The Liberal Arts Major offers a broad overview of the arts, sciences, and humanities. Within this major you can expect to take upper-division courses in the chief disciplines ? the Arts, Social Sciences, History and Literature, Mathematics and Science, and Religious Studies while choosing at least one area of concentration to study. Through this core you will gain a breadth of knowledge beyond the general education of the first two years of college and develop critical thinking, communication, and reasoning skills.
A major in Liberal Arts does not provide training for a specific career. Rather students who choose this major are suited for advanced studies in virtually any subject area and a wide choice of careers. Often, employers are seeking staff members who are not trained in a narrow field or way of thinking but rather are able to look at different topics and recognize and understand relationships between them. As a Liberal Arts graduate you fit the bill and may find yourself working in education, communications, business, government, public service or law.
Mission Statement
The Liberal Arts major is cross-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary. It integrates the significant ways of looking at reality developed in the Western world — arts and letters, theology, mathematics, physical sciences, and social sciences — in the quest for truth, justice, and beauty.
Entry into the Major
Students should declare Liberal Arts as their intended major as early in their college career as possible by filing a Declaration of Major and Change of Advisor forms with the registrar. The student's advisor should be from the area of the student's concentration, and must be approved by the director of the liberal arts major. Formal acceptance into the major, however, occurs at the end of the sophomore year. Students must have a GPA of 2.0 or above.
Core Requirements
- A distribution of three- and four-hundred level courses in the following areas: Social Studies (2 courses); Arts and Humanities (3 courses); History (1 course); Science/Math (2 courses)
- At least one concentration (see below)
- LART490 Introduction to Research and Writing
- LART495 Senior Seminar Liberal Arts
Concentrations
Integral to the liberal arts major are concentrations. The concentrations serve as a focal point for the major, adding disciplinary depth. A student may not have both a concentration and a minor in the same area.
Ancient and Medieval Studies
The concentration in Ancient and Medieval Studies requires:
One of the following:
One of the following:
One of the following:
One of the following:
Art History
The concentration in Art History requires:
Three of the following:
One of the following:
One of the following:
Biology
The concentration in Biology requires:
Electives (18 credits minimum; no more than 2 SCIE courses):
Communication
The concentration in Communication requires at least two of the following:
Two additional upper-division communication (COMM) courses, one of which may be from the 200-level.
English
The concentration in English requires:
History
The concentration in History requires:
- Three of the following:
- A minimum of three upper division history (HIST) courses.
- A minimum of one of the following courses:
Mathematics
The concentration in Mathematics requires:
Music
The concentration in Music requires three of the following:
Two of the following:
Two credits of applied music (private lessons)
Two credits of ensemble music
Natural Sciences
The concentration in the Natural Sciences requires completion of one of these four groups:
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Three of the following:
Philosophy
The concentration in Philosophy requires 21 credits, distributed as follows:
Nine lower division credits:
At least one of the following:
Up to three of the following philosophy-related courses in any combination, but no more than two courses from the same department (i.e., course prefix):
Psychology
The concentration in Psychology requires:
One of the following:
Two additional upper division psychology (PSYC) courses
Religious Studies
The concentration in Religious Studies requires:
- Completion of the lower-division religious studies requirement|8 cr.]]
- A total of five upper-division religious studies courses|15 cr.]]
Two of the following may be substituted for one of the above religious studies courses:
Sociology
The concentration in Sociology requires:
- SOCL101 Introduction to Sociology
- Five additional courses from the sociology (SOCL) offerings, four of which must be upper division courses (15 cr.)
Spanish
The concentration in Spanish requires:
One of the following:
Studio Art
The concentration in Studio Art requires:
Core art history - three of the following:
- [[ARTS105|Art History I – Prehistoric to the Gothic Period|3 cr.]]
- [[ARTS106|Art History II – Renaissance to the Realism|3 cr.]]
- [[ARTS107|Art History III – Impressionism to Contemporary|3 cr.]]
- ARTS240 Masterpieces of the Western Tradition
One of the following emphases:
Ceramics emphasis
Drawing emphasis
Graphic Arts emphasis
Painting emphasis
Photography emphasis
Sculpture emphasis
Optional:
Theatre
The concentration in Theatre requires:
One of the following:
One of the following:
Three of the following:
Two credits of 100-level practicum
Two credits of 300-level practicum
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