Prospective Students

Why Study Liberal Arts?

Adults of all ages who hold a baccalaureate degree (usually a B.S. or B.A.) are welcome to apply to the program. The openness and flexibility of the curriculum, together with the unique and stimulating interdisciplinary courses developed and taught by Wake Forest faculty specifically for this program, provide each student an opportunity to broaden and deepen her/his knowledge and capacity for critical thinking and intelligent practice.

Every stage of life, from the first years right out of college to mid-life ponderings about a change of career or direction, to the freedom to continue learning as you prepare for and enter retirement, brings its own perspectives and interests. When people of varied ages and stages are meeting together in the classroom around intriguing topics, the discussions are remarkable for their lively exchanges and shared insights.

WHY PURSUE A DEGREE IN LIBERAL ARTS?

Listen to the comments of some current and recent students:

But why liberal arts? Isn’t that what we did in college? Yes, whatever our major, almost all baccalaureate degrees require some exposure to other fields so that we get a more comprehensive education. What we often don’t get in college – or maybe just aren’t ready for – is a chance to integrate our new knowledge and discover its transformative impact on us. This is why a graduate degree in liberal arts can be so life-changing for adult learners: we want to know what fields of knowledge other than what we studied before have to offer us, how ideas and approaches of various disciplines fit together, what new knowledge is having an impact on human questions, and how we can weave our growing knowledge into the fabric of our lives, work, and activities.

Liberal arts are an ancient/modern way of organizing knowledge in the traditions of Western culture, drawing on Greek and Roman origins, and ordered into a curriculum in early universities. They are “liberal” in freeing the mind from ignorance, superstition, and nonsense, and freeing us to grow in our capacity for learning and informed action. And they are “arts” of freedom grounded in the various disciplines: practices of perceiving, describing, and acting for the betterment of our natural and human world.

Our Liberal Arts Studies M.A. degree is our effort to carry on and adapt this great tradition of learning for the 21st century.