Humanities and Social Sciences - Berkeley Engineering
Skip to primary navigation
Students
Undergraduate Guide
Degree requirements
> Humanities and Social Sciences
Humanities and Social Sciences
To promote a rich and varied educational experience outside of the technical requirements for each major, the College of Engineering has a Humanities and Social Sciences (H/SS) breadth requirement built into all of the programs of study. Follow these guidelines to fulfill this requirement:
Complete a
minimum of 6 unique
H/SS courses.  For example, AGRS R44 can fulfill either R&C Part A, or R&C Part B, or a different lower-division H/SS requirement, but not all of those at the same time.
R&C parts A and B will count for 2 of the 6 courses.
Courses must be a
minimum of 3 semester units
(or 4 quarter units).
A maximum of 2 of the 6 H/SS courses may be met by AP, IB, or A-Level exam scores
. View the list of
exams
that can be applied toward H/SS requirements for reference.
At least
2 of the 6 H/SS courses must be upper-division
(courses numbered 100-196).
Courses may fulfill multiple categories across University, Campus, and College requirements
. For example, taking HISTORY 127AC will satisfy the American Cultures requirement and one of the upper-division H/SS course requirements (but students will still need to complete 6 total courses).
Not sure about your H/SS progress? Please check your Academic Progress Report (APR) in CalCentral.
Here’s a handy guide on how to use the APR
Learn what courses count.
How-To Guide: Find Humanities/Social Science (H/SS) Courses
Search the guide
Undergraduate Guide previous editions
Contact
Engineering Student Services
120 Grimes Engineering Center #1702
Berkeley, CA  94720-1702
(510) 642-7594
ess@berkeley.edu
In-person hours: Monday – Thursday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Restrictions (these classes/programs do not count)
No courses offered by an Engineering department may be used to complete an H/SS requirement
other than:
BIOENG 100,
COMPSCI C79,
ENGIN 125, ENGIN 157AC, ENGIN 184, ENGIN 185, or
MECENG 191K.
Courses numbered 97, 98, 99, or above 196 cannot be used
to complete the H/SS requirement.
The College of Engineering does not accept courses from the following L&S Breadth Lists
(unless the courses are simultaneously listed in a list we do accept (see above):
Physical Science
Biological Science
Students will not be granted any sort of H/SS fulfillment by going abroad in itself.
Though the College of Letters and Science allows students to fulfill their International Studies breadth requirement by full in-person participation in a UCEAP program, to fulfill an H/SS requirement in the College of Engineering, students must take a course from one of our own approved breadth categories (
see this section
).
Special topics courses of 3 semester units or more will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis
.  Please see your
ESS Adviser
in advance if you wish to use a special topics course.
2 of the 6 courses must fulfill the College’s
Reading and Composition (R&C)
requirement
These courses must be taken for a letter grade (C- or better required).
Please note that if you have not completed the
Entry Level Writing Requirement
, you must take
College Writing R1A (6 units)
at UC Berkeley in your first year and
earn a minimum grade of C or higher.
The first half (R&C Part A) must be completed by the end of your freshman year (before your 3rd semester); the second half (R&C Part B) must be completed by no later than the end of the sophomore year (before your 5th semester).
Students can use the
Class Schedule
to view R&C courses offered in a given semester.
Only R&C Part A can be fulfilled with an AP, IB, or A-Level exam score. Test scores do not fulfill R&C Part B for College of Engineering students.
The 4 additional courses
must be chosen from the following lists in the
Class Schedule
using the filters in the left sidebar, and can be taken on a pass/no pass basis (see restrictions below):
UC requirements:
American History and Institutions
(by passing with a grade of C- or better or P)
UC campus requirement
American Cultures
(must be at least 3 units and you must receive a grade of C- or better or P)
L&S Breadth Lists:
Arts & Literature
Historical Studies
International Studies
Philosophy & Values
Social & Behavioral Science
Approved foreign language courses
If students wish to take a lower division H/SS course at a California Community College (CCC), they should consult their ESS Adviser about which courses will count before they register at the other school. Please note that students are not allowed to take CCC courses in the fall or spring semesters if they are simultaneously enrolled in UC Berkeley courses.