University of Manchester

BA in Liberal Arts

Liberal Arts at The University of Manchester brings the key concepts of morality, value, truth and what it is to be human to students, underwriting what it is to be a free citizen in the world today. By studying Liberal Arts you are joining a proud intellectual tradition associated with the training, development and empowerment of free citizens.

With an emphasis on interdisciplinary learning, students will be able to tailor their interests throughout the Liberal Arts programme, and respond to key issues that affect the flourishing of free citizens from social inequality to cultural diversity, and from artificial intelligence to climate change.

Aims

• To highlight the important relationship between research and society (universities and the public);
• To train students how to critique the research of others effectively, including appropriate source handling and writing skills;
• To equip students with the skills required to understand and develop interdisciplinary work, including a critical understanding of the challenges that such work presents;
• To allow students to realise and pursue their own research interests through an emphasis on reflective learning and by providing tailored academic support;
• To deliver a diverse and inclusive curriculum that appeals to a range of interests and learning styles, and that encourages critical scrutiny of disciplines and approaches.

Special features

Placement year option

Apply your subject-specific knowledge in a real-world context through a placement year in your third year of study, enabling you to enhance your employment prospects, clarify your career goals and build your external networks.

Connect with like-minded students

Join one of our student societies to further explore your interests, including the Religions and Theology Society, an inclusive community that plans academic and social activities from the first year through to the postgraduate level.

Teaching and learning

The emphasis in Liberal Arts is on becoming an active and engaged citizen and researcher. Core Liberal Arts modules will deliver this through a combination of lectures, seminars, tutorials, and research workshops that link to cultural institutions such as the John Rylands Library, the Science and Industry Museum, and the Manchester Museum.

In their final year, students will also have the opportunity to work with institutions and organisations in Manchester to develop their own world-facing research. Students will be trained in reflective learning, which will be assessed through innovative presentation formats, reports, research proposals, and debates, in addition to essays and exams.

Course unit details

A series of core Liberal Arts modules covering the history of humanities, rhetoric, ethics, and social responsibility provides students with the intellectual foundations required to uncover, contextualise and approach our responses to contemporary global issues.

Students will have the opportunity to complement this knowledge by taking a language, specialising in a Minor subject through Flexible Honours, or distributing their studies across different interdisciplinary thematic clusters.