About the individualized concentration
The Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences is designed to meet your unique needs—including the ability to design your own degree concentration to develop the knowledge and skills you need to fulfill your life goals and career ambitions. While most BAAS degree concentrations are interdisciplinary, combining areas of study to encourage greater complexity and flexibility as you explore your interests, the Individualized Studies concentration goes a step further. With input from your academic advisor, you can combine courses from any three certificates or course blocks for a highly personalized learning experience.
Courses
Students in the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree will choose a concentration to tailor their undergraduate education to specific personal and professional goals. Courses within each concentration may be taken in any order, unless prerequisites are specified.
Students must complete foundational courses for the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences degree. In addition, students in the Individualized Studies degree concentration can work with an academic advisor to focus their studies toward any three certificates or course blocks; complete four courses in each of your selected course blocks for a total of 12 courses (12 c.u.*).
Course options
Take four courses from any three of the following course blocks:
- Applied Positive Psychology
- Cinema
- Classics
- Climate Change
- Creative Writing
- Data Analytics
- English Literature
- Global Studies
- Leadership and Communication
- Mathematical Sciences
- Music Studies
- Neuroscience
- Organizational Anthropology
- Professional Writing
- Religion and Culture
- Social Sciences
Students completing certain course blocks while enrolled in the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) degree are awarded a certificate upon completion of the degree.
- Applied Positive Psychology Certificate
- Climate Change Certificate
- Creative Writing Certificate
- Data Analytics Certificate
- Leadership and Communication Certificate
- Neuroscience Certificate
- Organizational Anthropology Certificate
- Professional Writing Certificate
Courses are subject to change.
*Academic credit is defined by the University of Pennsylvania as a course unit (c.u.). A course unit (c.u.) is a general measure of academic work over a period of time, typically a term (semester or summer). A c.u. (or a fraction of a c.u.) represents different types of academic work across different types of academic programs and is the basic unit of progress toward a degree. One c.u. is usually converted to a four-semester-hour course.
Certificates related to Individualized Studies
See your advisor to explore earning certificates along with your degree. Your advisor will help ensure that your approved study plan also meets the academic requirements of your preferred certificate(s).
