Students and faculty are expected to familiarize themselves with our institutional academic policies.
Students will find the Academic Support page ↗︎ on the Student Hub ↗︎ particularly helpful. Faculty ought to also refer to RISD’s Policies and Procedures Library ↗︎.  The Registrar’s Website ↗︎ offers a host of resources and links, including information on RISD/Brown Cross-registration ↗︎ and transfer credit ↗︎.

Below, please find academic policies specific to the Division of Liberal Arts. For further inquiries please contact the division office.

▪︎ All first-year students must be registered for fifteen credits in both fall and spring unless they have permission to take a reduced course load from the Dean of Experimental & Foundation Studies.

▪︎ HPSS-S101 Topics in History, Philosophy, and the Social Sciences; LAS-E101 First Year Literature Seminar; and THAD-H101 Theory and History of Art and Design and THAD-H102 Theory and History of Art and Design II are required for graduation for all undergraduates, including transfers. There are no waivers for these courses, except for transfer students who have taken an equivalent college course.

Transfer Credits:

Credits in Liberal Arts are granted for courses in the humanities (history, art history and criticism, literary studies and writing, classics, philosophy, religious studies, theater studies, performance studies); the natural sciences; foreign languages; mathematics and computer science; and the social sciences (anthropology, economics, geography, political science, psychology, sociology, etc.), as well as for interdisciplinary courses involving any of those disciplines (e.g., area studies, women’s studies).

After matriculation, students must complete a Prior Approval Form before registering for any courses at other institutions, either domestically or abroad.

Questions regarding transfer of Liberal Arts credits should be addressed to Gail Hughes in the Division of Liberal Arts, College Building, Room 418, located at 236 Benefit Street. Telephone: 401 454-6572 or 401 454-6570.

▪︎ The division does not accept courses in athletics, dance, instruction in musical instruments and/or musical performance, methods and practicum courses in education, business and secretarial training, computer applications, or extracurricular activities for liberal arts credit. Courses in education and business are only acceptable if they are taught from a humanities or social science point of view. Non-visual art studio courses (e.g., music, dance) and academic courses that do not count as liberal arts credit may be counted as “non-major electives,” but you need to see your Department Head for permission.