Program Overview

Introduction to the Bachelor of Liberal Studies

The Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) is a degree program designed to enable students to combine structured academic emphases in ways more relevant to their interests than the standard academic major. This program allows students to declare their areas of study, which can include two minors or a minor and an undergraduate certificate, at the time they declare their intention to pursue a BLS degree.

Program Requirements

To obtain a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree, a student must complete the following requirements:

• UMSL General Education Requirements, which include:
  • Communication Skills: 6 credit hours
  • Managing Information: 3 credit hours
  • Valuing Skills: 3 credit hours
  • Social and Behavioral Sciences: 9 credit hours
  • Humanities: 9 credit hours
  • Math/Science: 12 credit hours (for a total of 42 credit hours)
• The State Requirement (3 credit hours) and Cultural Diversity Requirement (3 credit hours), if not met in General Education course selection
• The university requirement of proficiency in English Composition, which includes:
  • ENGL 1100: First Year Writing
  • ENGL 3100: Junior Level Writing
• The university requirement of proficiency in Mathematics, to be completed in the first 24 hours at the university
• A Liberal Studies Concentration (33-41 hours), which consists of designated BLS Minors in participating departments or other units (minimum of 15 hours each), or a designated minor and any undergraduate certificate (minimum of 15 hours in each)
• A capstone course (minimum of 3 hours) selected from one of the minors that make up the identified BLS core
• A minimum of 45 credit hours in upper-level coursework (2000 or higher)
• Electives: 28-42 credit hours
• A minimum of 120 credit hours overall
• An Overall GPA of 2.0, with a minimum GPA of 2.0 and a minimum grade of C in all courses used in BLS combination areas
• Residency requirement, in addition to campus residency, unless otherwise specified, which includes 9 graded hours in each minor and certificate at the 2000 level or above, and one capstone course

Participating Units

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), Fine Arts and Communication (CoFAC), Business Administration (BA), and the Pierre Laclede Honors College (PLHC) have joined together to make available Liberal Studies combinations involving the following units:

• Department of Anthropology (CAS)
• Department of Art and Art History (CoFAC): Minor in Art History or Studio Art
• Department of Biology (CAS)
• College of Business Administration (BA)
• Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (CAS)
• Department of Communication (CoFAC)
• Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice (CAS)
• Department of Economics (CAS)
• Department of English (CAS)
• Department of Foreign Languages and Literature (CAS)
• Department of History (CAS)
• Pierre Laclede Honors College (PLHC)
• Department of Mathematics and Computer Science (CAS)
• Department of Music (CoFAC)
• Department of Philosophy (CAS)
• Department of Physics and Astronomy (CAS)
• Department of Political Science (CAS)
• Department of Psychology (CAS)
• Department of Sociology (CAS)
• Department of Theatre, Dance and Media Studies (CoFAC)
• Gender Studies Program (CAS)
• Any undergraduate certificate

Capstone and Other Restrictions

• Students who are planning to earn a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree should declare the BLS as their major within the first 90 hours of the program. Declaration past this time may prevent timely graduation, as all capstone courses are not available every semester.
• The School of Social Work, as well as the Colleges of Education, Nursing, and the Joint Engineering Program, are not participants in the BLS program.
• The College of Business is participating; however, no capstone course will be available for business minors. Students selecting the Business Minor as one of the components for the BLS must select the other minor from among those that do offer a capstone.
• The Studio Arts minors in the Department of Art and Art History will not have a capstone. Students selecting a Studio Art Minor will have to pair it with a minor that does have a capstone.
• Undergraduate certificates and Interdisciplinary Minors may be paired with a minor to form a BLS core; however, since certificates and interdisciplinary minors do not have normally capstone courses, they must be paired with a minor that does have a capstone.
• Students admitted to the Pierre Laclede Honors College who wish to present the Honors Certificate as a minor for the BLS must complete the Honors Capstone (Honors 4100, one or two credit hours) and also direct three to six hours of their Honors independent study requirement to work demonstrably relevant to their BLS program.
• Either the theatre minor or media studies minor may be used from the Department of Theatre, Dance and Media Studies; however, the department offers no capstone at this time. These minors will need to be paired with a minor that does have a capstone.
• There is no capstone course in Statistics. The student will have to choose a capstone course from either the other area of concentration in Mathematics and Computer Science or another minor.
• The capstone is required in addition to the courses presented for the minor. A minimum grade of C must be earned in the capstone course. The capstone course is not counted toward the minor residency requirement.

Capstone Courses

The following departments have identified a Capstone, so at least one of these minors must be included in the BLS program:

• Anthropology: ANTHRO 4301, Ideas and Explanations in Anthropology
• Art & Art History: One additional 4000-level topics course in Art History
• Biology: BIOL 4889, Senior Seminar
• Chemistry/Biochemistry: CHEM 3022, Introduction to Chemical Literature (1) and CHEM 3905-Chemical Research (1) and CHEM 4897-Seminar (1)
• Communication: One additional 3000/4000-level Communication course
• Criminology & Criminal Justice: An additional 4000-level course in Criminology and Criminal Justice, not used as part of the minor
• Economics: ECON 4100, Introduction to Econometrics
• English: Additional 4000-level English Literature course
• Foreign Languages and Literatures: FRENCH 3211, Contemporary French Culture; GERMAN 3210, German Culture and Civilization; SPANISH 3210, Hispanic Culture and Civilization: Spain; or SPANISH 3211, Hispanic Culture and Civilization: Spanish America
• History: HIST 4004, Senior Seminar (5 credits)
• Honors College: HONORS 4100, (1 or 2 credit hours) and three to six credit hours of HONORS 4900 or 4910 are required
• Mathematics/Computer Science: Computer Science: 4000-Level Course in Computer Science not counted as elective in the minor; Mathematics: 4000-Level Course in Mathematics not counted as elective toward the minor
• Music: Select one of the following: M H L T 4000, Directed Studies (3 credits); THRY COM 4000, Directed Studies (3 credits); PDGOGY 4000, Directed Studies (3 credits); PRACTM 4000, Directed Studies (3 credits)
• Philosophy: PHIL 4491, Senior Seminar
• Physics: PHYSICS 4381, Directed Readings in Physics
• Political Science: POL SCI 3950, Senior Seminar in Political Science
• Psychology: An additional 4000-level Psychology course beyond Psychology courses presented for the Minor
• Sociology: An additional 4000-level course in Sociology, excluding SOC 4350 (Special Study) or SOC 4385 (Internship)