Loyola University Chicago

Department of Biology

Minors

Biology

The minor in biology requires 24 credit hours including 17 credit hours of required biology courses and seven credit hours of biology electives.

Required Courses

  • BIOL 101. General Biology I
  • BIOL 102. General Biology II
  • BIOL 111. General Biology Laboratory I
  • BIOL 112. General Biology Laboratory II
  • BIOL 251. Cell Biology
  • BIOL 265. Ecology
  • BIOL 282. Genetics
  • Seven credit hours of biology electives

Transferring students who seek a minor in biology must take a minimum of 12 credit hours in biology at Loyola.

Bioethics

Loyola's bioethics minor encompasses work in the fields of biology, natural science, philosophy, sociology and theology. Students study topics in which the life sciences and ethics converge, such as:

  • Biological and chemical weapons
  • Genetic screening and gene therapy
  • Global warming
  • Human and animal experimentation
  • Human population growth
  • Human stem cell research
  • Pollution

Selected bioethics courses are team-taught by professors in distinct disciplines. The program helps prepare students for a range of careers or for advanced study in ministry, the health professions, the sciences, teaching, law, journalism, research, government or social work.

The bioethics minor requires at least seven courses or 21 credit hours. The science requirement is satisfied by four courses in biology or three courses in natural science. The ethics requirement is satisfied by three courses in philosophy, theology or biology.

An interdisciplinary, team-taught course is also required that examines a specific bioethical topic. The biology and interdisciplinary courses also count toward the biology major. For more information, please visit Loyola's Bioethics Website.

Biostatistics

Designed for students interested in the growing number of jobs that apply quantitative skills to problems in biomedical research, statistical genetics and bioinformatics, this minor requires three statistics courses as well as the introductory biology and basic calculus sequences.

Two of the statistics courses (BIOL/STAT 335 and BIOL/STAT 336) are crosslisted in biology and also count toward the biology major.

The biostatistics minor is offered by the Mathematics and Statistics Department. For specific course requirements, please visit their Minor in Biostatistics page.

Neuroscience

The neuroscience minor is the interdisciplinary liberal arts study of the nervous system that exposes students to issues of the relationship among the brain, the mind, behavior, evolution and the nature of humans and other animals in our complex world.

The minor is intended for Loyola undergraduates who plan to attend graduate or professional school in the life sciences. The interdisciplinary neuroscience minor includes rich opportunities for neuroscience education at the Lake Shore Campus and at the Loyola University Medical Center. The minor exposes students to programs at both campuses, including the Parmly Hearing Institute, the Neuroscience and Aging Institute, and the neuroscience graduate program.

Students are challenged to understand issues of both basic neuroscience research and its applications, including those related to health care. The neuroscience minor requires 20 credit hours including coursework in neuroscience, biology, anthropology and philosophy. For more specific information, please visit Loyola's Interdisciplinary Minor in Neuroscience Website.