Graduate study is the pursuit of knowledge through advanced course work and research. Graduate courses demand a capacity for critical analysis and a specialization of research interests not normally appropriate for an undergraduate major. These courses may be conducted in a number of ways: (1) as advanced lecture courses; (2) as seminars in which faculty and students critically examine elected problems within the subject field; (3) as independent study or reading courses; or (4) as research projects conducted under faculty supervision.

You are accorded considerable liberty in your choice of courses, at the discretion of your graduate adviser, as long as you meet the minimum requirements for academic residence. These courses assume adequate preparation at the upper division level in the subject field (a minimum of 12 units of upper division work basic to the subject matter of the graduate course; this basic work may be pursued in more than one department). You are therefore encouraged to take upper division courses that will give you the background you need for advanced work; you are not confined to graduate courses. Possession of a bachelor's degree does not in itself entitle you to enroll in a graduate course.