College of Arts and Sciences, Koleke Pāheona a ʻEpekema

Curricula

The purpose of the College of Arts and Sciences is to provide quality education in the liberal arts and sciences, as well as a select group of high quality professional and pre-professional programs.

The College of Arts and Sciences offers baccalaureate degrees in the following academic majors:

Field Masters BA BS Minor Cert.
Administration of Justice BA
Anthropology BA Minor
Art BA Minor
Communication BA Minor
Counseling Psychology MA
Education MAT, MEd Cert
English BA Minor
Geography and Environmental Science BA Minor Cert
Global Engagement Certificate Cert
Heritage Management MA
History BA Minor
International Studies Cert
Japanese Studies BA Minor
Liberal Studies BA
Pacific Islands Studies Cert
Performing Arts BA Cert
Philosophy BA Minor
Political Science BA Minor
Psychology BA
Sociology BA Minor
Gender and Women's Studies BA Minor

Classes at the College of Arts and Sciences frequently conduct field studies at various sites on Hawaiʻi Island. Archaeology students participate in investigating ancient Hawaiian sites and artifacts. Geography students explore the island's volcanoes, marine environment and varied ecosystems. Numerous social science courses make use of the wide ethnic heritages represented on the island of Hawai‘i. In the teaching of numerous subjects, the College seeks to make use of Hawai‘i Island and its multi-cultural heritage and physical setting as a miniature continent in the midst of a tropical ocean.

Although the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo is isolated from the tensions of the metropolitan environment, the College is not isolated from the world. Many courses at Hilo have a strong international accent. Both the Eastern and Western traditions are studied in courses in philosophy, religion, and history. Languages taught at the college include Korean, Hawaiian, Japanese, and Spanish.

Students in the College of Arts and Sciences have considerable liberty to design, in cooperation with their professors, individualized courses of instruction. Through the "99" sequence of courses, students may undertake directed reading and research. Furthermore, the Liberal Studies Program allows students to design their own majors by combining subjects of study which are demonstrably pertinent to their personal, educational, developmental or career objectives.