STREAMS OF DATA DEMAND FRESH INSIGHTS, SHIFTING DEMOGRAPHICS CALL FOR NEW CONNECTIONS, AND CHANGES IN OUR PLANET REQUIRE NOVEL IDEAS.
At Weinberg College, we’ve reimagined the traditional arts and sciences education, preparing you to re-envision today’s challenges as new opportunities.
master the invaluable skills that bring clarity and context to important issues
delve into the social, economic, and political assumptions that define your worldview
explore the constantly evolving relationship between humans and our environment
Here you’ll develop a Northwestern Mindset—an interdisciplinary, flexible, adaptive way of thinking that allows you to succeed anywhere.
45+ majors
50+ minors
Even before you’re on campus, your first-year adviser will help you find your footing, get answers to questions, and plan your schedule.
Throughout your student career, you’ll have a Weinberg College adviser—a faculty member who will help you think through your academic options, internships, research, and goals.
And once you choose an area of concentration from the arts and humanities, sciences, or social sciences, your major adviser will help with logistical details so you can truly make your education your own. Plus, you can take advantage of Northwestern career counseling as well as premedicine, prebusiness, and prelaw advising.
Learn more about academics at Weinberg College: weinberg.northwestern.edu/about/academics
Prepare for careers in areas such as research, medicine, biotech, science journalism, and patent law. This major employs state-of-the-art techniques that faculty and students have used to make widely acclaimed scientific advances at the intersections of molecular biology, cognition, language, physiology, and behavior.
Today’s healthcare challenges are global, and policymakers, community leaders, and scholars need to understand how cultural and political realities shape the health landscape. Designed for students from a variety of academic backgrounds, this adjunct major or minor combines coursework and international experiences from a range of disciplines.
4,300 undergraduate students
This minor provides a rigorous interdisciplinary introduction to the world of business. Connect the study of business and management principles to research and scholarship in the humanities and social sciences.
Weinberg College’s distinctive programs combine the resources of a major research university with the advantages of a liberal arts college. When you’re accepted into one of these programs, you’ll become part of a close-knit community defined by small classes, superb teachers, inspiring peers, and extraordinary depth.
Courses that pose vital questions of citizenship and democracy are linked to tough real-world issues like economic inequality and individual rights. Along with study abroad experiences and close mentoring, Brady coursework leads to a class service project senior year.
A tailor-made honors curriculum integrates the sciences with mathematics, giving you the foundation to study advanced topics at the forefront of science. Our outstanding professors and research opportunities help you prepare for a career in one scientific field by immersing you in many.
Take near-graduate-level coursework in math, then add a major in a social science to explore practical applications. The result is superb preparation for business careers and PhD programs in a wide range of fields, under the guidance of leading scholars.
This honors-track major examines the diverse experiences of Americans and how they affect the world. With guidance from a broad range of humanities and social sciences faculty, you’ll engage in a wide-ranging yet disciplined exploration while enjoying the freedom to shape your course of study.
In four courses during your first year, work with professors from fields like literature, history, and philosophy to explore questions about the human experience. The program seeks the most active and interrogating minds of each year’s incoming class.
Examine poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction with award-winning authors. As you write your own stories, novellas, poems, and essays in courses that cross genres, you’ll study with a close-knit community of fellow students and professors who teach you to examine literary works as a writer.
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“ The Brady Program taught me that we as students have the power and the opportunity to make a difference in our communities.”
—Ushasi Naha, biological sciences, gender and sexuality studies
Shreya Goel
Double major in economics and mathematical methods in the social sciences Minor in computer science
Preparing for a career in finance or consulting, Shreya serves on the executive board of campusCatalyst, where students act as pro bono consultants to local nonprofits.
“Weinberg College is special because it encourages you to chart your own path. The flexibility allows you to delve deep into an interest, but the core classes make sure you have a strong foundation. At every step, there is an opportunity to push yourself.”
“ I have taken Russian literature, economics, advanced linear algebra, and computer programming—all in one quarter.”
—Shreya
= More
• Northwestern’s quarter system means you take more courses each year than in a semester system.
• Choose classes that range broadly across disciplines or explore your major in depth.
• More courses mean you can more easily customize your education by adding a second major, a minor, or a certificate program.
Double major in philosophy and political science
Minor in critical theory
When he’s not interviewing minimum-wage activists from around the country for his senior thesis, Gustavo spends his free time building sets for Shakespeare plays.
“Weinberg College combines the best technical specialization in my disciplines with a broad exposure to different kinds of ideas, which results in extremely creative ways of thinking.
It’s a really excellent place both for those who already know what they want to study and for those who want to find out what they like doing.”
“ When I’m speaking with activists, I use my philosophy training to make sense of the rhetorical frames and devices they use when they respond.”
—Gustavo
• Begin an independent research project as early as your first year. Design your own project, or work as part of a faculty member’s research team.
• You can pursue research during the academic year or over the summer. Funds are available to help cover travel costs and living expenses.
Major in environmental sciences
Minor in economics
A typical weekday finds Margot taking classes for her major and minor during the morning and afternoon, then stage-managing the performances of rambunctious aspiring comedians on campus in the evening.
“ Studying abroad provided an unparalleled experience to learn about renewable energy. Beyond the academics, I loved spending time with my host family, whether fishing for cod with my host father or pet-sitting for neighbors’ lambs.”
—Margot• Internships and volunteering provide valuable hands-on experience. The popular Chicago Field Studies program combines a class and an internship to bring academic context to the professional world.
• Get career advice through our robust student-alumni connections program.
• Experience another country up close in one of Northwestern’s study abroad programs in more than 50 countries.
“My courses and relationships with peers and professors have demonstrated the strength that results when I find connections between my various interests. In Weinberg College I have found a home base to explore, embrace, and challenge whatever I may encounter.”
Majors and minors
l w Advanced Asian Languages
l w African Studies
l American Studies
l w Anthropology
l w Arabic
l w Art History
l w Art Theory and Practice
l w Asian American Studies
l w Asian Humanities
l Asian Languages and Cultures
l Biological Sciences
l w Black Studies
l w Business Institutions
l w Catholic Studies
l w Chemistry
l w Classics
l w Cognitive Science
l Comparative Literary Studies
l w Computer Science
l w Creative Writing w Critical Theory
l w Data Science
l w Earth and Planetary Sciences
l w Economics
l w English and American Literature
l w Environmental Policy and Culture
l w Environmental Sciences
l w French
l w Gender and Sexuality Studies
l w Geography
l w German
l w Global Health Studies
l w Greek
l w Hebrew Studies
l w History
l w Humanities
l w Integrated Science
l w International Studies
l w Italian
l w Jewish Studies
l w Latin
l w Latina and Latino Studies
l w Latin American and Caribbean Studies
l w Legal Studies
l w Linguistics
l Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences
l w Mathematics
l w Middle East and North African Studies
l w Native American and Indigenous Studies
l Neuroscience
l w Philosophy
l w Physics
l w Political Science
l w Portuguese Language and Lusophone Cultures
l w Psychology
l w Religious Studies
l w Russian and East European Studies
l w Science in Human Culture
l Slavic Languages and Literatures
l w Sociology
l w Spanish
l w Statistics
l w World Literature
Key to symbols
l Major
l Adjunct major (With an adjunct major, you must also complete a nonadjunct major.)
w Minor
Northwestern University reserves the right to change without notice any statement in this publication concerning, but not limited to, rules, policies, tuition, fees, curricula, and courses.
A degree from Weinberg College grounds students in the interdisciplinary arts and sciences while offering many pathways to explore their academic interests.
Our degree requirements are designed to help students develop the key skills of observation, critique, reflection, and expression, which comprise the Weinberg College learning goals that undergraduates will achieve by the time they graduate.
To see the detailed degree requirements, visit wcas.nu/degree
For the most current list of majors and minors, visit wcas.nu/academic-catalog.
Northwestern University is committed to providing a safe environment free from discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, and retaliation. To view Northwestern’s complete nondiscrimination statement, see northwestern.edu/civil-rights-office/about/statements/non-discrimination-statement.html, and for crime and safety data, see northwestern.edu/up/safety/annual-report
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