# University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is the liberal arts and sciences unit of the University of Washington. In autumn 2022, the CAS offered more than 5,400 courses and had an enrollment of 21,913 students, making it the largest division of the university.

## History

The College of Arts and Sciences is considered to have been established in 1861, when the University itself was founded. However, the College was technically incorporated when the Territorial Legislature enacted ‘An Act to Incorporate the University to the Territory of Washington’. Section 9 of the Act stipulated that the university have four departments: literature, science and the arts; law; medicine; and a military department. However, only literature, science and music were available according to territorial newspaper advertisements announcing the opening of the university placed by the Rev. Daniel Bagley in September 1861.

## Divisions
### Arts

The Arts Division includes all of the university's arts units, including the Henry Art Gallery, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, and Meany Center for the Performing Arts. It includes the following departments:
* School of Art + Art History + Design
* Department of Dance
* Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS)
* School of Drama
* School of Music
Gabriel Solis serves as the dean of the Arts Division.

### Humanities

The Humanities Division includes the following departments:
* Department of Asian Languages and Literature
* Department of Cinema and Media Studies
* Department of Classics
* Department of Comparative History of Ideas (CHID)
* Department of English
* Department of French and Italian Studies
* Department of German Studies
* Department of Linguistics
* Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
* Department of Scandinavian Studies
* Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
* Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies
Brian Reed serves as the dean of the Humanities Division.

### Social Sciences

The Social Sciences Division includes the following departments:
* Department of American Ethnic Studies
* Department of American Indian Studies
* Department of Anthropology
* Department of Communication
* Department of Economics
* Department of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies
* Department of Geography
* Department of History
* Jackson School of International Studies
* Department of Law, Societies, and Justice
* Department of Philosophy
* Department of Political Science
* Department of Sociology
Andrea Woody serves as the dean of the Social Sciences Division.

### Natural Sciences

The Natural Sciences Division includes the following departments:
* Department of Applied Mathematics
* Department of Astronomy
* Department of Biology
* Department of Chemistry
* Department of Mathematics
* Department of Physics
* Department of Psychology
* Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences
* Department of Statistics
Daniel Pollack serves as the dean of the Natural Sciences Division.

## Centers and institutes

The College contains more than 30 centers and institutes, including the Center for Labor Studies, Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, Institute for Nuclear Theory, and Simpson Center for the Humanities.