• The General Studies Courses (4 courses)
  • ENG 101 English Seminar I
  • ENG 102 English Seminar II
  • RST 101 Introduction to Religious Studies
  • PHI 101 Introduction to Philosophy
• The Area Studies Courses (2 from each area, 14 courses)
  • Area I: Natural Sciences
  • Area II: Social Sciences
  • Area III: Art & Literature
  • Area IV: History
  • Area V: Philosophy
  • Area VI: Religious Studies
  • Area VII: Mathematical Sciences
  • Area VIII: Foreign Languages

The General Studies courses include two English courses to enhance your reading and writing skills, as well as critical thinking and appreciation of literature, and an introductory religion course as well as an introductory philosophy course.

The area studies courses give you a broad background in all the major disciplines of human thought and scholarship by allowing you to take two courses in each of the seven major areas. Only certain courses count for "area studies credit," since they have to meet other criteria of generality and critical thinking. Check the catalog for a complete listing. Also, each individual course description will say whether it can count for area studies credit or not. And, as always, your advisor is able to answer any questions you may have about this.

Each major falls within one of the eight areas. You obviously take two courses in your major (usually many more!) so you do not have to take two other courses. Thus, you would usually just look at the area studies courses of all seven areas but the one which contains your major. Throughout your four years at Canisius, you will take the area courses in whichever semester you can fit them. In the catalog, suggested openings are marked by "AS" in the schedules.

Here are the majors in each area. The information in this page is meant only as a quick reference, not an official document. Only the college catalog is an official document on matters of academics!

• Area I: Natural Sciences
  Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Medical Technology, Pre-Engineering, Physics
• Area II: Social Sciences
  Athletic Training, Business, Communication Studies, Economics, Education, International Relations, Physical Education, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Urban Studies
• Area III: Art and Literature
  Art History, English, French, German, Spanish
• Area IV: History
  History
• Area V: Philosophy
  Philosophy
• Area VI: Religious Studies
  Religious Studies
• Area VII: Mathematical Sciences
  Computer Science, Mathematics
• Area VIII: Foreign Languages
  Spanish, French, German, Latin, Greek, ASL, others

For non-CS majors, the Computer Science courses which count for AS VII credit are:

• CSC 110
• CSC 111

There are some classes which are 4 credit hours and count for two area studies courses. Consult the college catalog for more details.