Apr 19, 2024  
College Catalog 2023-2024 
    
College Catalog 2023-2024

Interdivisional Liberal Arts


two students looking at a laptop

Faculty

  

Juilliard actively promotes a liberal arts education that provides the humanistic, ethical, social, critical, and aesthetic background essential to personal development and professional excellence. The Liberal Arts foster in students a deeper understanding of themselves and the complex world in which they live.

The Liberal Arts curriculum is designed to address, to the greatest extent possible, the individual needs of every student. While each student’s journey through the program will vary, all students can expect to complete the same number of courses, among them three required core courses: College Writing, Foundations of Knowledge, and Society, Politics, and Culture. Once these courses are completed, students select from among elective courses in order to meet the remaining Liberal Arts requirement.

Electives are offered in fields such as area studies, art history, creative writing, literature, gender, philosophy, and the environment as well as in three modern foreign languages (French, German, and Italian). Most students begin electives in the third and fourth year of the program but may take them earlier. All Liberal Arts courses are conducted in small seminars to foster participation and a spirit of inquiry. Eligible students may also cross-register for certain courses at Columbia and Barnard Colleges.

Through their work in the Liberal Arts, students refine skills in reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking. This program equips them to become active, well-informed citizens; develops their awareness of the social and humanistic dimensions of professional work; and lays the basis for a fulfilling cultural and intellectual life.

Courses

    Liberal Arts CoreLiberal Arts Electives: Humanities (Art History)Liberal Arts Electives: Humanities (Literature and Creative Writing)Liberal Arts Electives: Humanities (Philosophy)Liberal Arts Electives: History and Social SciencesLiberal Arts Electives: LanguagesLiberal Arts Electives: American Studies