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.