Department of Liberal Arts

The Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts (LAR) offers students the opportunity to gain a broad-based understanding of human activities, institutions, and societies and to develop their ability to think and write critically in the classical traditions of the liberal arts. The program prepares students for a wide variety of careers in human services, the professions, teaching and the corporate world. Because of its multidisciplinary nature, it is especially recommended for those intending to become elementary and middle school teachers. Given its broad academic scope, it provides the foundation for long-term career development and change. Students select two concentrations from a variety of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and interdisciplinary studies.

The interdisciplinary nature of the liberal arts major makes it especially important that students are thoughtful about their choice of interests and work closely with their faculty advisor in selecting concentration areas and courses and in constructing a coherent academic program. In addition to the two concentrations to satisfy the LAR major, students should consider pursuing a minor in a department or topical area such as Women and Gender Studies, Black Studies, Religious Studies, or Sustainability Studies.

Students are encouraged to declare the liberal arts major as soon as possible in their academic career and meet with the Director of Liberal Arts to discuss their course path and to be assigned an LAR faculty advisor. The LAR faculty advisor will assist with selecting courses and helping students progress toward degree completion.

Teacher Preparation Program Option:

Enrollment in the 4+1 (BA/BS-MAT) Teacher Preparation program allows undergraduate students to explore teaching as a profession through completion of graduate-level education coursework and field experiences within local public school settings. Students pursing teacher preparation at UMass Dartmouth graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in their chosen major, a Master’s degree in Teaching, and a Sheltered English Immersion endorsement. In order to develop a plan towards a license to teach, students should indicate their interest to both their LAR major advisor and the Coordinator of Teacher Preparation Programs. Students may enroll in the 4+1 program once they have earned 30 credits with a 3.0 GPA or above.

Goals for Student Learning

The Liberal Arts Program has the following goals for the learning of its students:

Understand the diversity of disciplinary perspectives and relationships across diverse fields of knowledge;
Identify and formulate multidisciplinary research questions based on key concepts, literature, practices, and issues of their areas of concentration;
Demonstrate critical thinking and communication skills that relate their academic knowledge to civic engagement and issues in their communities;
Conduct research that evaluates and employs primary and secondary resources effectively, using appropriate disciplinary conventions for citation and documentation; and,
Develop, write, and present original analyses in clear, grammatical prose.

Robert Darst, Program Director