Effective as of fall 2008
Liberal Arts: a Self-Designed Program
The self-designed major in Liberal Arts requires completion of a minimum of 13 courses. Students choosing this option must also prepare a path statement.
The path statement must include:
1. Preliminary Questions (answering the following questions will clarify the reasons for choosing the Liberal Arts major):
- What are you interested in studying?
- What are the intellectual and/or personal reasons for choosing this path of study?
- Which faculty members are most relevant to your path of study?
2. Name of proposed path of study
3. Description
- A detailed description of the path of study with a rationale, including an explanation of why it can not be accomplished within an existing major
4. Curriculum: a list of courses that support the path of study.
- Past Courses: include the subject codes, numbers, titles, instructors, and the semester the course was taken
- Future Courses: include the subject codes, numbers, titles, instructors, and the semester the course will be taken
5. Faculty Letter
- A letter from a Faculty Advisor to the chair of Liberal Arts assessing the proposal's feasibility.
Students should be aware of the following selection criteria:
- Is the proposal well constructed? Is the rationale for the major clearly and fully articulated?
- Feasibility: are courses available? Are they likely to be available? Are resources such as faculty advising and other institutional support adequate to sustain the project?
- Assessment of faculty advisor’s letter
Expectations of students completing the self-designed Liberal Arts major:
- Students meet with chair of Liberal Arts at least once each semester. During this meeting, the path statement will be discussed and revised as needed.
- Students communicate with instructors before a course begins in order to clarify the connections between the course readings and assignments and their path of study.
- Senior year: Students complete a five-page reflection on path of study (in addition to senior capstone).
Senior Capstone
All Liberal Arts students are required to complete an independent senior work project.
Students must earn a grade of C or higher in all courses taken in order to meet the requirements for the major in Liberal Arts.
Please note: Students are advised to refer to the current applicable program catalog for degree completion requirements and to confirm their progress in satisfying those requirements with their advisors.
