School of Arts & Sciences
Welcome to the largest and most diverse school at St. Bonaventure University. With some 40 majors and minors, excellent faculty and multidisciplinary programs, we offer something for everyone.
We service most of the courses for the General Education curriculum and the Honors Program. In addition, all university students, regardless of the school in which they're enrolled, take many of their classes within our school.
Preparation for wherever that next step leads
Arts & Sciences is an excellent source for professional training for any number of careers and for graduate school preparation.
Students looking ahead to post-graduate study in the health care field may take advantage of the university’s Franciscan Health Care Professions Program, and our Center for Law and Society prepares our students for law school.
We develop programming that responds to changing societal demands and student interests. We offer bachelor's and master's degrees in the increasingly important and popular field of cybersecurity. We also offer an early assurance program in cybersecurity, guaranteeing qualified high school seniors placement in our master's program upon completion of their bachelor's degree.
William F. Walsh Science Center
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
Modern centers for the arts & sciences
State-of-the-art facilities not only accommodate student research, creativity and performance, but serve as regional hubs for student and community engagement.
The Walsh Science Center houses state-of-the-art computer science, laboratory and classroom space, biology labs, organic and general chemistry labs, a Natural World lab, a 150-seat indoor amphitheater, and faculty offices integrated with lab space for better student-teacher accessibility.
Walsh stands adjacent to stately De La Roche Hall, the oldest academic building on campus, which underwent an interior top-to-bottom renovation coinciding with the opening of Walsh. The buildings are connected on two floors by glass-enclosed walkways.
The Quick Center for the Arts, an architecturally unique structure located in the middle of campus, offers a rich cache of resources for academic instruction in the visual and performing arts.
The QCA houses a 321-seat theater, spacious art galleries and exhibit halls, instructional space, instrumental and vocal music rehearsal rooms and suites, classrooms, a musical instrument digital interface lab, among other offerings.
Quick Center for the Arts
Experiential learning: The Expo & much more
Our annual Arts & Sciences Exposition is a celebration of our students' exceptional research and creativity, and just one of many ways in which an Arts & Sciences education extends beyond the classroom at SBU.
Held each spring in the University Conference Center, the Expo is a popular two-day event that allows the campus community to review outstanding work of students mentored by faculty in the School of Arts & Sciences.
Experiential learning in the School of Arts & Sciences doesn't end with the Expo. Many of our academic programs require internships, mentored research or capstone projects. Others encourage public service, emphasizing the personal growth that comes from using your knowledge and talents to help others.
Here is a sampling of experiential learning opportunities within the School of Arts & Sciences:
- Biochemistry majors earn 4 credits for a year-long independent research project. As a senior capstone, each biochemistry major works with the program director to prepare and deliver an oral presentation of their own research. Students also present
their research findings at regional and international conferences, and coauthor peer-reviewed publications. See biochemistry student research
- Biology majors have the opportunity to participate in research with faculty members each semester, and the Borer Fellowship is a 10-week summer research experience in which students work in the lab with faculty researchers. See biology student research.
- As part of a required core curriculum course, students model the lives of Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi by volunteering with an agency or project that assists a marginalized population.
- English students may work on The Laurel, the student-run literary magazine; write, study and perform
poetry with the Chatterton's Poetry Club; or earn academic credit in an internship course.
- Sociology students volunteer at the Warming House, the student-run soup kitchen in Olean, to better understand issues related to social stratification. See sociology experiential learning.
Visit individual academic program websites for additional experiential learning opportunities.
Programs for area school students and teachers
The university hosts a number of annual events that foster interest in the arts and sciences among high school students across the region, and that aid the professional development of teachers in STEM fields.
Each spring, St. Bonaventure hosts a science fair for high school students in the Twin Tiers Region of southwestern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. Projects in biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, and other sciences are welcome.
Twin Tiers Regional Science Fair
This program, held each summer, is for high school sophomores and juniors interested in computer science and biology. Students explore career opportunities while working alongside SBU faculty on authentic research.
Student Research Program
This lab development workshop for K-12 math and science teachers, held each summer and led by faculty from the university's departments of biology, chemistry, physics, computer science and psychology, aims to bridge the gap between K-12 and college STEM education.
K-12 Science & Math Teacher Workshop
The Department of Computer Science hosts two exciting events to engage pre-college students in computer science: Girls Day, aimed at nurturing interest in computer science among middle school girls; and a programming contest for high school students.
Computer Science Outreach Programs
The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts conducts a number of fun and educational camps aimed at fostering children's creative and artistic talents and broadening their cultural horizons.
Quick Center for the Arts camps
Presented each year by the Quick Center for the Arts, this activity lets art teachers share best practices and presents them with new practices and techniques they can take back to their classrooms.
Art Teacher Professional Development Day
Female freshman pushes boundaries in male-dominated tech major
Feb 04, 2019
The St. Bonaventure University freshman class of 2018 was the largest in more than a decade, and now boasts 523 students. The ratio of men to women is almost exactly 1:1. Yet out of that 2018 freshman class, only two women declared a computer
science major.
Emma Fox is one of those women.
No stranger to forging her own path, Fox grew up in the rural community of Medina, New York, where her high school offered more classes on farming than it did on computers.
“I was very uninterested in farming and I loved computer labs,” she said. “I had one option to take a class with a programming focus. After that class I went on and took the advanced self-study course, but it was all over by
10th grade and there were no other courses I could take.”
Determined to continue learning, she began doing research at home and teaching herself everything she could. Although she never took another formal course on the subject, she was
sure she wanted to pursue a career in the tech industry and tailored her college search to schools with that focus.
It seemed destined she would attend a large tech school in a big city.
But at a family party,
she found herself chatting with her cousin, Alison Garlock, a current sophomore math major at Bona’s. After hearing how much Garlock loved the university, Fox decided to apply.
Two weeks later she received a letter saying not only
had she been accepted, but that she had been awarded the Friar’s Scholarship, which would cover half the tuition. Shortly thereafter, Fox visited the university in person.
“I was floored,” she said. “One of my
professors even hand wrote me a letter before I got there. By the end of the visit my mom told me that if she could do college again, she would choose St. Bonaventure herself.”
The personal, intimate feel ended up being the deciding
factor for Fox, who felt at a larger university she would not have the same accessibility to faculty as she does at Bona’s.
Although the culture of the university felt perfect, it did nothing to change the fact Fox was entering into a
major where she is the significant minority. But the resilience and work ethic she developed in high school from being in a similar situation has helped her succeed, and it has not gone unnoticed.
“Emma is a serious student who
keeps up with the material in the class,” said Dr. Steven Andrianoff, associate professor of computer science and chair of the department. “She has shown a willingness to work through challenges with the programming labs and other assignments.
It is this characteristic that will help her be successful.”
She is thankful the challenges in her past have continuously pushed her.
“In so many ways, my entire childhood helped me become a much stronger person,”
she said.
Back then and still today, Fox said she feels pressure to work harder than everyone else to prove to others, and herself, that she deserves to be in this field.
“Sometimes I feel like it shouldn’t
have to be that way,” she said. “But in the end, I know it is benefitting me because now I am not afraid to go after what I want, regardless of outside ideas.”
In many ways, Fox’s freshman year has mimicked her life.
“Most everything I have done has felt like an uphill battle,” she said. “But it has given me a voice and allowed me to speak out.”
She said that hearing something “can’t” be done only makes
her want to try harder to prove them wrong.
Yet at St. Bonaventure, Fox said there has been a shift. She said for once, she is no longer gaining motivation from resistance to her goals, but from the support she feels from every person she comes
in contact with.
“The community is incredible,” she said. “I can go to people and ask for help, or for collaborations. For so many projects, I can work with anyone that I want to. I’m not limited to what I can
do by myself. Everything feels open sourced and that is very valuable to me.”
Fox will continue to push for the causes that are close to her heart. But for the first time she has found a community who is willing to push with her.
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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, we believe in the goodness of every person and in the ability of every person to do extraordinary things. St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates
who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. Named the #5 best college value in the North by U.S. News
and World Report, we are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition.