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Home > 2017-18 Undergraduate Guide > 2017-18 Degree requirements > 2017-18 Humanities and Social Sciences

2017-18 Humanities and Social Sciences

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Engineering Student Services

230 Bechtel Engineering Center # 1702
Berkeley, CA 94720-1702
(510) 642-7594
ess@berkeley.edu

Hours: Monday – Thursday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

To promote a rich and varied educational experience outside of the technical requirements for each major, the College of Engineering has a Humanities and Social Sciences (H/SS) breadth requirement built into all of the programs of study. Follow these guidelines to fulfill this requirement:

  1. Complete a minimum of six approved H/SS courses.
  2. Courses must be a minimum of 3 semester units (or 4 quarter units).
  3. Two of the six courses must fulfill the college’s Reading and Composition (R&C) requirement. These courses must be taken for a letter grade (C- or better required). The first half of R&C, the A course, should be completed by the end of the freshman year; the second half, the B course, by the end of the sophomore year. View the complete list of courses that fulfill this requirement.
  4. The four additional courses must be chosen within these guidelines from the H/SS lists (see below). These four courses may be taken on a pass/no pass basis.
  5. At least two of the six H/SS courses must be upper-division (courses numbered 100-196).
  6. One of the six courses must satisfy the campus American Cultures (AC) requirement. Note that any American Cultures course of 3 units or more may be used to meet H/SS requirements. The AC requirement must be completed by earning either a letter grade of C- or better, or Pass if taken on a Pass/Not Pass basis.
  7. A maximum of two of the six H/SS course requirements may be met by AP, IB or A-Level exam scores (in humanities and social sciences subjects). View the list of exams that can be applied toward H/SS requirements.
  8. No courses offered by an Engineering department may be used to complete an H/SS requirement other than: BioE 100, CS C79, Engin 125, Engin 157AC and ME 191AC or 191K.
  9. Language courses may be used to satisfy the H/SS requirements; view the list of approved foreign language courses.
  10. Courses may fulfill multiple categories. For example, taking History 127AC will satisfy the American Cultures requirement and one of the upper-division H/SS course requirements.
  11. Courses numbered 97, 98, 99, or above 196 may not be used to complete the H/SS requirement.

Within the guidelines above, choose courses from any of the lists below. (You cannot use courses from the L&S Biological Science or Physical Science breadth lists to complete the H/SS requirement.)

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