College of Liberal Arts

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Purpose and Focus

The College of Liberal Arts at UNLV offers diverse majors, courses, and interdisciplinary programs across the humanities and social sciences. We provide a liberal arts education that cultivates critical thinking, effective communication, ethical reasoning, and global awareness; skills essential for success in today’s rapidly changing world.

Students explore complex social and cultural issues through many disciplines, including Anthropology, English, History, Interdisciplinary Gender and Ethnic Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and World Languages and Cultures. Our faculty are internationally recognized scholars and dedicated teachers who bring their research into the classroom, offering students engaging and relevant learning experiences.

Our programs emphasize hands-on learning through internships, fieldwork, lab research, community partnerships, and study abroad. Career preparation is built into the curriculum through capstone projects, writing-intensive courses, and opportunities to develop leadership, collaboration, and problem-solving skills. These experiences prepare students for careers in law, public service, nonprofit work, media, education, and more.

Whether fulfilling core requirements or pursuing a major, students benefit from personalized support at the Wilson Advising Center and can deepen their academic journey through clubs, events, and co-curricular programming. The College of Liberal Arts is committed to equipping students not only for their first job but for a lifetime of intellectual growth, adaptability, and meaningful engagement with the world.

Accreditation

For information regarding accreditation at UNLV, please visit Academic Program Accreditations.

Departments, Majors, and Undergraduate Degrees

Department of Anthropology
Anthropology — Bachelor of Arts

Department of History
History — Bachelor of Arts

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

Department of Political Science
Political Science — Bachelor of Arts

Department of Sociology
Sociology — Bachelor of Arts

Graduate Degree Programs

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

Minors

Academic Certificate Programs

Business Spanish
Chinese Language
French Language
French for the Professions

German Language

Italian Language
Spanish for the Professions
Spanish Language
Spanish Linguistics
Spanish Translation

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: Students who opt to fulfill this requirement by taking world culture courses should consult the list of approved courses available from the Wilson Advising Center. 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 general education core 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 and fine arts 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.

Academic Warning/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 Academic Warning and/or University Suspension. See UNLV Academic Policies in this catalog for a description of the academic warning and suspension rules.

Study Abroad

The College of Liberal Arts encourages our students to engage in international study abroad experiences. Information is available concerning university affiliations abroad through the Office of Study Abroad Programs and under “Study Abroad Progams” 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 Resource Center (CRC), Room 216, or call (702) 895-3908.

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