Information about Course Requirements

American Cultures Requirement

Students who entered Berkeley in Fall Semester 1991 or thereafter in lower division standing (as a freshman or sophomore with 0-55 transferable semester units) and all students who entered in Fall Semester 1993 or thereafter must satisfy the American Cultures breadth requirement in order to graduate. You satisfy the requirement by passing, with a grade of not lower than C- or P, an American Cultures course. You can take an American Cultures course any time during your undergraduate career at Berkeley. If you have questions about your responsibility to satisfy the American Cultures breadth requirement, please see your academic adviser. American Cultures courses offered this semester are listed on their website.

Note to Seniors: When you meet with your college advisers, be sure they check that you have satisfied the American Cultures requirement. You should also check your record yourself by using Bear Facts. Your Degree Audit Report (DARS, accessible via Bear Facts) will also indicate whether or not you have satisfied the requirement. (See "System-Generated Reports" at the bottom of the DARS report.)

American History and Institutions Requirement

UC Berkeley courses that fulfill the AH&I requirements are limited to History 7A or 7B for the American History requirement and Political Science 1 for the American Institutions requirement. (Note: Political Science 100 does not satisfy either requirement.) Before taking any of these courses to fulfill these requirements, contact your college advisor to make sure you have not already fulfilled them. Other options for fulfilling the requirements include certain transferable course taken at other colleges. For more information, click here.

Reading and Composition Courses

The campus has added additional Reading and Composition (R&C) courses to ensure that students can satisfy the requirement before entering their junior year. Beginning Fall 2012, the campus will restrict access to R&C to lower division students.  Don’t delay in satisfying this important requirement.  For more information see the R&C FAQs.

You need to have satisfied the University of California Entry Level Writing Requirement (formerly the Subject A requirement) (see below) before you can enroll in a course that meets the Reading and Composition Requirement.

R&C courses can be selected from the following list. Not all these courses, however, may be offered in a particular semester; consult the Schedule of Classes to check whether a specific R&C course is being offered or not. Note also that not all these courses may be accepted by your particular college or school; consult your college or school for regulations governing completion of this requirement before requesting a specific course. For a brief description of each course, see the General Catalog.

African American Studies R1A, R1B
Asian American Studies R2A, R2B
Celtic Studies R1A, R1B
Comparative Literature R1A, R1B, H1A, H1B, R2A, R2B, R3A, R3B, N1A, N1B
English R1A, R1B, N1A, N1B, R50
Film Studies R1A, R1B
French R1A
German R5A, R5B
History R1
History of Art R1B
Italian R5A, R5B
L & S R44
Linguistics R6 (must be taken concurrently with or after Linguistics 5, 11, 16, 21, 51, 52, 55, or 100)
Native American Studies R1A, R1B
Near Eastern Studies R1A, R1B, R2A, R2B
Rhetoric R1A, R1B, N1A, N1B
Scandinavian R5A, R5B
Slavic R5A, R5B, R37W
South and Southeast Asian Studies R5A, R5B
South Asian R5A, R5B
Theater R1A, R1B
Women's Studies R1A, R1B, R20W

Note that College Writing 1A satisfies the UC Entry Level Writing requirement and the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement (R&C 1A).

UC Entry Level Writing Requirement (formerly the Subject A Requirement)

If you have not satisfied the UC Entry Level Writing requirement, you should enroll in College Writing 1A during your first or second semester. You will not be able to enroll in College Writing 1A or any courses that require satisfaction of the UC Entry Level Writing requirement until you have taken the Analytical Writing Placement Examination, which can be taken only once. For more information, contact the College Writing Programs office at 112 Wheeler Hall, 510-642-5570.