The Bachelor of Arts (BA) programme involves a four-year curriculum.  The first year is a "year of exploration", in which students are encouraged to pursue their own special interests but also to introduce themselves to subjects that are new to them.  They have a wide range of choices, but are required to take at least 18 credits of introductory Arts courses, normally including the pre-requisite(s) of the programme(s) in which they plan to major or minor. The Bachelor of Arts (BA) programme consists of a total of 240 credits over a normative period of four years of study. At the beginning of the second year of study, students will declare an Arts major and optional major(s)/ minor(s) on SIS.