Liberal Arts
Liberal arts is one of the oldest ideas in higher education and one of the most contested. At its best, it is a commitment to the breadth and integration of knowledge across the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and arts, in contrast to the narrow early specialisation that characterises most UK undergraduate degrees. A liberal arts education asks you to draw on multiple disciplines to understand complex questions, to develop the habits of mind that allow you to move between different ways of knowing, and to cultivate both depth in specific areas and breadth across the landscape of human inquiry.
At the University of Sussex, Liberal Arts has been reimagined as a modern, practice-oriented degree rooted in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The programme is built around the idea that genuine intellectual work should engage with real problems in the world, and the curriculum reflects Sussex's commitment to critical, socially engaged education. You will study across disciplines rather than within a single subject, developing the ability to apply different analytical lenses to shared questions.
The three-year degree includes a foundation year for those who need to build their academic foundations before the main programme, a sandwich placement year, and work placement opportunities, ensuring that your academic development connects to real professional contexts.
Liberal arts graduates are known for their adaptability and their ability to communicate across different audiences and contexts. Careers in journalism, publishing, education, policy, communications, the creative industries, the civil service, and the voluntary sector all draw on the broad intellectual skills this degree develops. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in a more specialised discipline, using the liberal arts foundation to move confidently into focused research or professional programmes.
Others build careers by combining the breadth the degree gives them with specific professional training acquired after graduation.