The liberal arts program in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences is the heart of East Carolina University. The college boasts more than 11,000 students and 400 faculty members who hold advanced degrees from leading universities both in the United States and abroad. Graduates from our sixteen departments and eleven interdisciplinary programs are among society's finest and most successful leaders in such areas as business, government, science, law, medicine, and entertainment. After earning a degree in a liberal arts discipline, our alumni are inspired to set high standards and strive for excellence; they are prepared to challenge, think, and question; and they are equipped to solve problems, bringing about positive changes in our world.
On behalf of our students and faculty, thank you for your interest in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences and its liberal arts program.
Dr. Alan White, Dean
The Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences
For more than half a century, East Carolina's liberal arts program has been preparing students to become society's leaders. In 1941, the Board of Trustees approved an undergraduate degree program in liberal arts disciplines for students wanting to pursue a nonteaching degree. When East Carolina College was elevated to university status in 1967, the School of Arts and Sciences became the College of Arts and Sciences, the home of the liberal arts.
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
William Butler Yeats
The term "liberal arts" originally referred to a course of studies befitting a free, as opposed to enslaved, person. It encompassed seven areas of study: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, grammar, rhetoric, logic, and music. However, over the years, the term has come to refer to a college or university program associated with traditional academic disciplines rather than professional studies.
"Only the educated are free."
Epictetus
The liberal arts disciplines equip students with valuable workplace skills. Among these skills are the abilities to reason and think critically, to understand various cultures as well as the world, and to communicate knowledge effectively. Students acquire both a continuing love of learning and the skills necessary to obtain positions of leadership in business and industry. In fact, a large percentage of chief executive officers of the Fortune 500 companies graduated with a degree in a liberal arts discipline.
"The qualifications needed for leadership in industry are developed largely through a liberal arts education."
Gilbert W. Chapman
Career options are unlimited for students in the liberal arts disciplines. For instance, a political science degree opens pathways to careers in public service at local, state, and federal levels. A degree in anthropology, coupled with a minor in history or geography, is an excellent path to a career as an archivist or museum curator. A chemistry major with an English writing minor is an appropriate combination for a career in the pharmaceutical industry, medical writing, or scientific editing. A dual major in physics and mathematics is great preparation for a career in the computer and electronics industry. With a degree in a liberal arts discipline, the possibilities are endless.
"If we succeed in giving the loving of learning, the learning itself is sure to follow."
John Lubbock
