Explore a diverse Liberal Arts degree at the University of Essex. Experience studying abroad and enhance your global perspective. Apply now!
Knowledge is rooted in the experiences of people across the world. It is created from memory, culture, landscape and myth. This knowledge is often split into separate ‘disciplines’ such as those in the sciences, maths, history, geography, literature and art. However, true knowledge does not recognize these boundaries; the world is complex, interconnected and networked. This course is for students that love studying a variety of subjects, and want to maintain this breadth of knowledge at university. With the opportunity to major in History, Literature, Art History, Philosophy, Politics, Media Studies or Sociology, students broaden their horizons by exploring the ways in which the humanities and social sciences help people to think imaginatively and critically about the world. Students take modules which cover the historical foundations of the humanities, challenge dominant worldviews, and explore innovative and subversive essays and manifestos. The flexible structure of this course allows students to choose a range of optional modules across literature, film, philosophy, history of art, history, linguistics, politics, sociology and modern languages. Based within the Interdisciplinary Studies Centre (ISC), the choice is in the students hands: they choose modules based on their own background and interests. Students engage with unusual, controversial, and provocative ideas, so that they can use the humanities and social sciences to become critically aware and possess the tools to change the world for the better. Education extends beyond the university campus. Essex supports students in expanding their education through offering the opportunity to spend a year or a term studying abroad at one of their partner universities. The four-year version of the degree allows students to spend the third year abroad or employed on a placement abroad, while otherwise remaining identical to the three-year course. Studying abroad allows students to experience other cultures and languages, to broaden their degree socially and academically, and to demonstrate to employers that they are mature, adaptable, and organized. As a liberal arts graduate, students are provided with an all-round education that can lead to a more extensive range of knowledge, better communication skills and a more flexible and positive attitude to life. The best way to prepare for the future is to develop the abilities and skills which make people resilient; reasoning skills which mean that students do not accept easy answers; so that they can always question. A Liberal Arts course can lead to a wide variety of careers in the media, journalism, publishing, local government, voluntary agencies, librarianship, finance, management and other fields. Many employers prefer to recruit students with a broad-based liberal arts education (and provide them with vocational training during their first year at work) than to recruit students who have specialized in one discipline. Recent graduates have gone on to work for a wide range of organizations including Euromoney, a financial publication company, a housing association, and an English language school in Japan.
