School of Liberal Arts: General Information
2008-2009 Academic Year
227
The School of Liberal Arts
School of Liberal Arts
104 Newcomb Hall
Tulane University
New Orleans, LA 70118
Phone:
(504) 865-5225
Fax:
(504) 865-5224
Carole Haber
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Dean
REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS IN THE SCHOOL OF LIBERAL
ARTS
A liberal arts education helps students develop and improve necessary skills of
critical thought and analysis, while learning to express complex analytical
arguments clearly, concisely, and coherently in written prose and oral
presentations. The essence of a liberal arts education is that it combines both
breadth and depth. Breadth assures that students have a basic exposure to the
diverse subjects of the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, with their
distinctive ways of defining issues, thinking about problems, assessing evidence
and reaching conclusions. Breadth also ensures that students have some
understanding of the fine arts and how such works might be understood. Depth
requires students to gain a deeper understanding of a discipline and its modes of
thought, with all the subtleties and complexities that this entails, while learning
how difficult it is to attain anything approaching true mastery.
Students completing a BA or BFA degree in the School of Liberal Arts must
complete a minimum of 120 credits, 66 of which are above the 100 level with a
cumulative grade point average of at least 2.000 and a major GPA of at least
2.000.
Students completing majors in Anthropology, Economics, or Linguistics may
elect to complete a BS or BA degree. For information on the BS requirements,
consult the relevant departmental section of this catalog.
The Faculty of the School of Liberal Arts believes that to achieve a breadth
appropriate to the goals of the liberal arts education, students need to go beyond