Division of Liberal Arts

Colleges & Divisions
Office of the Dean Credit Hour Ratio Liberal Arts Mission Statement Liberal Arts Division Objectives Transfer Credit Policy and Requirements University Writing Standards Writing Program

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UG Liberal Arts Distribution
Transfer Credit Policy

Office of the Dean

Catherine Gunther Kodat \ ckodat@uarts.edu \ 215.717.6262
Dean

Sara Allen \ sallen@uarts.edu \ 215.717.6261
Assistant to the Dean

Christa DiMarco \ cdimarco@uarts.edu \ 215.717.6512
Director of Writing

Office of the Dean
Terra Building Room 801 | 215.717.6261 | liberalarts@uarts.edu | Liberal Arts Website

In addition to the major requirements for earning a bachelor’s degree at the University of the Arts, all undergraduate students must complete approximately one-third of their studies (42 credits) in the liberal arts. This requirement reflects the University’s conviction that the liberal arts are essential for the education of artists, designers, performers, and writers.

Credit-hour Ratio

Liberal arts credit is earned at the ratio of 1 credit per class contact hour.

Liberal Arts Mission Statement

The Liberal Arts Division aims to develop students’ powers of critical thinking and their understanding of the history and criticism of the creative arts, to introduce them to philosophic and scientific modes of thought, and to the study of human cultures and societies. In sum, we aim to refine students’ perceptions of both their inner world and their outer world and to help make them both intellectually responsible and creative. The Liberal Arts Division represents a common ground in the curriculum where students from both colleges meet. It thus offers a unique forum for artistic and academic exchanges.

Liberal Arts Division Objectives

Successful Liberal Arts students will demonstrate mastery of:

Critical thinking skills, including:

analysis
synthesis
evaluation
problem solving
cross-disciplinary learning

Communication and literacy skills, including:

interpretive reading
written communication
oral communication
information literacy

Cultural literacy, including:

knowledge of cultural history
the relationships among liberal arts and studio arts disciplines
knowledge of disciplines and significant works in the humanities and the natural and social sciences.

University Writing Standards

The faculty of the University have established a standard of competence for all formal papers written for liberal arts and studio courses.

Citations of any text used must be appropriately documented. The MLA style, as detailed in Diane Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference, is taught in the writing program. Lack of knowledge of citation procedures will not be an acceptable explanation for plagiarism.
Papers must be free of consistent patterns of error in punctuation and grammar and must be spell-checked and proofread.
Papers must be word-processed and printed with appropriate margins. In addition, papers must be conceptually and visually divided into paragraphs as appropriate.

Writing Program

The Writing Program is designed to meet the individual needs of art students. A student’s path through the writing program will be tailored to suit specific reading and writing aims, providing opportunities to strengthen academic and artistic processes. For example, a student enrolling in Fundamentals of Composition I (LACR 009) may move in to Fundamentals of Composition II (LACR 100) and then Fundamentals of Composition III (LACR 103), completing the writing sequence in three semesters. Another student may begin in Fundamentals of Composition II (LACR 100) and then enter Fundamentals of Composition III (LACR 103), completing the sequence in two semesters. Finally, a student may enter First Year Writing I (LACR 101) and move in to First-Year Writing II (LACR 102), completing the sequence in two semesters. There are other course combinations that would fulfill the First Year Writing requirement, and the Writing Program’s goal is to advise students according to their writing and reading progress during the first year.