The Liberal Arts

Emerson knows you have a variety of interests—interests that can cut across traditional department lines and disciplines. The liberal arts courses you will take as a general education foundation will provide you with broad exposure to the fields of politics, history, philosophy, science, literature, and the arts.

General Education Requirements

Liberal Arts courses are taught in every academic department on campus. Emerson’s General Education curriculum includes coursework from three areas:

• Foundations: includes oral and written communication, and quantitative reasoning
• Perspectives: students must complete one course from each of the following perspectives: Aesthetic, Ethics and Values, Historical, Interdisciplinary, Literary, Scientific, and Social and Psychological
• U.S. and Global Diversity: includes two diversity courses and two courses of a single foreign language

First-Year Seminars

No matter which academic program you pursue at Emerson, you will find the First-Year Institute Seminars to be a rich and exciting introduction to academic life. Class sizes are small, and the curriculum emphasizes topics, assignments, and instructional approaches that address the academic demands of your first year.

A Sample of Past Seminar Topics

• Behind the Headlines: The Culture of International News
• Jewish Origins of Punk Rock
• Comic Books in American Culture
• Literature of Extreme Situations
• Life and Death: Science and Psychology of Survival

The Honors Program

The Emerson College Honors Program is a four-year, interdisciplinary program consisting of intensive liberal arts honors seminars, collaborative research projects, and faculty-directed independent study.

Consider applying to Emerson’s Honors Program if you’re a highly motivated, academically gifted student. High school students should apply in the fall of their senior year.