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.
- Master of Science in Cybersecurity
The Master of Science in Cybersecurity, available 100% online, presents a cutting-edge curriculum that prepares you to protect businesses and individuals from malicious cyber attacks and data theft.
- Master of Social Work
The online Master of Social Work – Traditional Track program gives you the clinical knowledge to compassionately empower individuals and families so they can reach their full potential. The traditional track of this program is designed for students without a social work degree looking to further their career or seek a meaningful new career, as a clinically licensed social worker.
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
Presented by the Quick Center for the Arts, our gallery tours, music and dance masterclasses, juried exhibitions for school-age artists, and activities delivered to area schools by our traveling Artmobile are among the activities available.
Art Teacher Professional Development Day
Nov 26, 2024 | St. Bonaventure University’s Music program will ring in the holiday season with a Christmas concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, on campus.
Nov 25, 2024 | Ed. Simone, former longtime professor and director of the theater program at St. Bonaventure University, will perform his masterful one-man show “A Christmas Carol, A Retelling by Ed. Simone” at SBU’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8.
Nov 23, 2024 | Dr. Kathryn Caliva Smart, assistant professor of History, spent a portion of last summer at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C., working on her current book project: "Speaking about Gods: Mythic Knowledge and Narrative Authority in Greek Lyric Poetry."
The CHS is a research institute under the auspices of Harvard University that supports research on all aspects of ancient Greece. Caliva Smart's term as a Hellenic studies fellow at the center continues through May 2025.