Liberal Studies, B.A.

Director: Thomas Behr (tbehr@uh.edu)

The Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Liberal Studies offers a broadly interdisciplinary liberal arts program that may be tailored to match a wide variety of educational and professional goals of students. In addition to fulfilling Core, College and University requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree, students majoring in Liberal Studies must satisfy the following:

1. All requirements for a Minor in each of three different fields within the College of Liberal Arts and Social Science: two of the three Minors must be from programs that also offer a Major, and one of the three Minors may be from outside the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Minors outside of C.L.A.S.S. that can count toward the Liberal Studies Major include the Global Business Minor from Bauer College of Business, with other such Minors to be considered upon approval by the Director of Liberal Studies and the Office of the Dean of C.L.A.S.S. Since the program is interdisciplinary in nature, students majoring in Liberal Studies will not have to fulfill the College requirement for an additional 9 hours across three fields outside of their Major.
2. File degree plans for each of the three Minors, complete the 15 or 18 credit hours and all other requirements for each of the chosen Minors, including grade point averages, for a total of 45 to 54 credit hours. Courses taken for any Minor cannot be used to satisfy requirements in either of the other two Minors.
3. A 3 hour “Introduction to Liberal Studies” (ILAS 2350 ) seminar, to be taken in the student’s sophomore year or in the first semester having declared the Liberal Studies major beyond Freshman year, whichever is sooner.
4. A 3 hour Senior Seminar in Liberal Studies (ILAS 4350 ); students may petition to substitute a Capstone course in one of their Minors for this requirement upon approval by the Director of Liberal Studies and the Office of the Dean of C.L.A.S.S.
5. A Practicum is required from one of the alternatives as follows: a) an approved UH credit-bearing, study-abroad program, b) an approved UH credit-bearing internship program or public service project, or c) an approved UH credit-bearing research project. Credit hours related to this requirement may apply to one of a student’s minors or not, as determined by the minor program. Satisfaction of this requirement shall be determined upon submission of the relevant application as established by the Director of Liberal Studies. Refer to the Liberal Studies website for suggested options.
6. All other Core, College, and University requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree.

The flexibility of putting together three Minors, with the potential for petitioning in a Minor from outside of C.L.A.S.S., suggests that students should consult closely with the Liberal Studies advisor or Director in formulating a coherent and professionally practical program for this Major.