Liberal Arts
Life is not divided into majors. A liberal arts education provides a unified perspective for life. The Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts degree is designed to provide students with a curriculum that is broad, flexible, and challenging, and to provide the means for degree recipients to be liberally educated and recognize the interrelatedness of knowledge. Students take courses from five core areas: Communications; Social Sciences; Humanities; Critical Reasoning and Analytic Methods; and Science, Technology, and the Environment. The program culminates in an experiential educational component via a Senior Capstone Seminar and either an independent research project or a 90 hour internship.
A liberal arts education prepares students to assume positions of leadership and to be flexible in the marketplace. With a solid liberal arts education an individual is not limited to a particular niche, but freed and qualified for a wide range of opportunities for life beyond the program of study. In today’s economy, employers prefer transferable skills. Those skills are those which employees take with them to any job, such as written and verbal communication skills, the ability to solve complex problems, to work well with others, and to adapt in a changing workplace.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the program the graduate will be able to:
I. Communication Skills
- Read and write critically.
- Recognize, interpret, and evaluate the quality of the influence of communication rules, patterns, and dynamics on a social, cultural, or political event.
- Be competent in expository writing.
- Identify and recognize the rules of human communications as they are practiced personally, interpersonally, or publicly.
II. Global Awareness
- Demonstrate an understanding of diverse perspectives in various global contexts.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the influence of globalization on individuals and societies.
- Critique the development of political thought and legislative governance in various world cultures including the United States.
- Produce information on major political trends in world civilizations.Recognize trends, patterns, and stylistic differences in political governance and legislative procedures in non-western societies.
- Identify patterns of cultural, intellectual, and aesthetic development in American and other world cultures.
III. Analytic Skills
- Demonstrate an ability to think critically, analyze problems, and produce solutions to those problems.
- Demonstrate an adaptability that enables one to anticipate, detect, and respond to changing information and circumstances.
- Be competent in the use of research techniques and methods as a habit of life-long learning. Demonstrate an understanding of the development and application of mathematical processes and structures as they relate to analysis and the solution of problems.
IV. Critical Self-Evaluation
- Synthesize ideas and perspectives in order to foster intellectual integration and balance which encourages continued intellectual exploration and development.
- Recognize the interrelatedness of knowledge.