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
Cell and molecular biology
BIOL 303
From Black Box to Toolbox: How Molecular Biology Moves Forward (Dept seminar)
BIOL 316
Fundamental Immunology
BIOL 324
Introduction to Stem Cell Biology
BIOL 325
Cell Biology
BIOL 328
Plant Genomics and Proteomics
BIOL 329
Genome Dynamics (Dept Seminar)
BIOL 341
Basic Biology of Blood and Blood Diseases
BIOL 342
Parasitology
BIOL 343
Microbiology
BIOL 365
Evo-Devo: Evolution of Body Plans
BIOL 366
Genes, Embryos and Fossils (on hiatus)
Organismal biology
        BIOL 305 Herpetology
BIOL 302
Human Learning and the Brain
BIOL 312
Intoductory Plant Biology
BIOL 314
Animal Cognition and Consciousness (on hiatus)
BIOL 318
Introductory Entomology (breadth OR lab)
BIOL 322
Sensory Biology
BIOL 338
Ichthyology (Breadth OR lab)
BIOL 340
Human Physiology
BIOL 346
Human Anatomy
BIOL 362
Principles of Developmental Biology
BIOL 373
Introduction to Neurobiology
BIOL 374
Neurobiology of Behavior (on hiatus)
BIOL 379
Transformative Animal Models in Modern Biology
BIOL 385
Seminar on Biological Processes in Learning and Cognition (on hiatus)
Population biology and ecology
BIOL 225
Evolution
BIOL 307
Evolutionary Biology of the Invertebrates (odd years only)
BIOL 336
Aquatic Biology
BIOL 351
Principles of Ecology
BIOL 358
Animal Behavior (Breadth OR lab)
BIOL 364
Research Methods in Evolutionary Biology (dept seminar)
BIOL 368
Topics in Evolutionary Biology (on hiatus)
BIOL 384
Reading and Writing Like an Ecologist
BIOL 394
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
Vertebrate Biology
BIOL 300
Dynamics of Biological Systems: A Quantitative Introduction to Biology
BIOL 301
Biotechnology Laboratory: Genes and Genetic Engineering
BIOL 304
Fitting Models to Data: Maximum Likelihood Methods and Model Selection
BIOL 305L
Herpetology
BIOL 309
Biology Field Studies (ecology in fall, genetics in spring)
BIOL 314
Taming the Tree of Life (lab and capstone)
BIOL 315
Quantitative Biology Laboratory
BIOL 318
Introductory Entomology
BIOL 321
Design and Analysis of Biological Experiments
BIOL 327
Functional Genomics
BIOL 338
Ichthyology (lab OR Breadth)
BIOL 339
Aquatic Biology Laboratory
BIOL 344
Laboratory for Microbiology
BIOL 345
Mammal Diversity and Evolution
BIOL 351L
Principles of Ecology Laboratory
BIOL 352
Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases
BIOL 353
Ecophysiology of Global Change
BIOL 358
Animal Behavior
BIOL 359
Genetic Basis of Behavior (on hiatus)
BIOL 363
Experimental Developmental Biology (on hiatus)
BIOL 373
Introduction to Neurobiology (breadth OR lab)
BIOL 376
Neurobiology Laboratory (on hiatus)
BIOL 377
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.