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Contents of this page:
New: Liberal Arts Proposal as Approved by College Curriculum Committee

• Option 1 | Option 1 Summary of Requirements
• Option 2 | Option 2 Summary of Requirements
• Option 3 | Option 3 Summary of Requirements

October Revision of Liberal Arts Proposal


College of Humanistic Studies
Proposal for an Area and a Major in Liberal Arts
CIP 24-0101

Liberal Arts Area and Major—Justification

• Given the insistence of the Council on Postsecondary Education that Murray State University, to secure additional funding from the state, increase its enrollment without the addition of new faculty, and;
• Given the need for Murray State University to create more cooperative programs, especially those making use of the world-wide web and other distance learning technologies, and the advantage of working on this with sister schools who share many of the same liberal arts and core courses with us, and;
• Given that leaders in business, industry, and the professions are increasingly stressing the need for broadly educated graduates with interpersonal skills, analytical and writing abilities, as well as technical skills (see attached sample articles), and;
• Given the needs of our society over the next generation for leaders who can think creatively and across the lines of traditional disciplines, and;
• Given the need for a program which will focus attention on the liberal arts at Murray State, and the need for a focal point to help unify the programs and departments that will join in creating the new College of Humanities and Fine Arts in July, 4000, as well as a need to create cooperative links with other traditional liberal arts disciplines in the Colleges of Science and Business;
• Given Murray State University's desire to attract the highest quality high school students from the Midwest, in part by having creative programs not found at other state universities in Kentucky,

We propose to establish, using existing resources, an Area and a Major in Liberal Arts at Murray State University. This program will be a focal point for the new College of Humanities and Fine Arts. It will be designed to help students in the Liberal Arts secure both the training in specific vocational skills and the broader education in the liberal arts valued by employers in the workforce leaders of the new century.

Each of these proposed courses of study requires a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Option I: Liberal Arts Area

Increase University Studies electives as follows:

1. Communication and Basic Skills:	add three credit hours
2. Science and Mathematics:	add three/four credit hours
3. Social Sciences:	add three credit hours

This would make the total University Studies requirements for a Liberal Arts Area 58-62 credit hours.

Require Liberal Arts Area students to select, in required consultation with an advisor and no earlier than the first semester of their second year of study, three "concentrations" of eighteen credit hours each. This will give them 112-116 total hours, with additional hours to be earned through an internship, ideally during their junior or first semester of their senior year. These eighteen-hours concentrations will each consist of existing courses, specifically designated by faculty for this purpose, in any one of the following fields:

Art	Music
Theatre	Biology
Dance	Global Studies
Mathematics	English
Foreign Language (one language)	Geography/Anthropology
Sociology	Philosophy
Political Science	History
Psychology	*Interdisciplinary Studies (student-designed)

*(The last area in Interdisciplinary Studies will allow students, with the aid and approval of a faculty advisor, the director of the program, and the Dean of the College of Humanistic Studies or its successor, to create concentrations such as European Studies, Rural Studies, or Race and Gender Studies, using in each of these cases the specifically designated, liberal arts courses.)

Senior Thesis: Each Liberal Arts Area student will be required to write an interdisciplinary senior thesis or creative project (using the capstone course, LBA 438, created for this purpose) in which he or she will be asked to address the topic of the thesis from the perspectives of at least two of the disciplines studied in the major.

Internship: Each Liberal Arts major will be strongly encouraged to arrange a "leadership internship," to be approved by his/her faculty advisor and by an interdisciplinary committee of three faculty members selected by the Director of the Liberal Arts Program. This internship will help the student further develop leadership skills by working in a business/industry/government setting that requires strong written and oral communication and interpersonal skills, good judgment, and careful analysis. This internship could be 6-9 credit hours.

Foreign Study: Each Liberal Arts Area student will be required to participate in one of the study abroad programs or take advantage of other explicitly cross-cultural experiences offered by or at Murray State; this is designed to increase the student's cross-cultural awareness, self-confidence, and leadership ability.

Option I: Summary of Credit Hours - B.A. with Area in Liberal Arts

University Studies courses	58-62 hours
Three Liberal Arts Concentrations	54 hours
Senior Seminar Capstone (LBA 438)	3 hours
Internship	6-9 hours
Free electives as needed	ca. 7 hours
TOTAL =	121-128 hours

OPTION II: Liberal Arts – Double Major

Students take the currently-required number of University Studies courses and pursue a B.A. degree in one of the liberal arts fields listed in Option I.

Students then select a second Liberal Arts major, which will consist of two eighteen-hour concentrations, each in one of the fields listed in Option I, and the senior thesis capstone course in which they will prepare an interdisciplinary thesis connecting the two area of learning in their Liberal Arts major.

Retain the recommendation for an internship and the study abroad/cross cultural experience required in Option 1.

Option II: Summary of Credit Hours -- B.A. with Double Major

University Studies courses	49-52 hours
Two majors	ca. 66 hours
Senior Seminar Capstone	3 hours
Internship	6-9 hours
Free electives as needed	ca. 4 hours
TOTAL	124-130 hours

Option III: Liberal Arts for Business/Technology/ Government

Students take the currently-required number of University Studies courses and pursue a B.A. in Liberal Arts with two eighteen-hour concentrations and the interdisciplinary senior thesis capstone incorporating information/insights from both concentrations.

Students then secure a minor in one of the following business or technology fields:

Advertising	Equine Science
Agriculture	Finance
Business Adminstration	Graphics Communications Technology
Business Economics	Industrial and Engineering Technology
Computer Information Systems	International Economics
Computer Science	Legal Studies/Paralegal
Criminal Justice	Management
Economics	Marketing
Environmental Regulatory Affairs	Occupational Safety and Health

Other appropriate minors could be added to this list with the approval of the student's advisor and the permission of the Director of the Liberal Arts Program.

Retain the recommendation for an internship and the study abroad/cross-cultural experience requirement found in Option 1.

Option III: Summary of Credit Hours -
B.A. Liberal Arts for Business/Technology/Government

University Studies courses	49-52 hours
Liberal Arts Major	36 hours
Business/Technology/Gov. minor	circa. 21-24 hours
Senior Seminar Capstone	3 hours
Internship	6-9 hours
Free electives as needed	4-9 hours
TOTAL	119-128 hours

2 November, 1999

First Revision of Liberal Arts Proposal

Revised 10/8/99

Proposal for an Area and a Major in Liberal Arts
CIP 24-0101

Liberal Arts Area and Major - Justification

• Given the insistence of the Council on Postsecondary Education that Murray State University, to secure additional funding from the state, increase its enrollment without the addition of new faculty, and;
• Given the need for Murray State University to create more cooperative programs, especially those making use of the world-wide web and other distance learning technologies, and the advantage of working on this with sister schools who share many of the same liberal arts and core courses with us, and;
• Given that leaders in business, industry, and the professions are increasingly stressing the need for broadly educated graduates with interpersonal skills, analytical and writing abilities, as well as technical skills (see attached sample articles), and;
• Given the needs of our society over the next generation for leaders who can think creatively and across the lines of traditional disciplines, and;
• Given the need for a program that will focus attention on the liberal arts at Murray State, and the need for a focal point to help unify the programs and departments that will join in creating the new College of Humanities and Fine Arts in July, 4000, as well as a need to create cooperative links with other traditional liberal arts disciplines in the College of Science, and;
• Given Murray State University's continuing need to attract the highest quality high school students from the mid-west, in part by having creative programs not found at any other state university in Kentucky,

We propose to establish, using existing resoures, an Area and a Major in Liberal Arts at Murray State University. This program will be a focal point for the new College of Humanities and Fine Arts. It would be designed to help students in the Liberal Arts secure both the training in specific vocational skills and the broader education in the liberal arts valued by employers in the workforce leaders of the new century.

Each of these proposed courses of study require a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Option 1: Liberal Arts Area

• Increase University Studies electives as follows:

1. Communication and Basic Skills: add three credit hours
2. Science and Mathematics: add three/four credit hours
3. Social Science: add three credit hours
4. General Electives: add three credit hours

This would make the total University Studies requirements for a Liberal Arts Area 62-66 credit hours.

• Require Liberal Arts majors to select, in required consultation with an advisor and no earlier than the first semester of their second year of study, three "concentrations" of eighteen credit hours each. This would give them 120 total hours, with eight hours to apply to an internship, ideally during their junior or first semester of their senior year. These eighteen-hours areas could each consist of existing upper-level courses, specifically designated by faculty for this purpose, in any one of the following fields:

Art Theater Dance Mathematics Foreign Language (one language) Sociology Philosophy

Music Biology Global Studies English History Geosciences Psychology

• Senior Thesis. Each Liberal Arts major would be rquired to write an interdisciplinary senior thesis (using a capstone course, e.g. ENG 438, HIS 438, etc. created for this purpose) in which he or she would be asked to address the topic of the thesis from the perspectives of at least two of the three disciplines studied in the major.
• Internship. Each Liberal Arts major would be strongly encouraged to arrange a "leadership internship," which would be approed by his/her faculty advisor and by an interdisciplinary committee of three faculty members, to be constituted by the Director of the Liberal Arts Program. This internship would help the student further develop leadership skills by working in a business/industry setting in a position that requires leadership skills (interpersonal and analytical). An eight-credit hour internship could be completed in the summer or during the student's senior year.
• Foreign Study. Each Liberal Arts major would be strongly encouraged to participate in one of the study abroad programs offered by Murray State. This would increase the student's cross-cultural awareness, self-confidence, and leadership ability.

Option 2: Liberal Arts Double Major

• Students take the normal number of University Studies courses and pursue a B.A. degree in one of the traditional liberal arts disciplines (see list in Option 1).
• Students then select a second Liberal Arts major, which will consist of two eighteen-hour concentrations, each in one of the fields listed in Option 1, and a senior thesis capstone course in which they will prepare an interdisciplinary thesis connecting the two areas of learning in their Liberal Arts major.
• Retain the recommendation for an internship and study abroad from Option 1.

Option 3: Liberal Arts for Business/Technology

1. Students take the normal number of University Studies courses and pursue a B.A. in the Liberal Arts with two eighteen-hour concentrations and a senior thesis capstone.
2. Students then secure a minor in one of the following business or technology fields:

Business Administration Computer Science Economics International Economics Finance Markeing Real Estate Criminal Justice Agriculture Family and Consumer Studies Graphics Communications - Photography Industrial and Engineering Technology

Office Systems Computer Information Systems Business Economics Global Studies Management Advertising Political Science Legal Studies/Paralegal Equine Science Graphics Communications Technology Environmental Regulatory Affairs Occupational Safety and Health

• Other appropriate minors could be added to this list with the approval of the student's advisor and the permission of the Director of the Liberal Arts Program.
• Retain the recommendation for an internship and study abroad from Option 1.

---

Original Proposal

What passes for a degree in Liberal Arts/Liberal Studies (Masters and BA) varies widely.  Some of the programs are apparently the result of the internal politics of the university--complex and convoluted distribution requirements for the degree without rhyme or reason (9 hours in history, 3 in psy, 6 in four other social sciences).  Several others have Liberal Studies housed in a separate department with their own course designations.  Others are based on a grocery list of courses resembling our general education program--only requiring more hours.  Still others encourage students to design their own curriculum around themes (such as beauty, and science and society).  Finally, a few require students to complete two "concentrations" in substantive areas.  What follows is a summary of the proposed program put forward by the dean and the chairs of the College of Humanistic Studies.

Some Initial Thoughts:
1) The Liberal Arts degree should be designed for students who want a broad academic background to realize their academic or career goals.  It should offer a wide range of classes in arts, math and sciences, humanities, social sciences, and foreign languages.
2) The degree should also promote the depth of a student's knowledge in several areas of concentration.
3) The breadth of the program--the exposure to a great variety of disciplines--can be achieved by specifying additional general education requirements.
4) The depth of the program should come from existing courses of the various disciplines.
5) We should try to minimize the number of new courses, new faculty positions, and administrative costs.  In other words, we should build the Liberal Arts degree on the backs of existing majors-minors and the general education program.
6) The program should be fairly simple in structure--being easily comprehensible to students and outside publics. It should be called a Liberal Arts major (as opposed to Liberal Studies) so as to tie in closely with the literature on the value of  the liberal arts.  This is important both to recruit students and to sell the program to outside constituencies (guidance counselors, parents, and potential employers).
7) All participating departments should have a vested interest in the success of the program.

Proposal
1) For Liberal Arts majors, raise the B.A. requirements in some of the core university studies areas.  Communication and Basic Skills (+3), Science and Math (+4), Social Sciences (+3), and General Electives (+3).  This will add 13 hours to existing BA requirements (49-52 hrs. current).  This will provide a broader foundation in the Liberal Arts than in the current B.A. degree program.  General education would now total 62-65 hrs.
2) Require 18 hours in two separate disciplines for the Liberal Arts major.  List approved courses by each discipline (Soc, His, Bio, Ant, Phi, Psy, Chem, Eng, Mat, and any other discipline we decide to include). Each participating program can specify required courses and electives (this could be achieved with a separate listing for the program in the undergraduate catalog, and an "L" designation in the course listings at the back of the catalog. All "L" designated courses should be +300 level courses.
3) One three-hour capstone course--this should be integrative, perhaps team-taught.  This course could be rotated among the participating disciplines.  As proposed, the Liberal Arts major would require 39 hrs.
4) The student's minor would remain 21 to 24 hours.
5) The complete degree would require 119-122 hours, leaving 6 to 9 hours for free electives.

An alternative structure: eliminate the requirement for a minor and specify that students must complete three separate discipline concentrations (18 hrs. each) for a Liberal Arts area.  Or, alternatively, offer both a major (two 18 hr. concentration in L.A. disciplines) and an area (three 18 hr. concentrations in L.A. disciplines).