Religious Studies
- Women’s & Gender Studies
*International Business, Language, & Culture is a joint degree program offered by the College of Arts & Sciences and the McDonough School of Business (MSB).
**The Joint Program in Public Policy (JPPP) is a cross-school program offered by the College of Arts & Sciences and the McCourt School of Public Policy.
The following majors lead to a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree:
2. Minors
Minors are optional. Some minors require an application (*), typically submitted in the spring of sophomore year. MOST Minors are open to all, and may be declared when declaring a major, or any time after. The following minors are offered:
- African American Studies
- Anthropology
- Arabic
- Art
- Art History
- Biology
- Business Studies*
- Catholic Studies
- Chemistry
- Chinese
- Classical Studies
- Cognitive Science
- Computer Science
- Creative Writing*
- Disability Studies*
- Economics
- Education, Inquiry & Justice*
- English
- Environmental Studies
- Film & Media Studies*
- French
- German
- Global Health
- Global Medieval Studies
- Government
- Greek
- History
- Hebrew
- International Development
- Italian
- Japanese
- Jewish Civilization
- Journalism*
- Justice & Peace Studies
- Korean
- Latin American Studies
- Linguistics
- Mathematics
- Medical Humanities, Culture & Society
- Music
- Muslim-Christian Understanding*
- Performing Arts
- Persian
- Philosophy
- Philosophy & Bioethics
- Physics
- Portuguese
- Psychology
- Public Health*
- Religion, Ethics & World Affairs*
- Russian
- Russian Literature & Culture (in Translation)
- Science, Technology & International Affairs*
- Sociology
- Spanish
- Statistics
- Tech, Ethics & Society*
- Theater & Performance Studies
- Theology & Religious Studies
- Turkish
- Women’s & Gender Studies
3. Certificates
Georgetown College students may earn a certificate in one of the regional study programs below offered through the School of Foreign Service. Certificates are the functional equivalent of minors, so they count as one of the maximum three academic components that a student may complete toward the degree. In keeping with SFS policy, students may not pursue two certificate programs. Double counting policies for certificates conform to College policies for minors.
- African Studies
- Arab Studies
- Asian Studies
- European Studies
- Eurasian, Russian & East European Studies
See the Certificates page for the full requirements for each of the above programs.
4. Joint Degree Programs
- International Business, Language & Culture
- The College of Arts & Sciences and the McDonough School of Business offer a joint undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science in International Business, Language, and Culture (BS-IBLC).
- Joint Program in Public Policy
- The College of Arts & Sciences and the McCourt School of Public Policy offer a Joint Program in Public Policy (JPPP), leading to a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy (AB-PP).
5. Accelerated Bachelor/Master Degree Programs
Some graduate programs offer qualified undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue a master’s degree in an Accelerated Program format. In this structure, students may:
- Double-count two graduate-level courses toward both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and
- In many cases, with approval of the graduate program, count two additional graduate courses taken during the undergraduate career to apply to the master’s degree, exclusively, provided those courses are “above and beyond” all undergraduate requirements (i.e., major/minor/core/certificate and 120-credit graduation minimum).
Undergraduate enrollment in graduate-level courses is at the discretion of each program; please consult the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (new window) for program details. Students apply for the program no later than the end of their junior year and, with the approval of the graduate program director, must confirm any double-counted and graduate-only classes in the final semester of the undergraduate degree.
Currently, the following accelerated degree programs are available to qualified students with appropriate undergraduate coursework:
- Arabic & Islamic Studies
- Art & Museum Studies
- Communication, Culture & Technology
- Computer Science
- Conflict Resolution
- Data Science & Analytics
- Democracy & Governance
- English
- Epidemiology
- German
- Global, International & Comparative History
- Global Infectious Disease
- Government
- Italian Studies
- Latin American Studies
- Learning, Design & Technology
- Linguistics
- Mathematics & Statistics
- Russian & European Studies
- Security Studies
- Spanish
- Statistics
5. Special Academic Programs for First-Year Students
Ignatius Seminars
The Ignatius Seminars are courses offered in the fall semester for the intellectually curious student interested in an integrative and personal approach to learning. These seminars introduce Georgetown College first-year students to the depth and diversity of Georgetown’s dynamic intellectual community. Favorite topics of College faculty form the offerings for these seminars that invite small student groups to join their professors in the creative exploration of mind and spirit. All incoming first-year students are invited in the summer prior to matriculation to apply to participate in the Ignatius Seminar program.
FLL Hager Scholars Program
The FLL Hager Scholars program is for declared majors in languages, linguistics, and comparative literature, designed to create a sense of community and opportunities for intellectual growth. Over the course of this yearlong program, Hager Scholars will gain a greater appreciation of the possibilities available to students and scholars of language(s), inside the classroom and in the world beyond. In addition to a course in their declared major, FLL Hager Scholars will be enrolled in designated courses that fulfill core requirements, and a 1-credit colloquium addressing critical and contemporary issues where language plays an illuminating, deepening, or complicating role.
Ways of Knowing
The Ways of Knowing Seminar is an integrated learning experience in the fall, placing two core disciplines into conversation with each other to confront questions of truth, knowledge, expertise, belief, and meaning. Thematic material and disciplines represented in the Ways of Knowing Seminar will vary from year to year, but the two courses each year will be closely tied to each other, designed together as a unified experience. Students in the seminar take both courses and form a tight community of learners and explorers, dedicated to unpacking the process of knowing.
Departmental and Interdisciplinary Seminars
Several of Georgetown College’s departments and programs are offering distinctive seminar experiences to first-year students that prioritize problem-based learning, small class environments, introductions to disciplines and fields of research, and close faculty mentoring. Examples in Fall 2022 include seminars from psychology, Italian, government, and American Studies. Some seminars expand to comprise multiple courses and multiple disciplines, placing at the center of focus a problem, one that requires interdisciplinary attention. The Ways of Knowing seminar, described above, follows this model, as does the American Studies program’s Race and Class in DC seminar.
6. Interdisciplinary Programs
Interwoven throughout Georgetown’s traditional department-based curriculum are interdisciplinary programs, majors, and minors that take advantage of the breadth as well as depth of intellectual resources on the Georgetown campus. These programs are based on themes that cross departmental boundaries and reflect the emergence of significant new perspectives on human knowledge. They are the result of collaborative efforts by faculty from several disciplines to create curricular offerings to address complex questions from multiple disciplinary directions.
The College offers interdisciplinary majors and minors in:
- African American Studies
- American Studies (major only)
- Global & Comparative Literature (major only)
- Justice & Peace Studies
- Global Medieval Studies
- Political Economy (major only)
- Women’s & Gender Studies
The College offers interdisciplinary minors in:
- Catholic Studies
- Cognitive Science
- Disability Studies
- Education, Inquiry & Justice
- Environmental Studies
- Film and Media Studies
- Jewish Civilization
- Journalism
- Medical Humanities, Culture & Society
- Religion, Ethics, & World Affairs
- Science, Technology & International Affairs
- Tech, Ethics & Society
The College also offers qualified students the opportunity to design their own formal interdisciplinary major program, integrating multiple disciplines, through the Interdisciplinary Studies application. All students, however, are encouraged to seek connections and synthesis in and amongst their majors, minors, core courses, and electives in order to more fully appreciate the connectedness of the many ways of knowing.
7. Undergraduate Research
Georgetown College places a central emphasis on research in the formation of students through the ongoing quest for deeper knowing, toward fulfillment of the academy’s public responsibility to expand and improve humanity’s understanding of the world. Students are invited to join faculty in their scholarly work, to learn the methods and approaches of research from disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives, and to become independent seekers through asking and answering original research questions. The College provides a variety of opportunities for students to pursue undergraduate research, including in-class projects, fellowships and funding options for independent research in semesters and summers, faculty collaborations as research assistants, and senior capstones and theses.