College of Arts and Sciences

Gail Gasparich, Dean

Michelle Pierce, Associate 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

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.

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.

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

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

Philosophy

Liberal arts education exposes students to a broad palette of information, which, though seeming dissimilar, are fundamentally connected and coherent. The philosophy of the 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 CAS is home to twenty departments of Art + Design, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, Communications, Computer Science, Economics, English, Geography, Geological Sciences, History, Interdisciplinary Studies, Mathematics, Music & Dance, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Sport and Movement Science, Theatre and Speech Communication, and World Languages and Cultures. Over half of these departments are nationally accredited and many of them hold membership in national honors societies.

Programs

The 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. In addition to its majors, the departments in CAS offer minors and concentrations in such areas as graphic design, aquaculture, software engineering, 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, mathematics, English, English as a second language, history, and several Master of Science programs, such as Counseling and Psychological Services, Geo-Information Sciences and Mathematics. Additionally, fully aware that our economy and jobs are globally connected, we encourage and support student participation in the study abroad programs.