Liberal Studies

Coordinator: Gordon P. Cheesewright
Email: cheesewright@fortlewis.edu

Professors: Gordon P. Cheesewright (English), Robert R. Bunting (History), David L. Kozak (Anthropology), Kathryn S. Moller (Theatre), and Susan M. Moss (Art)
Associate Professors: Kathleen (Catalina) P. Aguilar (Modern Languages), Michael C. Anziano (Psychology), Lisa C. Campi-Walters (Music), Janine M. Fitzgerald (Sociology), Jennifer A. Gehrman-Seis (English, Gender and Women’s Studies), Katherine D. Jetter (Music), Michael T. Martin (History), Dugald L. Owen (Philosophy), and Deborah L. Walker (Economics)

What is it?

A Liberal Studies major gives students several ways to explore their three favorite disciplines - three different approaches to studying the power and complexity of human achievement. The basic concept of the major emphasizes flexibility and freedom. Students choose their three complementary disciplines from six humanities and eight social science disciplines. Above all, the interdisciplinary nature of the major gives students a broad cultural knowledge and several approaches to making that knowledge meaningful.

What can you do with it?

If you’re someone who wants the major’s broad cultural grounding, you’ll earn a bachelor’s degree that depends on a variety of approaches that prepare you for teaching and other jobs in education, for graduate school, for careers in law, business, social service agencies like adult and family services, health and welfare organizations, criminal justice, research enterprises, or government service. The wide range of careers in liberal studies also demand a wide range of skills such as the ability to gather, categorize, and implement approaches to difficult problems; the ability to understand and analyze complex concepts and to arrive at sound, defensible judgments and decisions regarding them; and the ability to organize information, draw inferences, write persuasively, and fashion memorable presentations.

How does the major work?

Liberal Studies offers four separate tracks or emphases. Students in the General Track combine three complementary fields from the Humanities and Social Sciences to illumine culture and human achievement from different perspectives. Some students add still another focused perspective by choosing one of the three optional tracks. Some students find that engaging themselves with community agencies enables them to see immediate, practical applications of their liberal studies. Some students prefer to work in a more theoretical way to break down disciplinary differences by emphasizing interdisciplinary studies. Still others enjoy the stimulation of adding a few honors seminars on writing and on special topics. Whether you are one of the students who elects to emphasize community engagement, interdisciplinary studies, or honors seminars for a special focus or whether you are one of those who feel satisfied with the flexibility and freedom of the general track, the Liberal Studies major captures the spirit of studies in the tradition of the liberal arts.

What are the fourteen disciplines?

Traditional Humanities Disciplines	Traditional Social Sciences Disciplines
Art	Anthropology
English	Economics
Modern Language	Gender and Women’s Studies
Music	History
Philosophy	Native American and Indigenous Studies
Theatre	Political Science
	Psychology
	Sociology

Major in Liberal Studies:

Liberal Studies Major