Visit Arts & Sciences

The College of Arts & Sciences (A&S) encompasses four overarching areas — Fine Arts, Humanities, Math & Science and Social Sciences.

Study everything from Languages to Psychology, Mathematics to Music, and Art & Design to the natural sciences — Biology, Chemistry, Physics & Astrophysics. And, of course, a whole lot more.

Learn How to Customize Your Path at UND

Learn about the many opportunities to make a UND degree journey specific to your goals and dreams. 

• Accelerated undergraduate-graduate/professional degree paths that save time and money
• Choosing, switching, and adding a major, minor, or certificate helps to stand out
• Internships and experiential learning for a head start on the future

Schedule a Visit

UND offers in-person and online visit options. Pre-registration is required.

PLAN YOUR A&S VISIT

Admitted Student Days

UND hosts admitted high school seniors for Admitted Student Day each spring. This is a chance for prospective students to check out the campus, ask questions to current students, and even get hands-on experience in a class of their potential major. Join an Admitted Student Day to learn more about UND!

Find where to meet each department on the Arts & Sciences Admitted Student Day webpage. 

Tour the Academic Areas

While on campus, see the learning spaces in areas of interest outlined below. Walking campus is a great option, or use the Campus Shuttle UND Red Route to get closer to a building of choice. For reference, each building name below links to the interactive campus map.

Hughes Fine Arts Center

Red Route Stop 11

Hughes Fine Arts Center is the home of Art & Design and Music. It’s one of the liveliest spaces on campus with students always practicing, creating, and performing. Find 35,000 square feet of studios for drawing, painting, and photography classes, woodcraft and welding rooms, ceramics and metalsmithing, a graphic design lab, and indoor and outdoor kilns. Check out The Mural by the art department and the American Indian Leaders of Distinction exhibit in the Anna Mae Hughes Gallery. On the music side of the building, see small practice rooms open to students, ensembles and choirs collaborating, and the Josephine Campbell Recital Hall for recording and performing. Many music performances also take place in the Chester Fritz Auditorium.

Burtness Theatre

Red Route Stop 5

Burtness Theatre hosts several dramatic and musical theatre productions put on by the students and faculty of the Theatre Arts department each year. An example of Collegiate Gothic architecture, the main theatre house has seats for 400 people. Spot the cement face on the side of the building!

Visit Starcher Hall for the Theatre Arts department office, the black box theatre, and movement studio (Red Route Stop 8)

Merrifield Hall

Red Route Stop 5

Merrifield Hall is one of UND’s most iconic buildings. Designed by noted architect Joseph Bell DeRemer, it’s a wonderful example of Collegiate Gothic architecture with its arched entrances and reading gnomes in the stairwells. It would be hard to find a UND alum who does not remember walking up the beautiful stairwells to class. The building is named after a Classics professor – the first librarian and then President – who was instrumental in creating the liberal arts curriculum that remains the core of a UND education. Dedicated in 1928, the building underwent a renovation in 2024 that modernized spaces while maintaining many historical aspects. Find English, Philosophy & Ethics, Languages & Global Studies, and the Honors Program at Merrifield. And be sure to peruse the art curated by UND Art Collections and gallery of Writers Conference posters on the ground floor.

O’Kelly Hall and Gillette Hall

Red Route Stop 5

O’Kelly and Gillette halls create a social science hub housing Geography, Communication, Anthropology, History & American Indian Studies, Sociology, Criminal Justice Studies, and Forensic Science. The recently renovated study spaces are very popular! O’Kelly has many special teaching spaces, like SCALE-UP classrooms used for small-group learning, especially in introductory science courses, and the Math MALL. The Math Active Learning Lab isn’t just a place to get tutored: students work at their own level and pace to do math problems and get immediate feedback and assistance from instructors and tutors.  

Abbott Hall

Red Route Stop 8

Abbott Hall, where the Chemistry Department is located, marks the start of a STEM region of campus continuing along Cornell Street. Abbott includes 29 classrooms and laboratories studying everything from RNA binding proteins to wood pyrolysis to machine learning. Some of the research equipment on-hand includes a scanning electron microscope, mass spectrometry, and x-ray single crystal diffractometer. Abbott Hall also provides drop-in tutoring for all chemistry classes where students can get one-on-one help.

Witmer Hall

Red Route Stop 8

Witmer Hall is home to Physics & Astrophysics and Mathematics & Statistics. See students working on the NASA Student Launch or UND Rocket Team, or doing research with faculty in areas like the Dark Energy Survey, superconductivity, and optics. Students can use top-notch technology like a CAT scan, X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy, or one of the few machines in the country that can demonstrate quantum entanglement. Witmer also houses the Math Learning Center & Computer Lab used for tutoring and peer study groups.

Starcher Hall

Red Route Stop 8

Starcher Hall houses the departments of Biology and Theatre Arts. In addition to the department office, the Theatre Arts Movement Studio and a new Black Box Theatre (opening Fall 2026) provide many opportunities for Theatre students to engage. Many Biology students taking classes in Starcher are part of the specialized pre-health programs, but can also study Fisheries & Wildlife Biology or Molecular Biology. In this building, find students doing labs, mastering PCR and running gels, scanning microscope slides, or participating in research with faculty. Study living things from roof-top greenhouses, to animal care spaces, to genetics, or viruses. An education in biology is not limited to Starcher Hall, however, as UND also has four biology field stations in the region used for research and education.

Columbia Hall

Red Route Stop 6

Columbia Hall houses the Dean's Office of the College of Arts & Sciences. In addition to the College Office, find the Communication Sciences & Disorders and Psychology departments, with the basement devoted to Psychology research space. The on-site Northern Prairie Community Clinic provides opportunities for Psychology and Communication Sciences & Disorders students to learn while providing services to the greater Grand Forks community.

From the Dean

"Whether you choose an A&S major or not (we hope you do!), you will likely spend time in one of these buildings taking classes from A&S faculty during your time at UND. I encourage you to explore courses from a variety of areas. It’s a great way to build knowledge and skills that will help fortify you for future success!"

- Brad Rundquist, Ph.D., Dean, College of Arts & Sciences

Questions?