Natalie Barletta – Special to the Southern News
Part of the college experience is the freedom. Freedom to make your own choices, such as what you’re going to eat, how long you’re going to spend on your homework, and whether or not you should have that third cookie. For the first time ever, you have the power to choose your classes, what they are, and when they are.
One of the newer majors that’s offered at Southern is the Liberal Studies program, which offers that same mentality. An interdisciplinary studies degree is offered in a Bachelor of Science, and a Bachelor of Arts. For a Bachelor of Arts, you can take two different minors to combine it into one giant major. Do you have three areas of interest? Well, that’s no problem. You can earn a Bachelor of Science instead, and have three concentrations. Since there’s maximum flexibility, you can take classes that will help you further your career.
“I think that it’s a great thing, because students can specialize and not be kept in a box. Every career path is different, and some jobs are more competitive than others,” says Alex Roberts, senior journalism major at Southern Connecticut State University.
The ultimate goal of the program is to provide students with self-disciplined programs, which helps students design their own majors. Doing this creates an education that is unique to the individual, because they are getting what they want rather than conform to a specific major’s requirements.
Liberal Studies is the perfect major for people that want to major in something that Southern doesn’t have. Did you know that SCSU doesn’t have a criminal justice major, but a criminal justice minor? Well, for those who want to major in that, Liberal Studies is a great fix because you can combine it in another field, such as sociology, and psychology that could go hand in hand.
I recently switched my major from English to Liberal Studies. One of the reasons why I did was because I felt like the program could offer me more than my old one, because by doing so, I could take classes to help me prepare for what I wanted my career to be. Currently, my concentrations are Journalism, and Creative Writing. Each of my minors are 18 credits, and combined it’s a 36 credit degree program. However, out of my 120 credits that I have to receive, 36 have to be upper (300 and 400) level courses.
A common myth of the liberal studies department is that you can’t find a job with this sort of degree. But, let’s look at the people who are getting this degree. “I think it makes someone more profitable, because companies loom for people who are as well rounded as possible”, says Roberts.
Many are double majors who also are majoring in education. Therefore, having a strong background in something such as English and either a social science, a language or math you more marketable as a teacher. For many, they won’t be ceasing their education when they zip up their caps and gowns and walk that graduation stage. Many students nowadays do in fact plan to go for their Master’s degree, whether it’s a field that they do in fact get an undergraduate degree in or not. It’s extremely common for law school students to have a bachelor’s in liberal studies.
When I throw on my black cap and gown in a few years, I don’t plan to end my education at the undergraduate level. After graduation, I do in fact plan to go on to get my master’s, and with the help of the Liberal Studies program, I will gain the proper skills to help aid me into my field.
