ABOUT CLASS

Academics

The college includes those academic disciplines traditionally known as the liberal arts. The phrase “liberal arts” is a translation of the Latin artes liberales and pertains to “those arts appropriate to a free person.” This is the definition and the orientation of the liberal arts at the University of Guam.

The college provides more than half of the General Education courses required by all of the University’s baccalaureate programs. Through its four divisions, the college offers 10 major programs, 17 minor programs, three master’s programs, and courses that fulfill professional preparation requirements of other institutions of higher education.

 

Special Programs

The college has a long tradition of sponsoring or co-sponsoring major conferences on important academic, intellectual, educational, community, and public policy issues. Examples include the CLASS Annual College Conference, the Regional Language Arts Conference, the CLASS Colloquium Series, the University of Guam Film Festival, and various programs and student events.

 

Facilities

The CLASS buildings house modern classrooms and office spaces as well as instructional laboratories for English, indigenous, and international languages, broadcast and print journalism, anthropology, geography, and psychology.

The Fine Arts Building has two-and three-dimensional visual arts studios, music studios, a theater workshop, and a theater production facility.

HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE

The University of Guam granted its first Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962 from what was then the School of Arts at the Territorial College of Guam. At that time, academic disciplines providing the core of General Education courses were grouped in departments. They were later combined into divisions when the Territorial College of Guam became a four-year institution. The school was renamed the College of Arts and Sciences in 1973 before becoming the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) in 2003.

ACADEMIC MISSION

The major mission of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences is instructional delivery in a variety of disciplines. The key aim of the college is to provide students with a broad and interconnected education in the arts, humanities, language, literature, and the social and behavioral sciences.

The college actively contributes to the development of skills, knowledge, and values necessary for the continuing educational, professional, and economic advancement of the individual student, Guam, and the Micronesian region. This includes advancement of regional knowledge; all aspects of social and economic development; the understanding of diverse regional cultural traditions; the resolution of the social, environmental, health, and physical problems that face the Western Pacific region; and contributing to the mastery of qualitative and scientific content knowledge and methodology. Achievement in these domains is known to enable students to be admitted to and to succeed in advanced educational opportunities and rewarding careers.

Faculty of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences carry out the institutional missions of research and service to the University and the region in a variety of disciplines and programs. These activities lead to original discovery and creative work contributing to the world’s knowledge of Guam and the Micronesian region and permit the inclusion of relevant, cutting-edge, regional material in the college’s classroom instruction. In addition to contributing to the advancement of regional knowledge, this work allows students to be exposed to modern research methods, basic and applied, that contribute to critical thinking skills, and academic understanding and growth. For those students who wish to seek graduate degrees, undergraduate research training, and experience, the college prepare them to compete effectively for graduate school admission and for success once accepted.

DIVISIONS

• Division of Communication, Media & Fine Arts
• Division of English & Applied Linguistics
• Division of Humanities
• Division of Social & Behavioral Sciences

The division offices are important centers of information for students in regard to their academic programs; contact with faculty members; registration; advisement; problem-solving; information on student clubs; opportunities for internships, scholarships, and special summer activities; and other student-related activities.

CLASS AAC approved on 9/18/15

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences research agenda comprises theoretical research, applied research and creative endeavors *in order to generate new knowledge, to apply information for innovation, and to promote artistic creation.

The College strongly encourages research with local and regional emphasis while also recognizing the need for a global vision to stay relevant.