Liberal Arts (Humanities)
"Go to university, but go for the right reasons.
Education isn't a gun held to your head: it's a weapon
in your hands. Go not because you're afraid of not
getting a job but go because you love to learn, because
you're excited by ideas, because you believe that
education is important for its own sake, and when you
get there, pay attention, read everything you can get
your hands on, cram yourself with words and figures and
ideas, because that's the one thing they can never take
away from you." - Laurie Penny in The Independent, 16 August 2012.
The BA Liberal Arts at Essex combines studies across the
Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. It is designed for
students who are curious about the world and the many
different ways of seeing it.
Our course encourages
students to see education as an important means of being
a well-rounded citizen in our society. Students can
venture into the arts, literature, philosophy, history
and sociology and even drama and film.
Instead of
looking at the world from the perspective of a single
discipline, students study across disciplinary
boundaries and this enables them to understand the
powers and limitations of each field of study. Studying
a range of subject disciplines also builds confidence
and a flexible approach to the world, as students learn
to navigate through the very different texts, materials
and methods of study.
Students have the choice of over 100 different modules
to take. The course builds on a foundation in the first
year of introductory modules in the Humanities and a
core module on The Enlightenment, in which students will
learn about the great philosophers that have shaped the
arts, science and political outlook of the Western
world.
In addition to further options in all these
different disciplines, BA Liberal Arts students take a
specially designed second year module called 'The World
in Question' which examines multiple perspectives on
subject such as 'Empire', 'The Self' and 'Nature.'
The
third year module on 'Dangerous Ideas', exposes them to
classic essays of irony, wit, political argument, social
observation, and scepticism through classic essays from
Jonathan Swift to George Orwell, and classic manifestos
of politics, art and even higher education.
We are fortunate to be at the heart of so many
internationally recognised departments with scholars,
who have made Essex renowned for its authority in areas
as diverse as European history, continental philosophy,
surrealism, Latin American cultures, criminology and
creative writing, and to be linked with fantastic
theatre and arts programmes on campus.
Not only do we
encourage our students to explore all these realms of
knowledge here, but we sponsor a number of Study Abroad
opportunities in the US, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong,
Japan, Latin America, the Middle East, and the European
Union to Humanities students. At the end of their
degree, we see students who have satisfied their desire
for knowledge, become creative and articulate and who
can go forth with confidence and style.