School of Humanities, Languages, and Social Sciences

RIT’s School of Humanities, Languages, and Social Sciences prepares students to understand the complex relationships among people, cultures, technologies, and environments. Through interdisciplinary study and hands-on research, students develop the knowledge and perspective to address global challenges.

The School of Humanities, Languages, and Social Sciences examines the cultural, historical, social, technological, and environmental forces that shape our world. Bringing together expertise in history, modern languages, sociology, anthropology, and science, technology, and society, our programs prepare students to investigate complex questions from multiple perspectives.

Through interdisciplinary coursework and experiential learning—including ethnographic and archival research, archaeological fieldwork, language and cultural immersion, and community-engaged research—students develop the critical thinking, communication, intercultural, and research skills needed to navigate an interconnected and complex world.

Whether exploring the history of innovation, communicating across languages and cultures, examining the social impacts of science and technology, or studying inequality, sustainability, and cultural change, students learn to connect ideas across disciplines and apply their knowledge in meaningful and impactful ways. At RIT, they gain both the intellectual breadth and practical experience to thrive in careers that require curiosity, adaptability, and thoughtful engagement with a rapidly changing world.

4

Majors

Applied Modern Languages and Cultures BS, History BS, Museum Studies BS, and Sociology and Anthropology BS

44

Minors and Immersions

97

Students

Enrolled in majors offered by the School of Humanities, Language, and Social Science

Degree Programs

Undergraduate Degrees

Pair study of Chinese, French, Japanese, or Spanish language with a second major for careers in global arts, business, or science.

Learn more about the Applied Modern Language and Culture BS program

Master Chinese language and culture, and pair it with another major for global career opportunities in today’s dynamic economy.

Learn more about the Chinese Option program

Master French language and culture while pairing it with another major to prepare for a globally connected career.

Learn more about the French Option program

Immerse yourself in Japanese language and culture while pairing it with another major to launch a global career.

Learn more about the Japanese Option program

Learn Spanish language and culture, and pair it with another major to prepare for global careers in any field.

Learn more about the Spanish Option program

A history BS that prepares you not only to become a historian, but also to succeed in fields as diverse as business, education, government, journalism, law, and public service. 

Learn more about the History BS program

Learn how to curate and interpret collections for museums, archives, galleries, libraries, and public institutions.

Learn more about the Museum Studies BS program

RIT’s bachelor of science in sociology and anthropology focuses on understanding social and cultural complexity and diversity, with a commitment to the broader values of justice and human rights.

Learn more about the Sociology and Anthropology BS program

Minors and Immersions

44 minors and immersions are offered by the School of Humanities, Languages, and Social Sciences. Click and expand the areas below to read the full listings.

The history immersion provides students with intensive study within the discipline of history. Students may choose to structure their immersion broadly, by choosing a wide range of historical topics to study, or narrowly, by choosing a particular area to study, such as American, European, or Asian history.

Learn more about the History Immersion program

The history minor provides students with a foundation in the academic study of history. It serves as a complement to any professional degree, as historical study at the college level hones the skills that are important to any well-trained professional: namely, effective writing, critical analysis, engaged reading, and logical thinking. Students are free to shape the history minor to their liking, by choosing the geographic areas of historical study of most interest to them, such as American, European, or Asian, or by choosing the historical topic of most interest to them, such as transnational history, comparative history, war, business, race, or gender.

Learn more about the History Minor program

The immersion in museum studies introduces students to the history, theory, and practice of institutional collecting, exhibiting, storing, and preserving our cultural heritage in museums, archives, collections, galleries, and libraries. It also provides students with an introduction to public history, the technical investigation of art, the history and theory of exhibitions, and interactive design for museums.

Learn more about the Museum Studies Immersion program

The museum studies minor provides students with a foundation in the history and practice of the museum as an institution and in the history, theory, and practice of collecting, exhibiting, and preserving the cultural heritage that defines the purpose and function of the museum. Courses cover a wide range of topics that are relevant to contemporary museology: the history of museums and collecting, the technical study of art and materials, the history and theory of exhibitions, interactive design, public history, the rise of the museum profession, legal and ethical concerns, and conservation.

Learn more about the Museum Studies Minor program

The ASL and Deaf Cultural Studies immersion prepares students in the multi-disciplinary study of American Sign Language and Deaf Culture. Open to hearing and deaf students, courses address topics in the field of ASL and Deaf Cultural Studies, including the study of ASL and its structure, ASL literature, literature in English pertaining to the Deaf experience, the history of Deaf people in the U.S. and around the world, Deaf art and cinema, the experience of Deaf people from racial, ethnic, and other underrepresented groups, intersectionality, oppression in the lives of Deaf people, and various political, legal, and educational issues affecting members of Deaf communities.

Learn more about the American Sign Language and Deaf Cultural Studies Immersion program

The American Sign Language and deaf cultural studies minor prepares students in the multidisciplinary study of American Sign Language and deaf culture. The minor is open to hearing and deaf students enrolled in all bachelor's degree programs. Courses in the minor address topics in the field of ASL and deaf cultural studies including the study of ASL and its structure, ASL literature, literature in English pertaining to the D/deaf experience, the history of D/deaf people in America and around the world, Deaf art and cinema, the experience of D/deaf people from racial, ethnic, and other minority groups, oppression in the lives D/deaf people, and various political, legal, and educational issues affecting members of the D/deaf community. The minor complements majors in fields such as business, imaging arts and sciences, health sciences, policy studies, professional and technical communication, psychology, and numerous scientific and technical fields.

Learn more about the American Sign Language and Deaf Cultural Studies Minor program

The language science immersion prepares students in the interdisciplinary scientific study and analysis of human language. Language science is directly applicable to students interested in computing and media, human-computer interaction, brain and cognition, language acquisition, human health, interpreting, relevant branches of engineering, and policy studies. Students can complete the immersion irrespective of their skills in languages other than English. Besides a core course on linguistic principles, students choose electives covering the technology of language, philosophy of language, and language in culture and society. Electives allow students to customize the immersion to their interests and needs, with the support of a faculty adviser.

Learn more about the Language Science Immersion program

The language science minor prepares students for the study and analysis of human language. The minor is directly applicable to students interested in computing and media, human-computer interaction, brain and cognition, language acquisition, human health, interpreting, relevant branches of engineering, and policy studies. Students can complete the minor requirements irrespective of their skills in languages other than English. Electives allow students to customize the minor to their interests and needs, with the support of a faculty adviser. The minor is an excellent complement to majors such as computer science, game design, information technology, psychology, sign language interpreting, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, bioengineering, science, or a foreign language.

Learn more about the Language Science Minor program

The Latino/Latina/Latin American studies immersion allows students to study Latino or Latin American culture. The goal is to introduce students to the customs and culture (history, art, literature, politics, anthropology, music) of Latin America or of Latinos in the U.S. Students become aware of the relationship between language and culture, and of the differences between their own language and culture and those of Spanish-speaking countries or Brazil.

Learn more about the Latino/Latina/Latin American Studies Immersion program

The Latino/Latina/Latin American studies minor provides at least two full years of instruction to prepare students for living and working within an intercultural society both at home and abroad. The minor's five courses foster cultural, or linguistic and cultural, proficiency. Part of the minor requirements may be taken abroad.

Learn more about the Latino/Latina/Latin American Studies Minor program

This immersion introduces students to the language, customs, and cultural aspects (history, art, literature, politics, anthropology, and music) of Arabic-speaking countries. The immersion consists of three language courses or two language courses and one culture course. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor adviser for placement evaluation before they register for language courses.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Arabic Immersion program

This minor provides two full years of modern language and culture instruction to prepare students for living and working within an intercultural society both at home and abroad. The minor consists of five courses, either five language courses or a combination of language courses with up to two culture courses. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor adviser for placement evaluation before they register. Part of the requirements for this minor can be fulfilled by courses taken abroad.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Arabic Minor program

This immersion introduces students to the language, customs, and cultural aspects (history, art, literature, politics, anthropology, and music) of Chinese-speaking countries. The immersion consists of three language courses or two language courses and one culture course. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor adviser for placement evaluation before they register.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Chinese Immersion program

This minor provides two full years of modern language and culture instruction to prepare students for living and working within an intercultural society both at home and abroad. The minor consists of five courses, either five language courses or a combination of language courses with up to two culture courses. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor adviser for placement evaluation before they register. Part of the requirements for this minor can be fulfilled by courses taken abroad.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Chinese Minor program

This immersion introduces students to the language, customs, and cultural aspects (history, art, literature, politics, anthropology, and music) of French-speaking countries. The immersion consists of three language courses or two language courses and one culture course. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor adviser for placement evaluation before they register.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – French Immersion program

This minor provides two full years of modern language and culture instruction to prepare students for living and working within an intercultural society both at home and abroad. The minor consists of five courses, either five language courses or a combination of language courses with up to two culture courses. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor adviser for placement evaluation before they register. Part of the requirements for this minor can be fulfilled by courses taken abroad.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – French Minor program

This immersion introduces students to the language, customs, and cultural aspects (history, art, literature, politics, anthropology, and music) of German-speaking countries. The immersion consists of three language courses or two language courses and one culture course. Students with previous language skills will begin the language courses at their current level of proficiency as determined by a placement test.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – German Immersion program

This minor provides two full years of modern language and culture instruction to prepare students for living and working within an intercultural society both at home and abroad. The minor consists of five courses, either five language courses or a combination of language courses with up to two culture courses. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor adviser for placement evaluation before they register. Part of the requirements for this minor can be fulfilled by courses taken abroad.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – German Minor program

This immersion introduces students to the language, customs, and cultural aspects (history, art, literature, politics, anthropology, and music) of Italy. The immersion consists of three language courses or two language courses and one culture course. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor adviser for placement evaluation before they register.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Italian Immersion program

This minor provides two full years of modern language and culture instruction to prepare students for living and working within an intercultural society both at home and abroad. The minor consists of five courses, either five language courses or a combination of language courses with up to two culture courses. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor adviser for placement evaluation before they register. Part of the requirements for this minor can be fulfilled by courses taken abroad.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Italian Minor program

This immersion introduces students to the language, customs, and cultural aspects (history, art, literature, politics, anthropology, and music) of Japan. The immersion consists of three language courses or two language courses and one culture course. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor advisor for placement evaluation before they register.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Japanese Immersion program

This minor provides two full years of modern language and culture instruction to prepare students for living and working within an intercultural society both at home and abroad. The minor consists of five courses, either five language courses or a combination of language courses with up to two culture courses. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor adviser for placement evaluation before they register. Part of the requirements for this minor can be fulfilled by courses taken abroad.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Japanese Minor program

This immersion introduces students to the language, customs, and cultural aspects (history, art, literature, politics, anthropology, and music) of Russia and Russian-speaking countries of the world. The immersion consists of three language courses or two language courses and one culture course. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor advisor for placement evaluation before they register.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Russian Immersion program

This minor provides two full years of modern language and culture instruction to prepare students for living and working within an intercultural society both at home and abroad. The minor consists of five courses, either five language courses or a combination of language courses with up to two culture courses. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor advisor for placement evaluation before they register. Part of the requirements for this minor can be fulfilled by courses taken abroad.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Russian Minor program

This immersion introduces students to the language, customs, and cultural aspects (history, art, literature, politics, anthropology, and music) of Spain and Spanish-speaking countries. The immersion consists of three language courses or two language courses and one culture course. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor adviser for placement evaluation before they register.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Spanish Immersion program

This minor provides two full years of modern language and culture instruction to prepare students for living and working within an intercultural society both at home and abroad. The minor consists of five courses, either five language courses or a combination of language courses with up to two culture courses. Students with previous language skills must consult the minor advisor for placement evaluation before they register. Part of the requirements for this minor can be fulfilled by courses taken abroad.

Learn more about the Modern Languages and Cultures – Spanish Minor program

The AI in society immersion introduces students to the study of how artificial intelligence and related algorithmic technologies are both reshaping, and being shaped by, society. Using real-world cases and insights from science and technology studies, the humanities, and social sciences, students will explore a wide range of AI applications in the context of historical, social, cultural, ethical, policy, and environmental perspectives in order to analyze AI’s ubiquitous, transformative, and disruptive integration into modern life.

Learn more about the AI in Society Immersion program

The AI in society minor enables students to explore how artificial intelligence and related algorithmic technologies are reshaping, and being shaped by, society. Using real-world cases and insights from science and technology studies, the humanities, and social sciences, students will explore a wide range of AI applications in the context of historical, social, cultural, ethical, policy, and environmental perspectives in order to analyze AI’s ubiquitous, transformative, and disruptive integration into modern life.

Learn more about the AI in Society Minor program

The environmental studies immersion is an examination of the basic environmental problems we face, how environmental resource depletion and energy issues are related, and what kind of environmental ethics and/or values we have today and have had in the past. The immersion also explores the economic, legislative, and regulatory framework within which most environmental decisions are made. Since most technological areas are associated with significant environmental implications, it is essential that students have an understanding of and a well-thought-out value orientation about such environmental consequences.

Learn more about the Environmental Studies Immersion program

With an emphasis on sustainability and holistic thinking, the environmental studies minor provides students with opportunities for the in-depth analysis of global and regional environmental issues, their causes, and their potential solutions. In particular, a required 500-level seminar serves as a capstone experience, helping students to integrate knowledge from several disciplinary perspectives, including socio-cultural, historical, political, economic, ethical, scientific, and/or technological factors. Having completed the minor, students will possess a high level of environmental literacy, an important component of many professional fields within the sciences, engineering, law, journalism, and public affairs.

Learn more about the Environmental Studies Minor program

The science, technology, and society immersion examines some of the major impacts of science and technology in the contemporary world. Special preference is given to American concerns. Students gain an overall appreciation of the social nature of science and technology as they have developed in the past, as they exist today, and as they may affect society in the future under various scenarios. Science and technology have become social systems in their own right and have made possible increasing freedom, a fantastic variety of choice, and, paradoxically, the growing interdependence of all segments of world society. A new level of public awareness and concern is crucial to understanding and dealing successfully with these consequences.

Learn more about the Science, Technology, and Society Immersion program

This minor integrates the studies of human society, science, and technology in their social content and context. The minor bridges the humanities and social sciences to provide better understanding of the ways in which science, technology, and society are mutually interacting forces in our world. Students learn how to analyze the social institutions, the built environment, and their role in creating them. This minor enhances a student’s ability to contribute to the development of science and technology in ways that are historically, culturally, and ethically informed.

Learn more about the Science, Technology, and Society Minor program

The immersion in American Indian and indigenous studies enhances students’ knowledge of the unique heritage of American Indian and indigenous peoples and their relationships with people from other communities and nations. This enhanced understanding is grounded in the study of the histories, collective memories, cultures, and languages of American Indian and indigenous peoples, and the representations, stereotypes, and pertinent laws and policies governing their lives. Immersion courses emphasize indigenous ways of knowing and learning in the past and present in the Americas and across the globe.

Learn more about the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Immersion program

The minor in anthropology and sociology offers disciplinary insights on understanding human social life, both from local and global perspectives. Through anthropology we discover and appreciate the diversity of other cultural systems on a global scale. Through sociology we discover how our own lives are influenced by social relationships around us. Careful selection of courses provides insights into a wide range of topics such as human history and prehistory through archaeology, gender and sexuality, race, ethnicity, social class, inequality, health, urban life and cities, cultural images and mass media, war and violence, social movements, social and cultural change, and globalization.

Learn more about the Anthropology and Sociology Minor program

Archaeology is the study of the human past by means of the physical residues of past human behavior: for example, pottery, stone, and metal tools, and the remains of ancient dwelling sites. An archaeologist explains how human society has changed and developed over time using such physical evidence. Archaeology employs techniques from the physical sciences to build a more detailed picture of the human past. Students explore the worlds of the past through hands-on applications of physical science techniques in a diverse range of fields, including chemistry, metallurgy, biology, and material science, applying these disciplines in a novel and challenging context.

Learn more about the Archaeology Immersion program

Archaeology is the study of the human past, principally by means of the physical residue of past human behavior. Archaeological science is the application of techniques from the physical sciences to research problems in archaeology and related disciplines. Over the past six decades archaeological science has provided powerful tools for understanding the past, ranging from absolute dating to bone chemistry. It has become an established sub-field within the discipline of archaeology, which itself has grown during the same period from a discipline largely focused on cultural history (the use of artifacts to reconstruct regional cultural sequences) and the validation of documentary history to the explanation of the processes of cultural change in the past.

Learn more about the Archaeology Minor program

The interdisciplinary immersion in Black studies examines the social construction of racial differences and its relation to the perpetuation of racism and racial domination. A key component of this immersion is to investigate the meanings and dimensions of Blackness that reverberate from slavery and colonialism to the persistent political, social, and cultural implications of racialization in the 21st century. The immersion emphasizes how Blackness intersects with other ethnic identities and how it is shaped by gender, sexuality, and economic inequities. The aim is to refine and advance students’ knowledge of Black life-worlds and experiences across the globe. 

Learn more about the Black Studies Immersion program

Examine the social construction of racial differences and their relation to the perpetuation of racism and racial domination. A key component of this minor is an investigation of the meanings and dimensions of blackness that reverberate from slavery and colonialism to the persistent political, social, and cultural implications in the 21st century. The minor emphasizes how blackness intersects with other ethnic identities and how it is shaped by gender, sexuality, and economic inequities. The aim is to refine and advance students’ knowledge of black life-worlds and experiences across the globe.

Learn more about the Black Studies Minor program

Cultural anthropology is the study of culture, past and present, from a worldwide comparative perspective. As a disciplinary field, cultural anthropology attempts to provide insights on how human beings across the globe live and work and shape their cultural world in families, cities, societies, ethnic groups, nations, and networked solidarities through ideas, ideologies, beliefs, and values or world views. One of the goals of cultural anthropology is to promote understanding among peoples—an increasingly important venture in our vastly interconnected world communities.

Learn more about the Cultural Anthropology Immersion program

The impact of global change is dramatic and far-reaching, altering the dynamics of everyday life on a planetary scale. The minor in globalization provides students with the opportunity to think creatively about a range of globalizing processes, theories, and practices (in cultural, political, social, biomedical, economic, and artistic contexts). Courses investigate issues pertinent to the phenomenon of globalization, including cultural exchange; multicultural communities; global governance; information transfer; and social, environmental, health, and labor issues. Accelerated by communication technologies, globalization redefines how individuals and communities experience and view the world.

Learn more about the Globalization Minor program

This immersion in health, culture, and society focuses on the shifting configurations of health and culture in a globalizing world. Health beliefs, including notions about bodily integrity or emotional well-being, illness causation, and diagnostic practices, and the experiences, expressions, and treatments of human ailments unfold in concrete cultural contexts. Every society has some form of health care system, which is minimally administered by community members or specialized practitioners. By moving beyond the lens of western biomedicine, the immersion provides students with a set of tools for analyzing the impact of culture on how health care is delivered, how health symptoms are interpreted and communicated by patients and health providers, and how costs for treatment are calculated and managed in relation to perceived benefits. Courses examine the interrelation between health and culture from a number of perspectives and contexts, including the cultural realities within which bodies are meaningfully constituted or in some cases enhanced by technology, the culture-specific communicative or representational health practices, the socially constituted experiences of trauma, death, suffering, and healing, and the various culturally mediated approaches to health care costs and remedies.

Learn more about the Health, Culture, and Society Immersion program

All societies have some cultural ideas and belief systems about health and wellness. Culture shapes our understanding of bodily processes. Because of the significant influence of culture on perceptions and experiences of health and wellness, this minor thematizes the shifting cultural configurations of health in a globalizing world. Culturally grounded health and illness concepts, including notions about bodily integrity or emotional well-being, cultural models of illness causation and diagnostic practices, and the experiences, expressions, and treatments of human ailments unfold in concrete socio-cultural contexts. The courses in this minor provide an enhanced cultural understanding about health experiences in different parts of the world.

Learn more about the Health, Culture, and Society Minor program

The immersion in sociology provides insights into the interactions between individuals and the major social forces shaping their lives. Students will learn sociology’s perspectives and methods and use them to explain how society is possible, to examine various social problems, and to assess collective efforts for social change.

Learn more about the Sociology Immersion program

In the 21st century, narratives transcend traditional boundaries and come to life across various platforms. Transmedia storytelling is an innovative approach that has gained significant prominence in the digital age, extending a narrative universe beyond a single medium, allowing the story to exist and evolve through various channels such as film, television, books, graphic novels, video games, social media, augmented reality, and more. This immersion introduces students to the concept of transmedia storytelling and teaches the application of the concept to a range of media, including film, creative writing, screenplays, theater, and more. Students will take ITDL/DHSS-500 first (or synchronously with other immersion courses) and then choose from the remaining optional electives. This immersion will appeal to students from the colleges of Liberal Arts, Art and Design, Computing and Information Sciences (including game design), as well as other colleges. The immersion can be completed either at RIT's main campus, off-site in Los Angeles (as part of the Study Away: LA program), or at one of RIT's global campuses.

Learn more about the Transmedia Storytelling and Entertainment Immersion program

In the 21st century, narratives transcend traditional boundaries and come to life across various platforms. Transmedia storytelling is an innovative approach that has gained significant prominence in the digital age, extending a narrative universe beyond a single medium, allowing the story to exist and evolve through various channels such as film, television, books, graphic novels, video games, social media, augmented reality, and more. This minor builds on the immersion in transmedia storytelling and entertainment and allows students to apply the concept of transmedia storytelling to a range of media in two additional courses, including film, creative writing, screenplays, museums, theater, and more. This minor will appeal to students from the colleges of Art and Design, Computing and Information Sciences (including game design), as well as other colleges. The minor can be completed either at RIT's main campus, off-site in Los Angeles, or at select global campuses.

Learn more about the Transmedia Storytelling and Entertainment Minor program

Metropolitan areas must address such enduring issues as poverty, homelessness, affordable housing, transportation, pollution, education, water and food security, health, crime, safety, recreation, zoning, segregation, ethno-racial tensions, and economic development. Each city must do so with recognition of its place in the wider regional, national, and global contexts. The urban studies immersion helps students identify and analyze such fundamental issues and allows them to explore and assess various ways policy-makers respond to those issues.

Learn more about the Urban Studies Immersion program

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