The liberal arts degree program at Saint Vincent College allows students to participate in an academic community where young women and men learn and develop skills that prepare them for success in both their personal and professional lives. Liberal arts is a key part of State Vincent College’s mission statement and the institution ranks as a top liberal arts college in the northeast.
To help liberal arts students succeed, they will be paired with a committed faculty member who will design an individualized plan of studies for them.
All majors will complete a research project directed by two faculty members, which results in strengthened critical thinking and writing skills.
The Liberal Arts degree program fosters the idea that education is environmental rather than compartmental, general before it can be specific. The faculty view the program to be an excellent preparation for further study in professional and graduate schools and for careers in social services, the legal field, professional health and business.
Our belief is that a person who learns how to discover, evaluate and develop a problem, how to secure the information required by these processes and why he or she does so at all is well prepared to live in a humane and valuable way.
Liberal arts is just as concerned with the plumber, the carpenter or factory worker as the poet, mathematician or philosopher and with creating from these disciplines a more meaningful life. For the primary question is always: What is man? What does it mean to be?
Liberal Arts Major Requirements (61 credits):
Physics* - 4 credits
Fine Arts * - 3 credits
AN 101 Introduction to Anthropology* or
AN 222 Cultural Anthropology* - 3 credits
PY 100 Introduction to Psychological Science** - 3 credits
LA 200 Methods and Techniques of Research - 3 credits
LA 250 Seminar: Readings for Liberal Arts Majors - 3 credits
LA 325 Senior Seminar for Liberal Arts Majors - 3 credits
Concentration *** - 18 credits
Minor*** - 18 credits
Total - 61 credits
*These are specific requirements for the major and do not satisfy the core.
**A major requirement which will satisfy the core.
***A maximum of six credits from the concentration and/or minor may be used to fulfill core curriculum requirements.
The Concentration
In consultation with his or her faculty adviser, the Liberal Arts major will design a concentration. The 18-credit concentration may be achieved either vertically or horizontally.
A vertical concentration focuses on covering an existing traditional academic discipline, such as history, modern language, sociology or biology, in depth.
A horizontal concentration is interdisciplinary, allowing students to take courses from a variety of different traditional academic disciplines such as history, modern language, sociology and biology.
In either concentration, the student may include only one introductory or survey level course, e.g., SO 101 Introduction to Sociology.
The student, with the guidance of the faculty adviser, identifies the form of the concentration and the courses that will comprise it. The theme and form of the concentration is determined in the fall semester of the junior year.
In addition to the self-designed option, the student may choose to fulfill the requirement by completing one of the following suggested concentrations: American Studies, Business Studies, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Pre-Health studies and Quantitative Studies.
American Studies
HI 106 Topics in U.S. History to 1865 or
HI 107 Topics in U.S. History since 1865 - 3 credits
EL 131 American Literature: Exploration to Civil War or
EL 132 American Literature: Civil War to Present - 3 credits
TH 362 Religion in America - 3 credits
SO 200 Race and Ethnicity - 3 credits
PS 290 Institutions - 3 credits
PL 216 Ethical Problems - 3 credits
Business Studies
BA 100 Financial Accounting I - 3 credits
BA 101 Financial Accounting II - 3 credits
BA 104 Introduction to Management - 3 credits
EC 101 Principles of Microeconomics or
EC 102 Principles of Macroeconomics - 3 credits
BA 305 Business Ethics - 3 credits
BA 320 Corporation Finance I - 3 credits
Cultural Studies
Modern Language 300 level courses - 6 credits
History (200 level that corresponds to the language) - 3 credits
AN 328 Linguistic Anthropology - 3 credits
EL 138 Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States - 3 credits
TH 380 World Religions - 3 credits
Media Studies
CA 100 Introduction to Mass Media - 3 credits
CA 130 Introduction to Digital Media - 3 credits
CA 235 Introduction to Web Design - 3 credits
CA 285 Electronic Media - 3 credits
CA 230 Writing for Media - 3 credits
EL 108 Technical Writing - 3 credits
Pre-Health Studies
CH 101-104 General Chemistry I and II & lab - 8 credits
MA 109 Calculus I - 4 credits
CH 221-224 Organic Chemistry I and II & lab - 8 credits
PH 111-114 General Physics I and II & lab - 8 credits
Students who select this concentration must fulfill the requirements for a biology minor.
Quantitative Studies
MA 109 Calculus I - 4 credits
MA 110 Calculus II - 4 credits
PY 203 Statistics I - 3 credits
PY 204 Statistics II - 3 credits
Select one of the following:
PH 112 and PH 114 General Physics II and Lab - 4 credits
BL 152 and BL 153 General Biology II and Lab - 4 credits
CH 102 and CH 104 General Chemistry II and Lab - 4 credits
The Academic Project
In the final semester of study, the liberal arts student must present an academic project done in the field of his or her concentration and/or minor. Because it is the culminating activity for the Liberal Arts major, the ideal project combines the concentration and the minor.
The project may take any number of forms, including:
The sequence for the senior liberal arts project begins in the fall semester of the junior year when the student enrolls in LA 250 Methods and Techniques of Research and concludes in the spring semester of the senior year when the student presents his/her research findings at the college’s Annual Academic Research Conference.
Liberal arts jobs are available in a variety of fields including education, communication, environmental science, business, hospitality, sports, social science and government.
Many liberal arts degree students will pursue graduate studies in such areas as education, public health rehabilitative science, biology, history and architecture.
Liberal arts majors may also pursue professional health studies in medicine, dentistry, chiropractic, physical therapy and nursing.
Listed below are some examples of liberal arts careers:
Saint Vincent College liberal arts majors have completed successful internships at the following institutions:
Completing a liberal arts major at Saint Vincent College will enable students to: