The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is C.W. Post's oldest,
largest, and most diverse academic unit. It remains the center
of intellectual life on campus -- indeed, the heart and
soul of Post -- and continues to afford its students what
they need most for success in the world of work and satisfaction
in their personal lives.
The College's chief resource is its full-time faculty. Numbering
well over a hundred, they include many highly accomplished
scholars, researchers, and artists. What most unites these
humanists, social scientists, mathematicians, and scientists
is a dedication to excellence in teaching. Liberal arts and
sciences students rarely, if ever, attend large classroom
lectures and regularly receive a great deal of personal attention.
Through its thirteen departments, the College offers over
forty majors programs, at least as many minors and concentrations,
nearly twenty master's programs, accelerated bachelor's/master's
programs, and a doctoral program in clinical psychology. There
are such traditional majors as English, history, sociology,
and chemistry, as well as distinctive programs in international
studies, environmental studies, molecular biology, and applied
mathematics. We have a fine pre-medical and pre-law advisory
system, and the program in interdisciplinary studies enables
graduate students to develop a purposefully idiosyncratic
course of study.
There is, of course, a practical side to liberal learning
at Post. We realize it matters to students that a degree in
chemistry usually leads to a first job closely linked to the
major; that a dual major in biology and English can open the
way to a job in scientific writing or editing; or that the
right combination for a job in government or banking may be
a dual major in economics and history with a minor in Spanish.
The emphasis at the College is on cultivating the skills
and habits of mind that are essential for shaping a career.
Most employers favor broadly educated individuals who can
write well, think clearly, and keep learning while on the
job. Typically, the former arts and sciences student is the
one who will figure out a way to change a task or job that
needs to be reinvented.
The best evidence of the value of an arts and sciences degree
is the accomplishments of our alumni -- thousands of whom
have gone on to positions of responsibility in business, industry,
finance, public service, education, the arts, and the professions.
- Katherine Hill-Miller, Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences |
