Exploring Arts Majors at UCLA: A Comprehensive Guide

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) offers a diverse range of undergraduate majors, providing students with opportunities to align their studies with their interests, skills, and goals. With over 140 majors available, undergraduates can explore both familiar and new fields, shaping their future careers. Many majors reside within the College of Letters and Science, while others are situated in professional schools.

The College of Letters and Science

The College of Letters and Science integrates perspectives from various liberal arts fields to analyze issues, formulate questions, and cultivate creative and critical thinking and writing skills. Students can choose from more than 100 majors across four academic divisions: Humanities, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences. Applicants to the College can select a major or apply with an "undecided/undeclared" status.

Humanities Majors

African American Studies (B.A.)
African and Middle Eastern Studies (B.A.)
American Indian Studies (B.A.)
American Literature and Culture (B.A.)
Ancient Near East and Egyptology (B.A.)
Arabic (B.A.)
Art History (B.A.)
Asian American Studies (B.A.)
Asian Humanities (B.A.)
Asian Languages and Linguistics (B.A.)
Asian Religions (B.A.)
Central and East European Languages and Cultures (B.A.)
Chicana and Chicano Studies (B.A.)
Chinese (B.A.)
Classical Civilization (B.A.)
Comparative Literature (B.A.)
Disability Studies (B.A.)
English (B.A.)
European Language and Transcultural Studies (B.A.)
European Languages and Transcultural Studies with French and Francophone (B.A.)
European Languages and Transcultural Studies with German (B.A.)
European Languages and Transcultural Studies with Italian (B.A.)
European Languages and Transcultural Studies with Scandinavian (B.A.)
European Studies (B.A.)
Gender Studies (B.A.)
Greek (B.A.)
Greek and Latin (B.A.)
History (B.A.)
Human Biology and Society (B.A.)
Iranian Studies (B.A.)
Jewish Studies (B.A.)
Korean (B.A.)
Labor Studies (B.A.)
Latin (B.A.)
Linguistics (B.A.)
Linguistics and Anthropology (B.A.)
Linguistics and Asian Languages and Cultures (B.A.)
Linguistics and Computer Science (B.A.)
Linguistics and English (B.A.)
Linguistics and Philosophy (B.A.)
Linguistics and Psychology (B.A.)
Linguistics and Spanish (B.A.)
Linguistics, Applied (B.A.)
Middle Eastern Studies (B.A.)
Nordic Studies (B.A.)
Philosophy (B.A.)
Portuguese and Brazilian Studies (B.A.)
Religion, Study of (B.A.)
Russian Language and Literature (B.A.)
Russian Studies (B.A.)
Sociology (B.A.)
Southeast Asian Studies (B.A.)
Spanish (B.A.)
Spanish and Community and Culture (B.A.)
Spanish and Linguistics (B.A.)
Spanish and Portuguese (B.A.)

Life Sciences Majors

Biochemistry (B.S.)
Biology (B.S.)
Biophysics (B.S.)
Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution (B.S.)
Environmental Science (B.S.)
Human Biology and Society (B.S.)
Marine Biology (B.S.)
Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics (B.S.)
Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology (B.S.)
Neuroscience (B.S.)
Physiological Science (B.S.)
Psychobiology (B.S.)
Psychology (B.A.)

Physical Sciences Majors

Astrophysics (B.S.)
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (B.S.)
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences/Mathematics (B.S.)
Chemistry (B.S.)
Chemistry/Materials Science (B.S.)
Climate Science (B.S.)
Data Theory (B.S.)
Earth and Environmental Science (B.A.)
Geology (B.S.)
Geology/Engineering Geology (B.S.)
Geophysics (B.S.)
Mathematics (B.S.)
Mathematics, Applied (B.S.)
Mathematics/Applied Science (B.S.)
Mathematics/Economics (B.S.)
Mathematics, Financial Actuarial (B.S)
Mathematics for Teaching (B.S.)
Mathematics of Computation (B.S.)
Physics (B.A.)
Physics (B.S.)
Statistics and Data Science (B.S.)

Social Sciences Majors

Anthropology (B.A.)
Anthropology (B.S.)
Asian Studies (B.A.)
Business Economics (B.A.)
Cognitive Science (B.S.)
Communication (B.A.)
Computational Biology (B.S.)
Economics (B.A.)
Environmental Science (B.S.)
European Studies (B.A.)
Geography (B.A.)
Geography/Environmental Studies (B.A.)
Global Studies (B.A.)
Human Biology and Society (B.A.)
Human Biology and Society (B.S.)
International Development Studies (B.A.)
Latin American Studies (B.A.)
Political Science (B.A.)
Psychology (B.A.)
Sociology (B.A.)

Professional Schools

School of the Arts and Architecture

The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture provides interdisciplinary programs in art, architecture, design, media, and performance, emphasizing creativity and critical thinking. The school offers opportunities for collaboration, research, and public engagement, cultivating leadership in the creative industries. The departments within the School of the Arts and Architecture offer the following majors:

Architectural Studies
Art
Dance
Design | Media Arts
World Arts and Cultures

Applying to the Arts at UCLA

Applying to arts majors at UCLA differs from other University of California campuses and most other majors at UCLA. Visual and performing arts majors require a creative supplement involving visual artwork, performing arts audition, and/or additional writing. Students can apply directly to their major with these supplemental materials and begin arts coursework immediately upon starting at UCLA.

The application process involves two steps:

File the University of California General Application, listing the arts major as the first choice for UCLA.
Complete the UCLA Arts supplement for the desired major on SlideRoom. Requirements for each major are unique and may involve additional essays/statements, visual arts portfolios, dance audition videos, etc.

The UCLA Arts department evaluates the creative supplement and makes admission recommendations to UCLA Undergraduate Admission.

Architectural Studies

The architectural studies major focuses on the built environment, conceiving of architecture as a cultural, creative, and technical practice with direct social impact. The curriculum offers a balanced set of architecture and urban design courses, covering the history and theory of design to contemporary building technologies. This provides students with a foundation of knowledge in the field of architecture, preparing them for graduate school or careers in related fields.

Admission to the architectural studies major is competitive, with the supplemental application and portfolio of creative work being the most important criteria. Recommended preparation includes courses in the history of architecture and an introduction to architectural studies.

Art

The Department of Art is committed to professional art training within the context of a research university. Students are exposed to a broad range of approaches to making and interpreting art, and diverse perspectives on the role of art and artists in society. The department empowers students to reshape their worlds through critical inquiry and transformative creativity. The undergraduate (B.A.) program includes courses in Ceramics, Interdisciplinary Studio, New Genres, Painting & Drawing, Photography and Sculpture.

Admission to the art major is very competitive, with the supplemental application and portfolio of creative work being the most important criteria. Recommended preparation includes courses in drawing, sculpture, painting, photography, ceramics, new genres, and art history.

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The rigorous studio courses at the program’s core provide students with the tools, facilities, and curriculum to develop skills in the areas of ceramics, painting and drawing, photography, sculpture, and the wide range of innovative mediums and methods covered by interdisciplinary studio and new genres. Students are encouraged to work intensively within and across these areas of study to find their own voices and craft their own practices. Intensive making is augmented by courses in art history and critical theory, as well as liberal arts studies in other academic fields across the UCLA campus.

Dance

The Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance offers a curriculum in which students can explore the relationship of the arts and performance to cultural theory and criticism. The dance major integrates learning to dance, learning to make dances, and critical interrogation of dance as a cultural practice. Students study a variety of techniques from around the world, enroll in dance composition, and engage in scholarly discourse around the body and dance.

Admission to the dance major is highly competitive, with the supplemental application and audition being the most important criteria. Recommended preparation includes courses in improvisation/choreography, dance history and theory, and various dance techniques.

Design | Media Arts

The Department of Design | Media Arts (DMA) emphasizes visual, audio, analytical theoretical, and technology-mediated work in design and media arts. This academic program supports a diversity of interests around design, media, technology, and culture, inviting students to balance their aesthetic sensibility with logical reasoning, formal theories with practical application, and contemporary thought with a historical perspective.

Admission to the School of Design | Media Arts major is very competitive. The supplemental application carries significant weight in the evaluation process. Recommended preparation includes courses in drawing, color theory, two-dimensional and three-dimensional form, digital media/computer design, programming for media arts, letterforms and typography, design history, design culture, and interactivity and media arts.

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World Arts and Cultures

The B.A. in world arts and cultures (WAC) enables students to critically examine and constructively engage the social and cultural contexts that shape artists and their creativity. The interdisciplinary curriculum accentuates local histories and global influences that inform ethnographic, curatorial, creative and scholarly praxis, as well as activist politics and questions of social justice.

Successful applicants must have strong academic preparation and show evidence of involvement in the arts and community that demonstrates interests in varied cultures.

Samueli School of Engineering

Herb Alpert School of Music

Joe C. Wen School of Nursing

Luskin School of Public Affairs

The Luskin School of Public Affairs consists of three departments: Public Policy, Social Welfare and Urban Planning. The school offers one undergraduate major, three undergraduate minors, three master’s degrees, and two doctoral degrees.The B.A. in Public Affairs gives students an in-depth and engaged educational experience with a clear public service ethos. Centered around a multidisciplinary foundation in the social sciences, this major puts an applied emphasis on knowledge and methods for improving society. It includes a required experiential learning capstone in the senior year, which connects the dots between theory and action.

School of Theater, Film and Television

One of the leading programs of its kind in the world, the School of Theater, Film and Television is unique in that it formally recognizes the close relationship among these media. From study of the ancient origins of traditional theater to avant-garde video and technologically advanced stage and film production, students develop analytic skills while acquiring applied knowledge and experience in their chosen fields.

Film and Television (B.A.)
Theater (B.A.)
Individual Field of Concentration in Theater, Film and Television (B.A.)

School of Education and Information Studies

The School of Education and Information Studies prepares students to analyze current issues in education through a social justice lens and to emerge as effective advocates for positive change.The new B.A. in Education and Social Transformation prepares students to analyze current issues in education through a social justice lens and to emerge as effective advocates for positive change.

School of Public Health

The school aims to build health and equity and to drive positive change for all people.In addition to gaining specialized knowledge in areas such as global health, population and reproductive health, environmental health, and health care management and leadership, students also have access to a wide range of local and global hands-on training opportunities that provide the skills needed to move public health evidence to action.

Additional Information

Applicants to the School of the Arts and Architecture must have a minimum 3.0 GPA at the time of application. In addition to the UC Application, applicants are required to submit supplemental application material (e.g., portfolio or audition, artist statements, and other materials as requested; additional fees may apply).

For all candidates: Two transferable English courses and one transferable math course MUST be completed by the end of Spring prior to transfer. While IGETC is not required, it is strongly encouraged, Double-majoring is possible, particularly with a major in the College, but it can be difficult due to the high number of course requirements in most UCLA arts majors. Double major requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.

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