The Liberal Studies (LS) program's mission is to facilitate the development and implementation of an interdisciplinary, thematically-based learning program selected by the student. Liberal Studies themes are as varied as your imagination. Some themes, such as "Cultural Studies through Literature" draw on two or three liberal arts disciplines to provide students with a broad-based understanding of how people interact and maintain cultural structures and social institutions. Other themes, such as "event coordination" prepare students for a particular type of work in specific industries. Whether you are looking to broaden your theoretical understanding, to gain career-related skills, or both, narrowing down your focus is the first place to start.


Designing your own Liberal Studies Plan

Theme: Do you have a theme in mind already? If yes, skip to the next step. When you are trying to decide how to shape your interdisciplinary degree, it’s important to think about your outcome first. Do you have a career field in mind? Are there certain subject areas or ideas that you are drawn to? Start by writing those ideas down and then look for common themes across those concepts or career goals. If there is not a common theme, select the one that seems to interest you most.

Plan: Review all of the academic disciplines offered through the College of Liberal Arts. Which ones stand out to you as fitting in well with your proposed theme? You need at least two discipline areas from the college, but you can have as many as you like, so write down all of the ones that stand out to you. From that list, go to the course catalog (either on-campus or Ecampus depending on which campus you take your courses from) and review the various course descriptions. Make a list of all of the course numbers and titles that fit your proposed theme. Look at your previous coursework; are there any courses you have already completed that naturally fit into your theme? Once you have a large list of courses, start narrowing the list down until you get a list of classes that satisfies the requirements of the LS plan. When you are ready to create your plan, use the Liberal Studies Plan Form to construct your plan proposal and submit to your advisor.
All classes from Liberal Arts Disciplines
45-52 credits
At least 27 upper division credits
One Writing Intensive Course (WIC)
Must have a minimum of 2.3 GPA in the Liberal Studies courses
No S/U grading allowed in plan of study
No 100-200 level language courses
Max of six credits of special projects or internships
Maximum of 20 previously completed credits can be applied to new LS major
Liberal Studies Major must go through the approval process