Choosing a major can often be harder than actually completing it. Some students just don't want to narrow their focus - but the Office of Honors and Scholars has presented a solution.
The honors office is creating a liberal arts major, intended for students who are not comfortable concentrating in a single area during their undergraduate years. Students in the major have the opportunity to study in at least three areas where students fulfill demanding yet broad requirements.
Josephine Capuana, administrative director of the University Honors Program, often saw students torn between several areas of study.
"They wanted to take a wide range of courses," Capuana said. "They were not ready to make a career choice at this point in time."
The ability to include several different areas of study into a degree is what can be so attractive to liberal arts majors.
Brent Anderson, a senior, changed his major 11 times before hearing about the new Liberal Arts program. He now takes courses in three different areas - science, English, and social behavioral sciences.
"I have a broad range of interests . I just like too many things," said Anderson.
When Anderson graduates in May, he will be the first UB student to graduate with a liberal arts degree, which he believes will prepare him fully for graduate school, where he might pursue a career in public health.
"A liberal arts background is pretty versatile . it's more of a growth thing for me," he said. "The reason I did it was because I was able to study a lot of different things that are interesting, and it really made me a well-rounded person."
The major is available to any UB student with a GPA of 3.5 or higher. The requirements are demanding, but tailored to students with wide-ranging educational goals. Students have the option of taking advanced courses in several different areas that interest them, according to Dulski.
Aside from completing UB's General Education requirement, liberal arts majors must also complete 36 hours of course work in at least three areas of their choosing, ranging from literature to mathematics to the natural sciences.
Additionally, liberal arts majors must complete a "personal development requirement," in which they can study abroad, complete an internship, or perform community service. Anderson fulfilled this requirement by participating in the "Semester at Sea" program, where students can travel the world by boat, studying in different countries.
The culminating experience of the liberal arts major is the honors thesis. Majors are required to write an in-depth research paper connecting the themes of their wide range of courses that must be completed by the end of their senior year.
Dulski said some students have the desire to take a broad range of classes but do not feel comfortable graduating with only a liberal arts degree.
"(Students) know that their bread and butter - their salary - is going to be from computer science or engineering, but they really are interested in literature, or psychology or philosophy," Dulski said.
For these students, the directors of the program make it easy to take liberal arts as a double major along with a more focused degree. Now, according to Dulski, "they can explore different areas and also pursue what's going to sustain them for life."
Prior to the creation of this degree, students had to design a special major to suit their needs. The Honors Office hopes to formalize this process, said Dulski.
While there are only a handful of students currently pursuing a liberal arts degree at UB, the directors are eager for more applicants.
"(The degree) meshes in easily . we're trying to remove as many hurdles as possible and make this, really, a very good educational experience for the students," said Capuana.
For more information about the liberal arts degree, contact Christine Dulski in the Honors Office at 214 Talbert Hall, or call 645-3020.
