College of Liberal Arts

Interim Dean and Professor: P. Mehl (PhD), 450-5282
Interim Associate Dean and Associate Professor: M. Mullenbach (PhD), 450-5139

[1] Mission

The College of Liberal Arts is a community of teachers, scholars and students whose primary mission is the pursuit of knowledge. Through teaching, advising, scholarly or creative endeavors and community and professional service, the faculty members of the college seek to extend their own knowledge, the knowledge of their students and the knowledge of other members of the larger community. By exploring and freely exchanging ideas, members of the college advance the understanding of different disciplines, cultures, and viewpoints.

The College of Liberal Arts is committed to establishing and maintaining a culturally diverse environment characterized by openness and mutual respect. Through its recruitment of faculty, staff and students, its curricular offerings and its extra-curricular activities, the college seeks to introduce students from many backgrounds to the great diversity of groups and cultural traditions that characterizes American society and the world.

The college provides university students with a broad education in the liberal arts. The goals of a liberal undergraduate education include the following:

• To introduce students to a variety of disciplines and categories of human knowledge so that they may discover, develop and use their full range of abilities;
• To enable students to reason clearly, to inquire deeply into the purposes and consequences of events and to exercise sound, critical, historically informed judgment;
• To provide students with a basic foundation of knowledge on which more advanced learning in the various disciplines and majors can later build; and
• To prepare students to become more responsible and adaptable human beings who understand the complexity of a constantly changing world and who are prepared to function effectively in a globally interdependent world.
• To engage students in experiential learning through such activities as undergraduate research projects, internships, study abroad, and service-learning.

The College of Liberal Arts offers a rich variety of UCA Core courses, with a focus on the areas of American History and Government, Social Science, Humanities, Diversity, and Responsible living. In addition, the College of Liberal Arts provides opportunities for more comprehensive learning in a number of academic areas, including several interdisciplinary programs. Students who choose one of the college’s major or minor undergraduate programs of study begin to master the knowledge and research methods of a particular field of learning and, as appropriate, to prepare for a career.

Graduate programs in English, history, and Spanish are provided for post-baccalaureate students who wish a more advanced, focused education in these areas. Through public lectures, conferences, and other cultural offerings, the college also provides members of the university and the general community with numerous opportunities for intellectual and personal growth.

[2] Departments

The department names link to the department pages in this issue of the UBulletin.

[3] Honors in the Majors Programs

[4] Degrees Offered

[4.1]Associate Degree

The associate of arts degree in general education requires 38 hours of lower-division UCA Core courses and 22 hours of electives for a total of 60 unduplicated college credits to complete the degree, and a minimum 2.0 cumulative grade point average. See Degree Requirements, § 1, for more detailed information.

[4.2] Bachelor of Arts

[4.3] Bachelor of Science

[4.4] Bachelor of Science in Education

[4.5] Pre-Professional Studies

[4.6] Master of Arts

[4.7] Minors