College of Liberal Arts

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Purpose and Focus

The College of Liberal Arts offers a rich variety of courses, majors, and interdisciplinary programs in the humanities and the social sciences. A liberal arts education develops an array of intellectual skills, the ability to use a variety of methodologies to understand our changing world, and, a broad base of diverse knowledge. Our courses and degree programs are designed to provide such a foundation and to create life-long learners who can adapt to the inevitably changing environments they will encounter.

The College includes outstanding faculty who thoughtfully balance their roles as creators of knowledge through original research and disseminators of knowledge as dedicated teachers. Many of our faculty members have earned national and international reputations as a result of their published work in fields ranging from Anthropology to Gender and Sexuality Studies. We encourage you to take advantage of the wealth of educational opportunities available in our College - including internships, field work experiences, lab experiences, and more- and the various clubs and organizations that our departments offer. We are also justly proud of our Wilson Advising Center. As you make decisions about your educational future, we encourage you to consult with Wilson Advising and to speak with any professor or chairperson in the College to plan your program of study. Whether you are taking courses in the College to fulfill core requirements or are majoring in one of our degree programs, we welcome you.

Accreditation

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Departments, Majors, and Undergraduate Degrees

Department of Anthropology
Anthropology — Bachelor of Arts

Department of English
English — Bachelor of Arts
English Creative Writing Concentration
English Professional Writing Concentration  

Department of History
History — Bachelor of Arts

Interdisciplinary, Gender, and Ethnic Studies
African American and African Diaspora Studies — Bachelor of Arts
Gender and Sexuality Studies - Bachelor of Arts
Asian and Asian American Studies  — Bachelor of Arts
Latinx and Latin American Studies — Bachelor of Arts
Multidisciplinary Studies — Bachelor of Arts
Social Science Studies — Bachelor of Arts

Department of Philosophy
Philosophy — Bachelor of Arts
Philosophy Law and Justice Concentration

Department of Political Science
Political Science — Bachelor of Arts

Department of Psychology
Psychology — Bachelor of Arts

Department of Sociology
Sociology — Bachelor of Arts

Department of World Languages and Cultures
French — Bachelor of Arts
German — Bachelor of Arts
Romance Languages — Bachelor of Arts
Spanish — Bachelor of Arts
Spanish for the Professions — Bachelor of Arts

Graduate Degree Programs

For information on graduate degrees and programs refer to the Graduate Catalog.

Minors

African American and African Diaspora Studies
American Indian and Indigenous Studies
Anthropology
Asian and Asian American Studies
Chinese
Classical Studies
Creative Writing
English
French Studies
German Studies
Gender and Sexuality Studies
Gerontology
History
Italian Studies
Japanese Studies
Latinx and Latin American Studies
Neuroscience
Philosophy
Philosophy, Law and Justice
Political Science
Professional Writing
Psychology
Religious Studies
Sociology
Spanish
Spanish for the Professions

Interdisciplinary Academic Certificate Program

Great Works Academic Certificate Program

College Policies

Academic Policies

In addition to NSHE, and UNLV and departmental degree requirements, all majors in the College of Liberal Arts must fulfill 1) an additional three credits of fine arts (any course in ART, DAN, FILM, MUS, or THTR) and 2) six credits of world culture or non-English language. (For clarity, these six credits are referred to below as the “world languages or cultures” requirement; they are referred to in some instances elsewhere in this catalog as “international language” or “foreign language.”). 

Consistent with the University Undergraduate Learning Outcome for “Global Awareness,” the College of Liberal Arts (COLA) world language or culture requirement is designed to enhance students’ awareness and understanding of the diverse context in which we live. This requirement provides students an opportunity either to learn a language other than English or to study the history and development of a culture outside the political and geographical boundaries of the United States.

Note: Some departments in the College of Liberal Arts require students completing a major in their programs to take non-English language to fulfill this requirement. 

Option 1: Students who opt to fulfill this requirement by language courses must take two courses in the same language at the same university level or the equivalent. Students should consult the list of approved language courses available from the Wilson Advising Center. Students awarded Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB) or College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) credits by UNLV for designated courses may use these credits to fulfill this requirement. Students pursuing this option should consult the Department of World Languages and Cultures for its policy concerning the Placement Exam Test. 

Students with foreign language experience, even without formal training or other credentials, may use AP, IB, or CLEP credits; credit by examination or results of the Placement Exam Test to be placed into a higher-level course in the Department of World Languages and Cultures. Students are still required to earn a minimum of six credits, either through coursework or through AP, IB, or CLEP credits or a combination of coursework and exam credit. The Placement Exam does not provide credit.

Option 2: Student who opt to fulfill this requirement by taking world culture courses should consult the list of approved courses available from the Wilson Advising. Certain courses on the College list of approved courses have been accepted by the General Education Committee as fulfilling the international and/or multicultural requirements. Students in College of Liberal Arts majors may use these courses to simultaneously fulfill the College world language/culture requirement and the core general education international or multicultural requirement.

In addition to NSHE and UNLV requirements, all majors in the College of Liberal Arts must fulfill the requirements of the three distribution areas of the Core Curriculum. In other words, Humanities majors must fulfill the humanities distribution requirement outside the major, and Social Science majors must fulfill the social science distribution requirement outside the major. In addition to NSHE and UNLV requirements, all majors in the College of Liberal Arts must complete at least 42 credits at the upper-division level (300–400 level courses). Also, at least 50 percent of courses in a Liberal Arts student’s major must be taken at UNLV. Students may not fulfill general education requirements with courses in their major field.

Probation/Suspension

Students who maintain a UNLV cumulative grade point average of 2.00 or above are in good standing. Those falling below a 2.00 GPA will be subject to University Probation and/or University Suspension. See UNLV Academic Policies in this catalog for a description of the probation and suspension rules.

Liberal Arts/Business Administration Track

The College of Business offers a specially constructed business administration minor. This program prepares Liberal Arts students for a potential business career or for the 30-semester-hour Master’s in Business Administration option at UNLV. Please consult the College of Business section of this catalog for details.

International Study

The College of Liberal Arts encourages international studies. Information is available concerning university affiliations abroad through the Office of International Programs and under “International Programs” in this catalog.

Scholarships

Please refer to College/Departmental Scholarships in the Student Financial Services section of this catalog.

Advisement

All students should contact the Wilson Advising Center for academic advising (https://www.unlv.edu/liberalarts/wac). Students should also make it a point to consult with their faculty advisors for career advising and for more specialized academic advising in their majors or minors.

Writing Center

The Writing Center, staffed by English Department graduate students, offers all UNLV students and staff members assistance with any writing project. Consultants are available to discuss any stage of the writing process, from generating ideas to developing and polishing later drafts. Consultants can help with projects such as reports, newsletters, essays in any discipline, graduate school applications, and much more. The Writing Center is not a proofreading service; consultants help the writers themselves identify and correct problems in their own writing.

The Writing Center also offers workshops throughout the fall and spring semesters on various topics pertaining to writing. Past topics have included “Back to the Basics,” “Mastering the MLA,” “Mastering the APA,” “International English,” “Writing with Style,” and others. New topics are added regularly.

This service, offered through the College of Liberal Arts, is free of charge. For appointments, hours, and/or more information, please visit the Writing Center in the Central Desert Complex Building 3, or call 895-3908.

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