University of Notre Dame: A Comprehensive Guide to Undergraduate Majors

The University of Notre Dame offers a wide array of undergraduate majors across its four colleges and the School of Architecture. With sixty-seven degrees available, students have the opportunity to tailor their academic experience to their interests and career goals. These colleges include the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Science, the College of Engineering, and the Mendoza College of Business.

The College of Arts and Letters

As the oldest and largest college at Notre Dame, the College of Arts & Letters offers more than 60 programs across the arts, humanities, languages, and social sciences. Every student can customize their academic experience through coursework, research, international experiences, and career development opportunities uniquely suited to their interests and passions.

Africana Studies

The Department of Africana Studies focuses on the African American experience, Africa, and the African Diaspora. Courses cover race, politics, theology, education, and history, approached from various disciplinary perspectives. This interdisciplinary approach introduces students to a wide range of historical and contemporary perspectives, promoting critical engagement with the whole of human culture.

American Studies

American Studies is designed for students interested in exploring the world around them from multiple perspectives. The major offers courses ranging from "The American West" and "American Capitalism" to "Race and Popular Culture" and "Catholics in America." This student-centered major fosters a vibrant academic community.

Anthropology

Anthropology offers a broad study of the human experience, bridging the scientific and humanistic fields. Students can pursue a major, minor, or honors track. Concentrating on the interaction between design and anthropology is a growing career trend, with anthropology majors in demand as user experience specialists, independent consultants, and qualitative researchers.

Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies

Housed in the Department of Classics, this program offers an Arabic major and a minor in Middle Eastern and North African studies. Arabic is a high-demand language valuable in various careers. Language courses cultivate the ability to write clearly, listen precisely, speak fluently, and read critically. Electives complement language acquisition, exposing students to the richness and diversity of Middle Eastern culture and Islamic intellectual history and thought. The interdisciplinary minor in Middle Eastern and North African studies aims to equip students with scholarly skills and policy acumen to navigate future issues involving these regions constructively.

Art History

Art History explores past and present cultures through the study of art and architecture. Students develop competencies through the study of art and architecture of the world in the present and the past and in relation to its context-the political, economic, scientific, and religious forces that inform the work of artists and architects.

Classical Studies

Classical Studies is interdisciplinary, encompassing literature, art, architecture, philosophy, archaeology, languages, and military, political, and social history. Students can connect the study of classical antiquity with other disciplines and periods and study the inheritance and transformation of the classical tradition. Exposure to Latin and Greek provides powerful tools for analyzing original texts.

Computer Science (B.A.)

The Bachelor of Arts in computer science allows students to pursue a broad liberal arts education while building a strong foundation in computer science. The program involves significant coursework in the College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The B.A. in computer science is flexible, allowing students to explore other interests in the liberal arts while learning foundational principles.

Economics

The undergraduate economics major allows students to acquire strong quantitative, analytical, and communications skills in the context of a liberal arts curriculum. The department teaches courses that provide an understanding of how economics can be used as a tool to help those most in need, including Development Economics, Health Economics, and the Economics of Catholic Social Teaching.

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English

The English major allows students to explore literature and its engagement with fundamental aspects of the human experience. Students can concentrate their studies in literature or creative writing. The curriculum exposes students to a wide range of literary cultures, historical periods, forms, and genres. Small classes enable students to form strong relationships with professors and peers.

Film, Television, and Theatre

As a major in Film, Television, and Theatre, students learn about vital arts and entertainment across various media. The program blends scholarly inquiry with hands-on artistic and production work. Students delve into films, TV shows, and plays, discover stories from across the globe, and learn about perspectives and cultures different from their own. They study the history of film, TV, and theatre, as well as individual works, and learn about directors, writers, and different approaches to filmmaking.

French and Francophone Studies

The program of French and Francophone Studies provides an entrée into research and scholarship on language, culture, politics, economics, migration, gender, public health, and faith.

Gender Studies

The Gender Studies undergraduate curriculum provides an interdisciplinary program of study grounded in the liberal arts. Gender Studies students are well-rounded, intellectually curious people committed to social justice. An education in Gender Studies prepares students to live, think, and be agents of change in a complex world. Gender Studies analyzes systems of gender and sexuality in diverse local, national, and global contexts.

German Studies

German Studies is perfect for students who want to develop an understanding of the German-speaking world without necessarily having to study the language. The Program rewards students for engaging with language and culture studies.

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History

History majors take a variety of courses emphasizing different geographical areas, chronological periods, and thematic approaches.

Irish Language and Literature

Students learn Irish (Gaelic) - the indigenous language of Ireland and the voice of the oldest vernacular literature in Europe - from world-class faculty. They explore Irish literature and folklore originating in, or shaped by, its native language across more than 1,500 years to the present.

Italian Studies

Students can enjoy Verdi’s operas in Italian, watch Fellini and Gomorra without subtitles, consult for an Italian engineering company, do scientific research at CERN, work with refugees at the forefront of humanitarian action, and sift through manuscripts in the Vatican archives.

Japanese

Japanese is an exceptional option for students seeking to expand their cultural horizons and explore exciting career opportunities in a wide array of fields.

Latino Studies

Latino Studies is an interdisciplinary field of academic research and scholarship engaged in understanding the past, present, and future of the youngest and fastest-growing population in the United States.

Music

Studying music at Notre Dame offers avenues to build on the strengths, experiences, and training students bring to the program, as well as new opportunities to engage deeply with familiar and unfamiliar sounds, traditions, and ways of understanding music through theories, histories, and cultures ranging from the Western classical tradition to musics around the world. The curriculum combines a strong foundation with a variety of advanced electives.

Political Science

Political Science is a popular major within the College of Arts & Letters, consistently ranked among the top programs nationwide.

The College of Science

The Science College is known for being on the scientific forefront for nearly 150 years and for the extensive Environmental Research Center. It offers a variety of disciplines including Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, and Neuroscience and Behavior.

Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics (ACMS)

A Bachelor of Science in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics offers preparation for careers in fields like engineering, business, and actuarial science. Computational skills will be developed continuously throughout the curriculum. Significant work in an area of application will complement core studies.

Biochemistry

Biochemistry explores the chemical foundations of living systems, including the structure, properties, and reactions of biological macromolecules.

Biological Sciences

Biological Sciences majors investigate life, the human condition, and the natural world. The major includes a core curriculum for breadth and eight tracks for depth. The major is comprehensive, yet flexible, and can be tailored to each student’s career goals. Students have individualized academic advising, career guidance, and close relationships with faculty and other mentors.

Chemistry

Chemistry is often referred to as the “central science” because it connects the physical, life, and applied sciences. A bachelor of science degree in chemistry or biochemistry can take you anywhere you want to go. Those interested in medical or dental school will find that either program of study fulfills the medical/dental school requirements and leads to high MCAT/DAT scores. As a result, our majors experience a high acceptance rate into these professional schools. Students who are interested in a research career will find that their solid foundation in chemistry and biochemistry allows them to branch into other fields of study at the graduate level or focus on a specific area of chemistry that piqued their interest.

Environmental Sciences

The environmental sciences (ES) major is designed for students who have a keen interest in ecology and the interactions between humans and the natural world. Environmental sciences majors take a wide variety of science and non-science courses. In fact, environmental science majors are the most broadly trained of all science majors at Notre Dame. Further, those majoring in environmental science also have great latitude in their course choices.

Mathematics

The mathematics major will deepen students' knowledge of an endlessly interesting subject, as well as sharpen their analytical and problem-solving skills. The curriculum is very flexible, with enough electives in the mix to allow students to customize their own program.

Neuroscience

Neuroscience is a relatively young, exciting, and fundamentally interdisciplinary field devoted to the study of the nervous systems. Neuroscience engages experts in collaboration across diverse fields, including biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, physics and psychology.

Physics

Undergraduate physics majors are trained to use the most modern equipment, learn about the most current and exciting topics for research, and, most of all, learn to be problem solvers. This training leads them to many fields of endeavor, such as graduate school, medical school or law school, as well as wide-ranging fields as finance, the armed services, and scientific publishing. The Physics program is highly ranked, being one of the top 20 undergraduate programs for Physics in the country.

The College of Engineering

The College of Engineering offers students the opportunity to participate in service projects, produce solutions for real problems, and take part in internships.

Aerospace Engineering

The Aerospace Engineering program prepares students to solve problems and advance the state of the art in the design and operation of aircraft and space vehicles, ranging from airplanes to satellites. The curriculum is based on mathematics, physics, chemistry and the engineering sciences, with emphasis on basic aerospace disciplines such as aerodynamics and fluid mechanics, orbital mechanics, and solid and structural mechanics, and integrating disciplines such as design, experimental methods and systems analysis.

Chemical Engineering

The program combines a strong focus on chemical engineering with a broad education in the humanities and science. The curriculum marries a solid foundation in chemical engineering principles with modern data science and computational tools. Students have the flexibility to tailor their education to their interests and academic goals.

Civil Engineering

Civil engineers design, build, and renew the structures and infrastructure that drive our modern world. Their work is often visible, including buildings, bridges, roads, dams, airports, and energy and water transport systems. Civil engineers also must consider the dynamic relationship between infrastructure and the Earth system, planning for sustainability and resiliency against issues such as flooding, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and volcanoes.

Computer Science

This program focuses on understanding the basic nature of the electronic devices that go into the creation of modern computers and on the detailed architecture and organization of such systems, both within the central processing unit and in how larger systems are assembled. The program fosters understanding of the key properties of algorithms and how to recognize and design good algorithms efficiently.

Mechanical Engineering

The Mechanical Engineering program prepares students for careers of leadership and innovation in industry, government, or research laboratories.

The Mendoza College of Business

Students in Business will focus on managing real portfolios and learning the ethics and solutions needed in this sector.

Accountancy

Accountancy students learn to analyze, evaluate, and communicate the results of business activities. Through courses like Strategic Cost Management, Ethics in Accounting, and Federal Taxation, they develop critical thinking and decision-making skills. The Data Analytics in Accounting course enhances the ability to identify relevant information and find optimal solutions in settings involving uncertainty and risk, using tools like data mining, simulation model building, and optimization.

Business Analytics

As a BAN major, students learn scientific, data-driven analysis of business operations. The Business Analytics major is oriented toward statistical methods and data analysis, focusing on topics such as predictive analytics and data visualization with a strong emphasis on statistics and mathematical methods. Students learn how to discover patterns, make predictions, tell stories and derive meaning from complex data sets.

Finance

Finance is a consistently popular major at Notre Dame.

The School of Architecture

The Architecture School is a five-year program dedicated to hand drawing, drafting, formal ordering, construction, and history of architecture. One full year will be dedicated to studying Rome’s historic center in Rome itself as well as other sites within Europe.

Architecture

First-year Architecture students develop fundamental hand drawing and drafting skills alongside courses taken for the University Core Curriculum. The sophomore year forms the foundation for the principles of construction and their relationship to architectural form and the built environment. The third year, which the students spend entirely in Rome, explores traditional urbanism and how classical architecture facilitates a humane and sustainable way of life. By the fourth year, issues of regionalism and cross-cultural values are explored through the typological understanding of the city and its architecture developed during the previous three years. By the fifth year, the students have forged individual viewpoints about architecture and engage a diversity of issues that culminate in their spring thesis studio.

Interdisciplinary Programs and Minors

Notre Dame offers various interdisciplinary programs and minors to complement major studies.

Collaborative Innovation Minor

The collaborative innovation minor offers a five-course sequence starting with Design Matters, a large, introductory, lecture-based design-thinking class. Declared minors will then cycle through a series of four additional courses introducing students to the various skillsets implicated in design thinking including research methods, visualization, and entrepreneurship.

Computing and Digital Technologies Minor

The Idzik Computing and Digital Technologies (CDT) minor is a blended program cutting across departments in the College of Arts & Letters and partnering with the College of Engineering's Department of Computer Science & Engineering.

Constitutional Studies Minor

Building on courses across Arts & Letters, the Potenziani Minor in Constitutional Studies is designed to encourage students to confront fundamental questions concerning justice, the rule of law, and human flourishing.

Data Science Minor

Notre Dame's data science minor helps students explore this exciting field and learn to approach the challenging problems of our time with innovative analytical tools. Emphasizing computational science, communication skills, and ethics, the five-course sequence includes classes in data science and programming, as well as three electives that can be customized to the course of study.

Design

Design at the University of Notre Dame lays emphasis on the art, science, and practice of building platforms and experiences that create tangible communication between content and users through traditional and contemporary media. Students can major in industrial design or visual communication design.

Energy Studies Minor

The energy studies minor is open to all undergraduate majors at the University of Notre Dame. This minor prepares students to become successful leaders from all disciplines who understand the complexity of the energy challenge. They will be better prepared to provide goods and services that allow an acceptable quality of life in a more energy-efficient manner.

Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy

The Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics, and Democracy offers a minor for students interested in working in print, broadcast, or digital news. The Gallivan Program combines training in practical skills with the study of social, political, economic, and ethical issues that journalists face, offering students a foundation in the reporting and editing principles that endure in a changing media industry.

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