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This archived information is dated to the 2008-09 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

School of Humanities and Sciences

Dean: Richard P. Saller

Senior Associate Deans: Martin Fejer, Ian Gotlib, Stephen Hinton, Susan Stephens

Senior Associate Dean for Finance and Administration: Adam R. Daniel

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs: Tina Kass

Associate Dean for Graduate and Undergraduate Studies: Lorraine Sterritt

Assistant Deans for Graduate and Undergraduate Studies and Diversity Programs: Joseph Brown, Ayodele Thomas

Department Chairs: Theodore Andersson (German Studies), Russell Berman (Comparative Literature), Lawrence Goulder (Economics), Patricia Burchat (Physics), Chao Fen Sun (Asian Languages), Karen Cook (Sociology), James Fearon (Political Science), James Ferguson (Anthropology), James Fishkin (Communication), Gregory Freidin (Slavic Languages and Literatures), Hester Gelber (Religious Studies), Roland Greene (Division of Languages, Cultures, and Literatures), Robert Harrison (French and Italian), Trevor Hastie (Statistics), Aharon Kapitulnik (Applied Physics), Walter Scheidel (Classics), Rafe Mazzeo (Mathematics), Peggy Phelan (Drama), Joan Ramon Resina (Spanish and Portuguese), Paula Findlen (History), Jennifer Summit (English), Kristine Samuelson (Art and Art History), Stephen Sano (Music), Robert Simoni (Biology), Stephen Palumbi (Hopkins Marine Station), Helen Longino (Philosophy), Brian Wandell (Psychology), Tom Wasow (Linguistics), Richard Zare (Chemistry)

Lecturer: Ayodele Thomas

The School of Humanities and Sciences, with over 40 departments and interdepartmental degree programs, is the primary locus for the liberal arts education offered by Stanford University. Through exposure to the humanities, undergraduates study the ethical, aesthetic, and intellectual dimensions of the human experience, past and present, and so are prepared to make thoughtful and imaginative contributions to the culture of the future. Through the study of social, political, and economic events, they acquire theories and techniques for the analysis of specific societal issues, as well as general crosscultural perspectives on the human condition. And through exposure to the methods and discoveries of mathematics and the sciences, they become better-informed participants and leaders in today's increasingly technological societies.

The research environment within the school offers undergraduates and graduate students the intellectual adventure of working on their own research projects side by side with the school's distinguished faculty. While a few of the school's graduate programs offer professional degrees such as the Master of Fine Arts, most are academic and research programs leading to the Ph.D. Doctoral programs emphasize original scholarly work by the graduate students, often at the frontiers of knowledge, and normally require the students to participate in the supervised teaching of undergraduates. Indeed, in the school, as in the University more broadly, graduate students are of central importance in developing a community of scholars.

The fact that so many different disciplines lie within the same organization is one reason why the school has had great success in promoting interdisciplinary teaching and research programs. Whether engaged in studies as wide ranging as ethics, policy, and technological issues, or by applying contemporary social and philosophical theories to classical literature, the school's undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty are challenging the barriers among scholarly disciplines. The school continues to strive for a balance between teaching and research, the academy and society.

ORGANIZATION

The School of Humanities and Sciences includes the departments of Anthropology, Applied Physics, Art and Art History, Asian Languages, Biology (and the Hopkins Marine Station), Chemistry, Classics, Communication, Comparative Literature, Drama, Economics, English, French and Italian, German Studies, History, Linguistics, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Sociology, Spanish and Portuguese, and Statistics.

The school also includes 19 interdepartmental degree programs: African and African American Studies; African Studies; American Studies; Archaeology; Biophysics; Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity; East Asian Studies; Human Biology; Feminist Studies; Financial Mathematics; Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities; International Policy Studies; International Relations; Latin American Studies; Mathematical and Computational Science; Modern Thought and Literature; Public Policy; Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies; Science, Technology, and Society; Symbolic Systems; and Urban Studies.

In addition, the school sponsors programs that do not currently grant degrees: Astronomy; Black Performing Arts; Buddhist Studies; Creative Writing; Ethics in Society; History and Philosophy of Science; the Institute for Gender Research; the Institute for Social Science Research; Islamic Studies; Jewish Studies; Medieval Studies; and the Social Science History Institute.

Faculty and academic staff of the School of Humanities and Sciences are listed under the respective departments or programs.

DEGREES OFFERED

Candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts and Sciences, Master of Arts, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Science, Doctor of Musical Arts, or Doctor of Philosophy should consult the department or program in which they intend to specialize.

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