Liberal Arts

Understand the world in all its cultural, ethical and political complexity. In this liberal arts degree you can study subjects across the arts, humanities, and social sciences, examining questions about our place in the world and our ability to change it.

A liberal arts degree provides the well-rounded perspective that so many of the world’s most important challenges require. You’ll choose topics according to your interests, and develop the skills to tackle problems with a variety of methods and from different perspectives. These skills will place you in an excellent position for a successful career or further study.

You'll gain expertise in the subjects that interest you most through your choice of a dedicated pathway on this course. You can choose a pathway subject from the following areas:

Arts: film or music
Humanities: archaeology, english, history, linguistics, or philosophy
Languages: french, german, portuguese, or spanish
Social sciences: criminology, politics, or sociology

When completing your UCAS form you must indicate your proposed pathway subject under ‘further details’ in the ‘choices’ section of the application. This helps us allocate space on your chosen subject.

Year in industry
You may also be eligible to apply to undertake the University’s Year in Employment. (YIE). This offers you a great opportunity to complete a work placement between Year 2 and Year 3 of your degree and will help you develop work-based skills. You can choose a placement in any sector you like, whether it’s aligned to your degree or in a completely new area of interest.

Year abroad
This course includes a study abroad year at one of our partners in Europe, North America, Australia or Asia. This is a fantastic way to broaden your cultural horizons, take on new challenges, and add International experience to your CV.

It's also an opportunity to learn new skills and enhance your employability within the global marketplace.

This degree offers you an excellent foundation in liberal arts and expertise in a subject area of your choice. There is also the option to study abroad for a year or spend a year in employment between year 2 and year 3. You can choose to study this course full time or part time.

Year 1 overview
You'll take two compulsory liberal arts modules where you'll explore and critically evaluate:

differences between the sciences and humanities
unique challenges in studying human beings
questions about the nature of truth and objectivity

You'll also take two or three compulsory modules in your pathway subject. Finally, you'll choose further modules from at least two other subjects available in the degree. At the end of your first year, you'll choose two of these additional subjects to continue with in your second and third years. Alternatively, you can replace one of them with a language option.

Year 2 overview
Through the core liberal arts module in the second year, you'll build on your understanding of ideas and issues surrounding:

human nature
culture
the relationship between the self and society
You'll also study more specialist knowledge in your chosen pathway subject. Finally, you'll choose module options from the two additional subjects you chose at the end of year one.

In the second year you'll also have the opportunity to take a year out to study abroad or do in a year in employment. Further details and the requirements needed for these can be found on the modules page.

Year 3 overview
You'll deepen your study and complete an independent dissertation in your pathway subject. You'll also take further modules in your pathway, as well as further options in your additional subjects.

You can see full module information here: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/courses/liberal-arts-degree-ba#modules

The learning activities for this course include the following:

• lectures
• classes and tutorials
• coursework
• individual and group projects
• independent learning (studying on your own)