College of Arts and Sciences

Jude Nixon, Dean

Mission

The College of Arts and Sciences provides students a rigorous, dynamic, and creative liberal arts education for personal and professional development in a diverse, local, and global environment.

Vision

The College of Arts and Sciences is the centerpiece of Salem State University. Our programs are the core of a liberal education, instilling critical knowledge, skills, and values that enable graduates to become professional and community leaders in a diverse and global environment.

Values

Public Good: Contribute to the public good using liberal arts to benefit communities in which we are engaged. Commitment to a liberal arts education that creates well-rounded citizens.

Diversity: CAS courses, faculty and students embody diversity of ideas and identity. CAS creates opportunities to explore a range of perspectives, experiences and worldviews that build a foundation for personal, professional and academic success.

Teaching: Excellence in teaching with a focus on exposing students to new and diverse ideas. Commitment to new and dynamic methods of teaching and learning. Commitment to faculty-student collaboration and mentoring, providing a foundation for the success of a diverse community of learners.

Scholarship: Excellence in faculty scholarship that creates new knowledge while informing and invigorating the classroom experience and wider community needs.

Integrated Learning: All students learn and have experiences across disciplines and within and outside of the academy.

Liberal Education: A commitment to ensuring all students receive a liberal education and demonstrate key liberal education outcomes at graduation.
[Note: “Liberal Education is an approach to learning that empowers individuals and prepares them to deal with complexity, diversity, and change. It provides students with broad knowledge of the wider world (e.g. science, culture, and society) as well as in-depth study in a specific area of interest. A liberal education helps students develop a sense of social responsibility, as well as strong and transferable intellectual and practical skills such as communication, analytical and problem-solving skills, and a demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings.” (AAC&U LEAP Initiative definition)]

Philosophy

Lliberal arts education exposes students to a broad palette of information, which, though seeming dissimilar, are fundamentally connected and coherent. The philosophy of CAS 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 College 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 College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is the largest of the colleges and schools at Salem State. Students enrolled in CAS 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. The College comprises 20 departments, 19 of which offer undergraduate degrees. Philosophy is the only department that does not currently offer a major, although it has received approval to begin the process of offering one. In addition to its 28 majors, the departments in CAS offer 34 minors and 64 concentrations in such areas as graphic design, aquaculture, software engineering, environmental, earth policy, international politics, recreation management, technical theater, and creative writing. CAS also offers graduate degrees and certificate programs, such as the Master of Arts in english, history, mathematics, and the Master of Arts in Teaching in such fields as art, chemistry, mathematics, english, english as a second language, history, as well as several Master of Science programs.