Mission Statement
The Liberal Studies Department allows students to explore the study of different disciplines in an integrated and coherent baccalaureate program that prepares them for careers in teaching, law, medicine, or a variety of other academic fields and professional opportunities. Students can choose one of four options that combine 20-units of interdisciplinary Liberal Studies courses with 48-105 additional units in their selected areas of concentration, including, for example, American Studies, Cultural Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, or Elementary Subject Matter Teacher Preparation. Each option is designed to allow students to link their personal interests with their academic and career objectives. The Liberal Studies major develops the students’ ability to read and interpret texts critically, to understand concepts in a philosophical and cultural context, and to produce insightful and informed arguments in both oral and written form.
Programs of Study
The Department of Liberal Studies at CSULA offers four options leading to the baccalaureate. Option I: Interdisciplinary Studies in Culture and Society; Option II: Elementary Subject Matter Teacher Preparation; Option III: Blended Elementary Subject Matter Teacher Preparation; and Option IV: Elementary Subject Matter Teacher Preparation: Direct Electives.
(1) OPTION I: Interdisciplinary Studies in Culture and Society is a 68-unit program that includes a core of five Liberal Studies (LBS) course (20 units) that are combined with 48 units selected from one or two areas of concentration, such as American Studies; Cultural Studies; Race and Ethnicity; Science, Medicine, and Technology Studies; or Women’s and Gender Studies, that provide students with the opportunity to focus on topics and issues of interest to them.
(2) OPTION II: Elementary Subject Matter Teacher Preparation trains students for a career in teaching by giving them an approved elementary subject matter program including the required courses to help them prepare for the California Subject Examination for Teachers, as part of their baccalaureate prior to entering a preliminary credential program as post-baccalaureate students.
(3) OPTION III: Blended Elementary Subject Matter Teacher Preparation combines the requirements for the baccalaureate in Liberal Studies with the Education courses required for a Preliminary Credential for students seeking a career in teaching who desire to complete their baccalaureate and preliminary credential requirements as undergraduate students.
(4) OPTION IV: Elementary Subject Matter Teacher Preparation: Directed Electives offers students the opportunity to become teachers by helping them either to prepare for the CSET by using their directed electives, with advisor approval, to prepare for the three portions of that exam, or, once they pass the CSET, to use their remaining units to develop a second depth area in one of the subjects commonly taught in the elementary school. Accordingly, students are strongly encouraged to attempt the CSET once they have completed their general education courses in order to assist advisors in selecting courses for them.
Three minors are offered through the Department of Liberal Studies: a Minor in Science, Technology, and Science Studies; an Interdisciplinary Minor in Comparative Linguistics, and a Minor in Women’s and Gender Studies, each of which requires 32 units.
All the options in Liberal Studies draw upon the broad interdisciplinary goals of Liberal Studies and liberal arts programs in colleges and universities around the country. This interdisciplinary focus derives from the liberal arts tradition in which students are trained to think through the full range of approaches to knowledge. The Liberal Studies major represents the ideal of a citizen-thinker who is able to bring to bear a critical mindset to the aesthetic, academic, and civic challenges provided by the modern world.
The Department of Liberal Studies at CSULA is committed to providing our students with an intellectual framework that allows them to examine complex personal, social, and spiritual issues from multiple theoretical and philosophical perspectives. By examining important topics from different perspectives, students can better understand not only the problems they encounter but the heuristic tools that we employ to recognize and solve these problems.
Students completing our Bachelor of Arts degree are prepared for careers in teaching, librarianship, law, medicine, as well as various fields of public service, business, and industry. Liberal Studies students have continued their education in various graduate programs, such as Cultural Studies, American Studies, Art History, Communications, English, History, Film and Television Studies, Critical Studies, and the Social Sciences.
Welcome from the Chair
With a dedicated and enthusiastic faculty and an intellectually diverse and stimulating curriculum, the Department of Liberal Studies is committed to providing its students with the best educational experience possible. We believe that the best education is one that is self motivated and self directed. Our goal is to help students explore the topics and questions that intrigue and excite them, as part of a lifelong project of developing personal awareness and worldly acumen. Accordingly, the Department is committed to giving students the opportunity to focus their studies on selected subjects of interest to them and to explore how interdisciplinary investigation can illuminate them. The Department is also exploring the possibility of offering a master’s degree in Liberal Studies in the future. We invite you to join us in the exciting future that awaits you in the Department of Liberal Studies.
Steven S. Jones, Chair