The biology Bachelor of Arts degree program provides a general background in biology, and has the most flexible scheduling of the three biology degrees offered. It is especially recommended for students who are pre-professional, have multiple majors, intend to do a junior year abroad or an internship program, or have significant extracurricular commitments (e.g., varsity athletics, student government, Greek life, or other campus involvement).
Since the biology BA degree does not formally require undergraduate research, students interested in graduate research careers should plan to take at least one semester of undergraduate research as an elective (BIOL 388 Undergraduate Research or BIOL 388S Undergraduate Research – SAGES Capstone) sometime during the senior year.
For a printable check sheet of all courses required for the BA in Biology click here: Biology BA list of required courses (as of Fall 2014)
| Biology core courses | ||
| BIOL 214 | Genes, Evolution and Ecology | 3 |
| BIOL 214L | Genes, Evolution and Ecology Lab | 1 |
| BIOL 215 | Cells and Proteins | 3 |
| BIOL 215L | Cells and Proteins Laboratory | 1 |
| BIOL 216 | Development and Physiology | 3 |
| BIOL 216L | Development and Physiology Lab | 1 |
| One course from any two of the following three subject areas (breadth requirement) | 6 | |
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Cell and molecular biology
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BIOL 303
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From Black Box to Toolbox: How Molecular Biology Moves Forward (Dept seminar) | |
|
BIOL 316
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Fundamental Immunology | |
|
BIOL 324
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Introduction to Stem Cell Biology | |
|
BIOL 325
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Cell Biology | |
|
BIOL 328
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Plant Genomics and Proteomics | |
|
BIOL 329
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Genome Dynamics (Dept Seminar) | |
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BIOL 341
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Basic Biology of Blood and Blood Diseases | |
|
BIOL 342
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Parasitology | |
|
BIOL 343
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Microbiology | |
|
BIOL 365
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Evo-Devo: Evolution of Body Plans | |
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BIOL 366
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Genes, Embryos and Fossils (on hiatus) | |
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Organismal biology
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| BIOL 305 | Herpetology | |
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BIOL 302
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Human Learning and the Brain | |
|
BIOL 312
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Intoductory Plant Biology | |
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BIOL 314
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Animal Cognition and Consciousness (on hiatus) | |
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BIOL 318
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Introductory Entomology (breadth OR lab) | |
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BIOL 322
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Sensory Biology | |
|
BIOL 338
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Ichthyology (Breadth OR lab) | |
|
BIOL 340
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Human Physiology | |
|
BIOL 346
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Human Anatomy | |
|
BIOL 362
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Principles of Developmental Biology | |
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BIOL 373
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Introduction to Neurobiology | |
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BIOL 374
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Neurobiology of Behavior (on hiatus) | |
|
BIOL 379
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Transformative Animal Models in Modern Biology | |
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BIOL 385
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Seminar on Biological Processes in Learning and Cognition (on hiatus) | |
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Population biology and ecology
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BIOL 225
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Evolution | |
|
BIOL 307
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Evolutionary Biology of the Invertebrates (odd years only) | |
|
BIOL 336
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Aquatic Biology | |
|
BIOL 351
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Principles of Ecology | |
|
BIOL 358
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Animal Behavior (Breadth OR lab) | |
|
BIOL 364
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Research Methods in Evolutionary Biology (dept seminar) | |
|
BIOL 368
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Topics in Evolutionary Biology (on hiatus) | |
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BIOL 384
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Reading and Writing Like an Ecologist | |
|
BIOL 394
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Seminar in Evolutionary Biology (on hiatus) | |
| Genetics Requirement | 3 | |
| BIOL 326 | Genetics | |
| Two additional laboratory courses (excluding BIOL 388, BIOL 388S, and BIOL 390) | 4-8 | |
|
BIOL 223
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Vertebrate Biology | |
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BIOL 300
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Dynamics of Biological Systems: A Quantitative Introduction to Biology | |
|
BIOL 301
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Biotechnology Laboratory: Genes and Genetic Engineering | |
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BIOL 304
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Fitting Models to Data: Maximum Likelihood Methods and Model Selection | |
|
BIOL 305L
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Herpetology | |
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BIOL 309
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Biology Field Studies (ecology in fall, genetics in spring) | |
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BIOL 314
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Taming the Tree of Life (lab and capstone) | |
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BIOL 315
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Quantitative Biology Laboratory | |
|
BIOL 318
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Introductory Entomology | |
|
BIOL 321
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Design and Analysis of Biological Experiments | |
|
BIOL 327
|
Functional Genomics | |
|
BIOL 338
|
Ichthyology (lab OR Breadth) | |
|
BIOL 339
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Aquatic Biology Laboratory | |
|
BIOL 344
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Laboratory for Microbiology | |
|
BIOL 345
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Mammal Diversity and Evolution | |
|
BIOL 351L
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Principles of Ecology Laboratory | |
|
BIOL 352
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Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases | |
|
BIOL 353
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Ecophysiology of Global Change | |
|
BIOL 358
|
Animal Behavior | |
|
BIOL 359
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Genetic Basis of Behavior (on hiatus) | |
|
BIOL 363
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Experimental Developmental Biology (on hiatus) | |
|
BIOL 373
|
Introduction to Neurobiology (breadth OR lab) | |
|
BIOL 376
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Neurobiology Laboratory (on hiatus) | |
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BIOL 377
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Biorobotics Team Research (on hiatus) | |
| Biology electives (excluding 100-level courses, BIOL 240, BIOL 250, BIOL 251, and BIOL 390) | 3-6 | |
| Mathematics core courses | ||
| MATH 125 | Math and Calculus Applications for Life, Managerial, and Social Sci I | 4 |
| or MATH 121 | Calculus for Science and Engineering I | |
| MATH 126 | Math and Calculus Applications for Life, Managerial, and Social Sci II | 4 |
| or MATH 122 | Calculus for Science and Engineering II | |
| Chemistry core courses | ||
| CHEM 105 | Principles of Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM 106 | Principles of Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHEM 113 | Principles of Chemistry Laboratory | 2 |
| CHEM 223 | Introductory Organic Chemistry I | 3 |
| or CHEM 323 | Organic Chemistry I | |
| CHEM 224 | Introductory Organic Chemistry II | 3 |
| or CHEM 324 | Organic Chemistry II | |
| CHEM 233 | Introductory Organic Chemistry Laboratory I | 2 |
| Physics core courses | ||
| PHYS 115 | Introductory Physics I | 4 |
| or PHYS 121 | General Physics I – Mechanics | |
| PHYS 116 | Introductory Physics II | 4 |
| or PHYS 122 | General Physics II – Electricity and Magnetism | |
| Total Units | 60-66 | |
At least 15 hours of the selected electives and additional laboratory courses must be at the 300 level or higher.