Liberal Studies is a multidisciplinary major in the humanities - history, philosophy, literature, political science, art history, religion, and languages.
Located on the University of New England's seaside University Campus in Biddeford, Maine, the program is designed for students who are interested in more than one discipline or in some broad topic or theme. Students majoring in liberal studies have primary responsibility for designing their own college education. They investigate ideas through the process of discovery, and discovery is best begun at the point of their own interests and goals. In the absence of restrictive course requirements, but in close concert with a faculty advisor, liberal studies students plan their own broad-based program.
The liberal studies major challenges students to understand and evaluate human values, cultures and ideas as they are expressed in the various Humanities disciplines.
In addition, the major invites students to make connections across academic disciplines, historical periods, and diverse cultures. Students will explore ideas from the diverse vantage points the different humanities disciplines provide. Our faculty believes that the ability to make connections is the mark of a truly educated person.
During the third and fourth years the focus turns towards creating a cohesive cluster of courses dealing with a theme, culture, or period. Students may concentrate, for instance, on humanistic views of science and take courses such as Science and Religion, Literature of the Sea, and Bioethics. Students might focus on law as a theme and take Literature and the Law, Ethics, and American Constitutional Law. There are many possibilities in this flexible major.
