Liberal Studies

Coordinator: Gordon Cheesewright
Email: cheesewright@fortlewis.edu

Professors: Gordon Cheesewright (English), Kathleen Fine-Dare (Anthropology), Janine Fitzgerald (Sociology), David Kozak (Anthropology), Susan Moss (Art), and Deborah Walker (Economics)
Associate Professors: Kathleen (Catalina) Aguilar (Modern Languages), Michael Anziano (Psychology), Lisa Campi-Walters (Music), Bradley Clark (Political Science), Jennifer Gehrman-Seis (English; Gender and Women’s Studies), Katherine Jetter (Music), Michael Martin (History), and Dugald Owen (Philosophy)

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 uses a variety of approaches to prepare you for teaching and other jobs in education or for graduate school; for careers in law, business, social service agencies such as adult and family services, health and welfare organizations, criminal justice or research enterprises; or for government service. The wide range of careers in liberal studies also demands 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 a 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 in the Community Engagement track. Some students prefer to work in a more theoretical way to break down disciplinary differences by emphasizing the Interdisciplinary track. Still others enjoy the stimulation of adding a few honors seminars on writing and on special topics in the Honors track. 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 feels satisfied with the flexibility and freedom of the general track, the Liberal Studies major captures the spirit of academic inquiry 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