Liberal Arts

UCAS code: Y000

Here's what University of Southampton says about its Liberal Arts course.

About this course A liberal arts degree provides a holistic and multi-faceted perspective on many of the world’s most pressing challenges. You’ll choose your own pathway through Arts, Humanities, Languages, and Social Sciences, crafting a degree programme to suit your specific interests. You’ll choose from across a wide range of modules, exploring the topics which most interest you, and developing the critical thinking and analytical skills needed to engage with those topics in a rigorous and engaged way. Graduates are equipped with abilities in analytical thinking, creative problem-solving, and effective communication – valuable assets in virtually any profession. These skills will place you in an excellent position for a successful career or further study.

Key features of the course

• Craft your studies with a dedicated pathway in Arts, Humanities, Languages, or Social Sciences, while also exploring interdisciplinary modules across various disciplines.

• Benefit from small group sizes and personalized attention from lecturers and tutors, with a chance to explore your ideas in depth.

• Career skills are embedded at every stage of our courses

• Develop fluency in French, German, Portuguese, or Spanish alongside your core studies, enhancing your global communication skills.

• Gain first hand experience through a year of study abroad at a partner university in Europe, North America, Australia, or Asia, broadening your cultural understanding.

• Study and research through cutting-edge technology at the Digital Humanities facilities, such as virtual reality, 3D scanners and printers, and a 360 degree fully immersive audio-visual centre.

Study Support You’ll be taught by supportive experts who know you as an individual. Small-group seminars and personal tutors will help you build confidence. Beyond academics, you’ll have access to wellbeing resources, peer mentoring, and careers advice, all in a friendly, welcoming community.

Further information The BA Liberal Arts is a three-year, full-time course at our Avenue Campus. You can also apply to add a year abroad or placement year, extending your degree to four years. For details, visit our course page.

The programme is designed to offer a flexible curriculum, which enables you to shape your studies according to your own interests. Students choose one subject as their pathway, and at the end of the first year choose two further supplementary subjects which will structure their module choices in future years. Over the course, you will delve into a range of modules in theoretical and applied subject areas, guided by your personal interests.

Year 1: You will gain foundational skills in Liberal Arts, and in your chosen pathway, though core modules. You will also take optional modules from other liberal arts subjects, which will inform your choice of supplementary subjects. Year 2: You will deepen your understanding of your chosen subjects and the links between them. A dedicated liberal arts module will support your learning, and you will be introduced to more specialist knowledge and understanding in your pathway and supplementary disciplines through your choice of modules. Year 3: You will personalise your degree through a self-directed dissertation project on any topic of your choice, and will choose from a range of specialist modules, each led by active researchers in the field.

For a full list of modules available please visit the course page.

The learning activities for this course include the following:

• lectures
• classes and tutorials
• coursework
• individual and group projects
• independent learning (studying on your own)