The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (known as Columbian College or CCAS) is the college of liberal arts and sciences of the

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The Columbian College is especially known for its programs in

forensic science Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...

, political sciences,

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. CCAS is the largest school at George Washington University, with around 5,000 undergraduate students and 2,500 graduate students, and 42 academic departments, representing a significant portion of the University's instructional, scholarly and research activity. The college is known for its numerous prominent alumni, particularly in the fields of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

, and

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

, including notable living figures, such as

Anwar Gargash Anwar Mohammed Gargash ( ar, أنور محمد قرقاش; born 28 March 1959, in Dubai) is an Emirati politician who served as the minister of state for foreign affairs between February 2008 and February 2021. Since February 2021, he serves as a ...

(current Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

), sitting

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Mark Warner Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th governo ...

Vincent C. Gray Vincent Condol Gray (born November 8, 1942) is an American politician who served as the mayor of the District of Columbia from 2011 to 2015. He served for one term, losing his bid for reelection in the Democratic primary to D.C. Council member ...

(former Mayor of the District of Columbia) and Daniel Weiss (CEO of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

). Historical alumni include

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and

Ralph Asher Alpher Ralph Asher Alpher (February 3, 1921 – August 12, 2007) was an American cosmologist, who carried out pioneering work in the early 1950s on the Big Bang model, including Big Bang nucleosynthesis and predictions of the cosmic microwave backgrou ...

, "father of the

Big Bang theory The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

History

University Yard, George Washington University, 2012

The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences is the original college of George Washington University and one of the oldest colleges in the

. It was created as a Baptist institution by Reverend

Luther Rice Luther Rice (25 March 1783 – 27 September 1836) was an American Baptist minister who, after a thwarted mission to India, returned to America where he spent the remainder of his career raising funds for missions and advocating for the formation of ...

, and officially founded as the Columbian College on February 9, 1821 by an

act of Congress An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...

signed by President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

. Originally, the college consisted of two departments: the Theological Department and Classical Department, with individual professors covering other subjects such as

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

. The college's first class graduated in 1824, where the president presented each of the three graduates with their degree in the presence of the

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

and college president William Staughton. The college conferred its first Master of Arts degree in 1831. It was one of the first institutions in the United States to award a doctorate, awarding a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1888. However, the graduate program was not formally established until 1905. With the dawn of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

in 1861, the majority of the students left the college to fight for the Confederacy, and the campus buildings were used as a hospital and barracks. In 1873 the college becomes Columbian University and in 1904 the George Washington University was established by an Act of Congress, with Columbian College and its Graduate School being integrated in the Department of Arts and Sciences. In 1962 Columbian College changed its name to the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

Facilities

The College contains many research centers and institutes, including the Biostatistics Center. Its main facilities are located at

Foggy Bottom Foggy Bottom is one of the oldest late 18th- and 19th-century neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., located west of the White House and downtown Washington, in the Northwest quadrant. It is bounded roughly by 17th Street NW to the east, Rock C ...

campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...

Organization and administration

The college is managed by a team of administrative staff currently led by Interim Dean Paul Wahlbeck and Vice Dean

Eric Arnesen Eric Arnesen (born 30 April 1958) is an American historian. He is currently the James R. Hoffa Professor of Modern American Labor History at George Washington University. He was a Fulbright Scholar, and is a member of the Organization of American ...

. The leadership is also supported by the National Council for Arts and Sciences, which is composed of national and international alumni and others associated to the college, and serves a volunteer advisory board. Other affiliated advisory councils are the Corcoran Strategic Advisory Council, the National Council for Media and Public Affairs and the Trachtenberg School Advisory Board.

Academics

Columbian_College_of_Arts_and_Sciences_Graduation_medal

The Columbian College houses 42 academic departments and programs. CCAS is also host to three distinct schools: * School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) *

Corcoran School of the Arts and Design The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design (known as the Corcoran School or CSAD) is the professional art school of the George Washington University, in Washington, DC.Peggy McGloneUniversity names first director of Corcoran School of the Arts and ...

Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration The Trachtenberg School, officially the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration (TSPPPA), is the graduate school of public policy and public administration in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of the George Washin ...

(SPPPA) It offers a total of 61 undergraduate minors, 58 undergraduate major, 51 master's degrees and 33 combined degree program's (bachelor's and master's). The College offers degrees in the main fields Arts & Design, Clinical Programs, Humanities, Mathematics & Statistical Analysis, Natural & Forensic Sciences, Policy & Public Affairs and Social & Behavioral Sciences. The college also offers different engaged learning programs, an extensive on- and offline summer school program, 16 graduate certificates and more than 30 doctoral degrees. The college has an international network of partnering universities and schools. For students there are currently more than 300 study and exchange programs in 50 countries available. Graduates to the College are awarded a commencement medal depicting the College's seal that is worn during the commencement ceremony. The original seal was designed by James Peale when the Columbian College was founded in 1821. The seal originally depicted a biblical lion laying down with a lamb under an open book with Greek text that translated to "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God." The design of the seal was changed in 1873, and completely replaced by George Washington University in 1905. The College still uses the seal today but with the Greek text omitted.

Rankings

The College is ranked as the 7th best college of political sciences in the United States, by '' USA Today College rankings''. In the ''2018

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...

'', Columbian ranks in the top 76-100 schools of

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

in the world. In 2019, ''Intelligent'' ranked the College's Department of Forensic Science as 6th in The Best Master's in Crime Scene Investigation Degree Programs from an assessment of 443 education programs compared from 159 colleges and universities '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranks its graduate programs as: * History, 59th best in the United States * Economics, 63rd best in the United States * English, 67th best in the United States

Research

The College is home to 28 research centers and institutes with an average annual research expenditure of $18.6 million. Research is supported by internal funding and external grants from institutions like the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. It also offers different undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral student research fellowships and programs.

Notable people

File:Mrs Kennedy in the Diplomatic Reception Room cropped.jpg, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis ('51) -

First Lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

File:DanWeiss photo (cropped).png, Daniel H. Weiss ('79) - President & CEO the

File:Eric Cantor, official 113th Congress photo portrait.jpg,

Eric Cantor Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Minori ...

('85) - Former

House Majority Leader Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are ele ...

File:Mark Warner 113th Congress photo.jpg,

('77) - Current

and former

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

File:Anwar Gargash.jpg,

('81, '84) - Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the

File:Mayor Vincent Gray Talks About Consumer Protection (6918837914) (cropped).jpg,

('64) - Former Mayor of the District of Columbia File:Steve Israel 113th Congress.jpg,

Steve Israel Steven J. Israel (born May 30, 1958) is an American political commentator, lobbyist, author, bookseller and former politician. He served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 2001 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was electe ...

('81) - Former Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee File:Kerry Washington Django avp.jpg,

Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fi ...

('98) -

Time 100 ''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, po ...

and

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning actress File:Huma Abedin DNC 2016 Pre Hillary Clinton Speech at Democratic National Convention (July 28, 2016).jpg,

Huma Abedin Huma Mahmood Abedin ( ur, ; born July 28, 1975) is an American political staffer who was vice chair of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign for President of the United States. Before that, Abedin was deputy chief of staff to Clinton when she was U.S ...

('97) - Former chief of staff to

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

File:Carl Lutz fortepan 105824.jpg,

Carl Lutz Carl Lutz (30 March 1895 – 12 February 1975) was a Swiss diplomat. He served as the Swiss Vice-Consul in Budapest, Hungary, from 1942 until the end of World War II. He is credited with saving over 62,000 Jews during the Second World War in a ...

('24) - Swiss diplomat who saved over 62,000 Jews during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

File:David Lynch Cannes 2017.jpg, David Lynch, Artist and Director File:Glenn Greenwald 2014-01-20 001.jpg,

Glenn Greenwald Glenn Edward Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American journalist, author and lawyer. In 2014, he cofounded ''The Intercept'', of which he was an editor until he resigned in October 2020. Greenwald subsequently started publishing on Substac ...

- Journalist File:Rhee Syng-man 1956.jpg,

Syngman Rhee Syngman Rhee (, ; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965) was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Ko ...

, 1st President of South Korea File:Elizabeth Warren, official portrait, 114th Congress.jpg,

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...

, Senator from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Columbian College Of Arts And Sciences Colleges and Schools of The George Washington University Liberal arts colleges at universities in the United States 1821 establishments in Washington, D.C.