Technical Electives for the Computer Science Major

Four technical elective upper-division units are required to complete the CS major. Students admitted Spring 22 or before may complete these units with additional CS courses or non-CS upper-division courses that are approved and technical in nature. Students admitted Fall 22 or later can only use approved Non-CS technical elective courses to fulfill the requirement. Approved Technical Electives must:

  • be upper division (course numbered >100) and at least 4 units (4 units total are required)
  • be related to specific subject matter or techniques in the applied or industrial sciences
  • not have majority of course content overlapping with an existing CS course

Courses numbered 199, 198, 197, 196, 195, select 194, 190 and various seminars do not count.

The following are pre-approved technical elective courses. Cross-listed versions of the listed courses will also count. Students should pay close attention to the unit value of approved courses so they are not short units. There may be eligible technical courses that have not been evaluated; first, check if a course has already been reviewed. To request an evaluation of a new course to be added to the pre-approved list, submit a request.

Technical Electives

SubjectCourse NumberCourse
AnthropologyAnthro 107Evolution of the Human Brain
ArchitectureArch 122Principles of Computer Aided Architectural Design
Arch 129Advanced Computer-Aided Rendering & Animation
Arch 222Principles of Computer Aided Architectural Design
Arch 229Advanced Computer-Aided Rendering & Animation
ArtArt 160 004 – Spring 21 OnlyGame Design Methods
Art 172Advanced Digital Media: Computer Graphics Studio
Art 173Electro-Crafting
Art 175Advanced Computer Graphics Production
Art 178Game Design Methods
AstronomyAstron C162Planetary Astrophysics
BioengineeringAll Technical UD and Grad (see footnote #1)
ChemistryAll Technical UD and Grad
Chemical & Biomolecular EngineeringAll Technical UD and Grad (see footnote #2)
City and Regional PlanningCYPLAN 101Introduction to Urban Data Analytics
Civil EngineeringAll Technical UD and Grad (see footnote #3)
Cognitive ScienceCog Sci N100/C100Basic Issues in Cognition
Cog Sci C101The Mind and Language (FA 18 & prior); Cognitive Linguistics (SP 19 & later)
Cog Sci C110The Neural Basis of Thought & Language
Cog Sci C126Perception
Cog Sci C127Cognitive Neuroscience
Cog Sci 131/C131Computational Models of Cognition
CogSci 190Sensemaking and Organizing
Comparative LiteratureComLit 170Computational Humanities: Critical Approaches to Literature as Data
Computational BiologyComp Bio 175Intro to Comp Bio and Preciscion Medicine
Computer ScienceAll Technical UD and approved Grad (see footnote #4)
DataData C100Principles & Techniques of Data Science
Data 101Data Engineering
Data C102Data Inference, and Decisions
Data C104Human Contexts and Ethics of Data – DATA/History/STS (Previously offered as HIST C182C)
Data 140Probability for Data Science
Data 144Data Mining and Analytics
DemographyDemog C175Economic Demography
Demog 180Social Networks
Design InnovationDes Inv 190Designing Emergent Technologies
Des Inv 190-1/ME 292CHuman-Centered Design Methods (FA 19 & later)
Des Inv 190EAugmenting Human Dexterity
Development Engineering Graduate GroupDevEng 290Innovations in Disaster Response
Digital HumanitiesDighum 101Practicing the Digital Humanities at Berkeley
Earth & Planetary ScienceEPS 104Mathematical Methods in Geophysics
EPS 109Computer Simulations in Earth and Planetary Sciences
EPS 122Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors
EPS C162Planetary Astrophysics
EconomicsEcon 100AEconomic Analysis – Micro
Econ 100BEconomic Analysis – Macro
Econ 101AEconomic Theory – Micro
Econ 101BEconomic Theory – Macro
Econ C103Introduction to Mathematical Economics
Econ C110Same Theory in the Social Sciences
Econ 136Financial Economics
Econ 139Intermediate Financial Economics
Econ 140Economic Statistics and Econometrics
Econ 141Econometric Analysis
Econ 148Data Science for Economists
Econ C175Economic Demography
EducationEduc 161/W161Digital Learning Environments
Educ C260FMachine Learning in Education
Educ 290AComputational Approach to Human Learning
Electrical EngineeringAll Technical UD and approved Grad
EngineeringAll Technical UD and Grad (see footnote #5 & #7 for Engin 183 courses)
Energy ResourcesEne, Res C/W100Energy and Society
Environmental EconomicsEnvecon 100Microeconomic Theory with Application to Natural Resources
Envecon C118Introductory Applied Economics
Environmental Science, Policy, and ManagementESPM 136 (formerly 150)Sustainable Industry
ESPM 137Landscape Ecology
ESPM 169International Environmental Politics
Film & MediaFilm 140 – No longer approved as of fall 2018Special Topics in Film (only Color Theory and Sound Theory)
GeographyGeog 142Climate Dynamics
Geog 143Global Change Biogeochemistry
Geog 183Cartographic Representation
Geog 185Earth System Remote Sensing
Geog 187Geographic Information Analysis
Geog C188Geographic Information Systems
Industrial Engineering & Operations ResearchAll Technical UD and Grad (see footnote #6)
Ind Eng 185Internet and Data Privacy (see footnote #7)
InformationInfo 103History of Information
Info 159Natural Language Processing
Info 213User interface Design & Development
Info 251Applied Machine Learning
Info C262Theory and Practice of Tangible User Interfaces
Integrative BiologyAll Technical 4-unit UD and Grad
Landscape ArchitectureLd Arch C177GIS and Environmental Spatial Data Analysis
Ld Arch C188Geographic Information Systems
Legal StudiesLegalst 123Data, Prediction & Law
LinguisticsLing 100Introduction to Linguistic Science
Ling C105The Mind and Language (FA 18 & prior); Cognitive Linguistics (SP 19 & later)
Ling 120Introduction to Syntax & Semantics
Mathematicsall Technical UD and Grad
Mechanical EngineeringAll Technical UD and Grad (see footnote #8)
Molecular and Cell BiologyAll Technical 4-unit UD and Grad
MusicMusic 108Music Perception and Cognition
Music 158ASound & Music Computing w/ CNMAT Technologies
Music 159Computer Programming for Music Applications
Music 209Advanced Topics in Computer Music (depending on topic)
New MediaNew Media 190 (formerly CS 194-8)Advanced Animation
New Media C203 (formerly CS 295-85)Critical Making
New Media C262Theory and Practice of Tangible User Interfaces
Nuclear EngineeringAll Technical 4-unit UD and Grad
Nutritional Sciences and ToxicologyNUSCTX 103Nutrient Function and Metabolism
PhilosophyPhilos 140AIntermediate Logic
Philos 140BIntermediate Logic
Philos 143Modal Logic
PhysicsAll Technical 4-unit UD and Grad
Political SciencePol Sci C135/Pol Sci W135Game Theory in the Social Sciences
Poli Sci 132BMachine Learning for Social Scientists
PsychologyPsych C123Computational Models of Cognition
Public HealthPublic Health 142Introduction to Probability and Statistics in Biology and Public Health
Public Health 150AIntroduction to Epidemiology and Human Disease
Public Health 162APublic Health Microbiology
Public Health 252DIntroduction to Causal Inference
Public PolicyPub Pol 290 - 002Special Topics in Public Policy Progress: An Introduction to Technology and Public Policy
Pub Pol C/W184Energy and Society
SociologySociol 166Society and Technology
StatisticsAll Technical 4 unit UD and Grad
TheaterTheater 177Sound Design and Media Theater
UGBAUGBA 103Introduction to Finance
UGBA 120AAIntermediate Financial Accounting 1
UGBA 120ABIntermediate Financial Accounting 2

(1) Except Bioengineering 100, C181, 190, 192, 196

(2) Except Chemical Engineering 180, 185

(3) Except Civil Engineering 167, 192, 252L, and 290R

(4) Students admitted Fall 22 or later may not use CS courses to fulfill the technical elective requirement

(5) Except Engineering 102, 125, 157AC

(6) Except Industrial Engineering 171, select 185, 186, 190 series, 191

(7) All IND ENG 185/ENGIN 183 sections need to be evaluated each semester. Check for approved and denied sections before you submit a syllabus to be evaluated

(8) Except Mechanical Engineering 191K