Medicine, Science, and the Humanities Major > Undergraduate > Pre Fall-2021 Major Requirements

These requirements apply to any student who entered Johns Hopkins University before fall 2021.

Introductory Level

  • Introductory (100-level) course in Medicine, Science, and Humanities (AS.145.)
  • One additional Humanities course focusing on scientific and medical texts
    • Examples: History of Medicine, History of Modern Medicine, Bioethics
    • Other courses may apply with approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies

Required Core Humanities Courses

  • At least 4 courses totaling at least 12 credits in one pre-approved humanities department or program Under approved humanities departments:
  • 6 credits must be at the 300-level or higher
  • Approved humanities departments: Anthropology, Classics, English, Modern Languages and Literatures, History, History of Art, History of Science and Technology, Islamic Studies Program, Near Eastern Studies, Philosophy, and the Writing Seminars

Foreign Language

  • Through the intermediate level (second year at the college-level)

Additional Courses in the Sciences and the Humanities

  • At least 6 courses totaling 18 credits in sciences and humanities; at least 2 of these courses must be in the humanities and at least 2 must be science courses. Of the 6 courses, 4 must be at the 200-level or higher.

MSH Honors

MSH Honors is an option to juniors with a minimum GPA of 3.50 in the MSH major. Honors projects are a one-semester endeavor, typically aiming toward an original thesis paper (or equivalent scholarly or creative work) approximately 20-25 pages in length, whose topic is closely related to the student’s humanities core area. Thesis projects may be supervised by a faculty member in the student’s core area or by another faculty member with expertise relevant to the topic. In either case, the supervisory/mentoring role will be by arrangement between the student, MSH advisors, and the faculty member being solicited. All topics and supervisors are to be approved by the DUS. Juniors interested in the MSH Honors option must apply with the program director before fall of their senior year. The application requires development of an approved research proposal with an accompanying mentorship plan.

While writing the thesis, students may enroll in the MSH Independent Research course (AS 145.510 in the Fall and AS 145.511 in the Spring, 1-3 credits). These credits are taken in addition to the 12 credits of the normal major requirements and do not count as an elective or advanced course.