School of Arts and Sciences

Dean: Martha Nelson, PhD

Disciplines in the School of Arts and Sciences stretch from the study of the world’s earliest cultures to the latest scientific and technological advances. Undergraduate and graduate programs encompass literature, cultural studies, arts, health and biological sciences, psychology, and politics.

The School of Arts and Sciences prepares students for careers in many diverse fields and for graduate and professional school in several disciplines by providing opportunities for internships, service-learning activities, community service projects, and study abroad experience. In the sciences, students excel at undergraduate research conducted alongside faculty mentors. In the arts and humanities, students are inspired by artists, poets, musicians, and philosophers.

The School of Arts and Sciences includes the Division of Natural, Behavior, and Health Sciences as well as the Division of Arts and Humanities.

Division of Natural, Behavior, and Health Sciences

Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Counseling Psychology

Nursing

Occupational Therapy

Psychology

Political Science and International Studies

Division of Arts and Humanities

Art

Communications

Literature and Languages

Humanities

Music and Performing Arts

UNDERGRADUATE

• Art
• Art History
  
• Biological Sciences
• Communications
• Dance/LINES ballet
• Graphic Art and Design
• English
  
• English with a Writing Emphasis
• Health Science (Pre-OT)
  
• History
  
• Humanities and Cultural Studies
  
• Interdisciplinary Studies
  
• International Studies
  
• Music
  
• Music with Concentration in Performance
  
• Nursing
  
• Politics
  
• Psychology
  
• Religion
  
• Women and Gender Studies
  

GRADUATE

• Biology
  
• Counseling Psychology
• Humanities
• Nursing
• Occupational Therapy

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES AND PARTNERSHIPS

University of Skovde, Sweden

Students from the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics can spend a year in Sweden working in the labs alongside biologists from the University of Skovde.

Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet

Dominican and San Francisco-based Alonzo King's LINES Ballet School offer a joint BFA in dance program. This is one of only two programs offered in the United States. The only other BFA in Dance program affiliated with a major ballet company comparable in stature to LINES Ballet is the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center/Fordham University program in New York City.

Buck Institute for Age Research

Beginning this fall, the Buck Institute and Dominican will offer a master’s degree in biological sciences with an emphasis on age research. The Buck Institute is the first independent research facility in the United States to focus solely on aging and age-related conditions. The National Institute on Aging designated the Buck Institute as a "Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Biology of Age Research" in June 2005, one of just five in the nation.

Community Partners

Students studying for their bachelor’s degree in nursing are required to complete 810 clinical hours. Dominican has clinical affiliations with more than 55 Bay Area acute care hospitals, non-profit agencies, long-term care facilities, and clinics.

Xgene Corporation

Xgene Corporation was founded to develop and commercialize two promising new technologies: a proprietary technology for producing a full-thickness human skin equivalent, and an advance in the area of the control of gene expression.  The company has a lab in Dominican’s Science Center, and undergraduates are working in this lab alongside Xgene founder Warren Hoeffler, PhD.

International Latino Film Festival – San Francisco Bay Area

Dominican students enrolled in the University’s Latin American Studies minor serve as interns with this Bay Area cultural organization. Dominican hosts screenings and world premiers during the group’s annual film festival.