• The Biology major provides students with a broad base for understanding principles governing life processes at all levels–molecular, cellular, organismal, and ecological. An evolutionary perspective guides all areas of the curriculum–development, behavior, physiology, genetics, and more.
  • Biology is the fundamental study of life and living systems.  The educational goals of our curriculum foster student excitement about biology and promote science as a process and way of knowing, not merely content knowledge.  We offer a strong foundation in biology to prepare for diverse and successful careers and to enrich our students’ lifelong engagement with the world, in all its diversity and complexity.
  • The educational goals for Williams majors as six skills-based learning outcomes:
    • Students will use an integrative approach that spans from molecular to ecosystem levels in order to understand the broader context of biological systems.
    • Students will learn proficiency in reading, understanding, and critically evaluating scientific literature across major areas of the curriculum.
    • Students will learn to generate question-oriented hypotheses and models, develop an experimental design, and collect and analyze data.  This includes the importance of a statistical sample, the meaning of statistical significance, and how to apply statistical treatments to different data sets.
    • Students will demonstrate the ability to work both collaboratively and independently on research.  Students’ proficiency in research will include understanding a research topic and the methods that allow them to problem-solve and take ownership of a project.
    • Students will be able to communicate their discoveries clearly and explicitly, both orally and in writing, following conventional scientific formats.
    • Students will incorporate current and future societal and global challenges into their approach to biology.