School of Arts and Sciences

Jude Nixon, Dean

Mission

Salem State’s School of Arts and Sciences seeks to provide its students a rigorous liberal education. The School encourages students to think critically and creatively, to discover a variety of intellectual pathways for problem solving, and to develop communication skills.

 Philosophy

Lliberal arts education exposes students to a broad palette of information, which, though seeming dissimilar, are fundamentally connected and coherent. The philosophy of SOAS is to help students recognize the coherence and intersections of the many disciplines that comprise arts and sciences. Knowledge, we believe, does not come pre-packaged into one field or discipline, but form part of a seamless web across many disciplines. Companies, businesses, and industry are increasingly searching for educated students rather than individuals trained in narrowly specialized professional fields. That education, they believe, prepare students to negotiate the fluidity and complexities of jobs in emerging markets. The adaptability of the liberal arts degree responds best to new market economies with an increasing emphasis on sustainability.

Departments

The School of Arts and Sciences is home to the departments of Art + Design, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, Communications, Computer Science, Economics, English, Foreign Languages, Geography, Geological Sciences, History, Interdisciplinary Studies, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Sport and Movement Science, and Theatre and Speech Communication. Over half of these departments are nationally accredited and many of them hold membership in national honors societies.

Programs

The School of Arts and Sciences (SOAS) is the largest of the schools at Salem State. Students enrolled in SOAS pursue liberal arts degrees in the arts/humanities and sciences, fully aware that our economy and jobs are not only globally connected, hence our many study-abroad programs, but require creativity, critical thinking, and knowledge across a broad spectrum of disciplines all to negotiate the many intellectual challenges and opportunities. SOAS comprises 20 departments, 19 of which offer undergraduate degrees. Philosophy is the only department that does not currently offer a major. In addition to its 28 majors, the departments in SOAS offer 34 minors and 64 concentrations in such areas as graphic design, aquaculture, software engineering, natural resource management, earth policy, international politics, aquatic management, technical theater, creative writing, and dramatic literature. SOAS also offers graduate degrees and certificate programs, such as the MA in English, history, mathematics, and the MA in teaching in such fields as art, biology, mathematics, English, English as a second language, history. Several departments also offer graduate school courses.