Last Updated on December 20, 2022

Minors

Undergraduate students have the option to minor in any major discipline, or choose from the list of unique interdepartmental minors listed below.

American Studies Minor

Arabic Language and Culture Minor

Asian Studies Minor

Business of Digital Media Minor

Community Planning Minor

Forensic Science Minor

Geography Minor

Gerontology Minor

Global Water Resources Minor

Hunger Studies Minor

International Development Minor

International Relations Minor

Japanese Language and Culture Minor

Justice, Law, and Society Minor

Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies

Leadership Studies MinorLinguistics Minor

Medieval Studies Minor

New England Studies Minor

Nonviolence and Peace Studies Minor

Oceanography Minor

Restoration Science and Management Minor

Social Justice and Civic Responsibilities Minor

Special Populations Minor

Statistical Science Minor

Sustainability Minor

Thanatology Minor

Underwater Archaeology Minor

Minor Fields of Study

Undergraduate students may declare a “minor” field of study. A minor is a secondary concentration of courses. Requirements may be satisfied by: (1) completion of 18 or more credits of any of the approved interdepartmental minors; or (2) completion of 18 or more credits of related studies offered by one or more departments or programs and sponsored by a faculty member competent in the minor field of study. 

Requirements for Choosing and Declaring a Minor

To declare a minor, a student must have the approval of the department chairperson of the minor field of study (or faculty sponsor in option 2 of the paragraph above) and the student’s academic dean. Application for the minor must be filed in the academic dean’s office no later than the beginning of the student’s final semester or term, but may be filed as early as the first semester of the junior year. Filing for a minor earlier than the junior year is subject to approval by the student’s degree-granting college. Non-business students wishing to obtain a departmental minor in the College of Business should expect to take the six courses required for that minor over a period of two years. Admission to the minor in Business is on a space-available basis and therefore not guaranteed.

Requirements for Completing a Minor

To complete a minor, a minimum grade point average of 2.00 must be earned in the minor courses, and at least 12 of the 18 credits must be at the 200 level or above. At least eight of the credits required for the minor must be earned at the University of Rhode Island. Courses used to fulfill General education requirements may also be used for the minor. Up to two courses required in a major program may be used to apply to both the major and minor fields of study. Minor courses may not be taken on a pass-fail basis. The requirements for the minor must be completed prior to graduation. Upon graduation, successful completion of a minor is noted on the student’s official transcript. Graduates who have earned an undergraduate degree with a minor from URI and who are then readmitted to the University to pursue an alternate major or degree, may apply for that purpose all credits earned in pursuit of the previous minor field of study. 

Descriptions of approved departmental minors and their specific requirements may be found in the departmental sections of this catalog.

Descriptions of approved interdepartmental minors may be found below. For more information about minors available within each field of study, visit the website or contact the dean’s office of the relevant college.

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Interdepartmental Minors

• Africana Studies
• American Studies
• Arabic Language and Culture
• Asian Studies
• Business Analytics and Intelligence Minor
• Business of Digital Media
• Community Planning
• Comparative Literature Studies
• Film Media
• Forensic Science
• Gender and Women’s Studies
• Geography
• Gerontology
• Global Water Resources
• Hunger Studies
• Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship
• International Development
• International Relations
• Japanese Language and Culture
• Justice, Law, and Society
• Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies
• Leadership Studies
• Linguistics
• Medieval Studies
• New England Studies
• Nonviolence and Peace Studies
• Oceanography
• Public Relations
• Restoration Science and Management
• Social Justice and Civic Responsibilities
• Special Populations
• Sports Media and Communication
• Statistical Science
• Sustainability
• Thanatology (Death, Dying, Bereavement and Loss)*
• Underwater Archaeology
• Work, Labor, and Social Justice*
• Writing

* Program is not accepting applicants. Search uri.edu/programs to learn if the field of study is available under a different program.