IUPUC Programs
Undergraduate Programs
Division of Liberal Arts
A liberal arts education begins with the premise that one’s world and one’s self are at the core of the pursuit of knowledge. It leads to viewing the world from more than one perspective and learning something about its social, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions. Those different perspectives within the liberal arts encompass two major groups of academic disciplines: the humanities, which explore the history and experience of human culture; and the social sciences, which examine the social and material foundations of human life.
Regardless of the perspective, the focus in the liberal arts is on knowledge itself, on both its substance and the tools for pursuing it, on what is known and what is worth knowing. Skills for acquiring and generating knowledge, as well as the preservation of knowledge, are contained within the School of Liberal Arts curriculum.
Bachelor of Arts in English
The Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus Undergraduate Program in English provides opportunities for personal and professional achievements. Our multi-dimensional program offers courses and other activities in writing, creative writing and literature that seek to foster students’ abilities to read closely, think deeply and critically, research effectively, and to write with clarity and purpose, thus preparing students for meaningful lives and a variety of careers. See the list of degree concentrations and minors for a more detailed view of the options in English.
Bachelor of Arts in English with Concentration in Creative Writing
As a creative writing student, students will experience, practice, and improve their creative expression through a range of courses and workshops. In addition, they will work closely with published faculty; read and critique a variety of experimental, canonical, and original texts; participate in intensive workshops to develop and practice the craft of writing with a community of writers; consider wider audiences for their creative work through internships, educational field trips and travel, capstone courses, and community projects; and consider submitting original creative work to the university’s student literary magazine Talking Leaves.
Bachelor of Arts in English with Concentration in Literature
Literature students will read, discuss, and analyze a range of written works. For example, students may study historical complexities of Elizabethan drama in the plays of Shakespeare; views of American transcendentalists in New England like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau; the golden age of high society and aristocracy in novels by Edith Wharton and Henry James; life in the southern United States by writers like William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Flannery O’Connor; or the nuanced aesthetics of modernist and contemporary poetry and prose in the works of Gertrude Stein, Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath, and Toni Morrison. In reading and analyzing works like these, students will develop broad and deep understandings of the human condition across many cultures. Students will sharpen critical thinking skills that will serve them well, personally and professionally.
Bachelor of Arts in English with Concentration in English Studies
In rare cases, students may be allowed to establish individualized concentrations if they create a coherent plan for study leading to a specific career.
English Minors
An English minor in Creative Writing or Literature can be marketable addition to any major. The study of English will help develop communication and critical thinking skills. An English minor can be particularly worthwhile for students in Business, Education, and Liberal Arts.
Other Liberal Arts Degrees
The following liberal arts programs are jointly offered by IUPUC and IUPUI. Successful IUPUC students automatically have access to specialized courses on the Indianapolis campus required for graduation.
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of human culture, biology, and social interaction across time and place. It includes the archaeological investigation of past and present human material culture; ethnographic study of contemporary cultures around the work and in the United States; research into human evolution and the origins of human physical diversity; and analysis concerning the origins, structure, and social use of language.
Communication Studies
Communication studies is an integral part of the liberal arts. The curriculum focuses on communication theories, methods, and competencies from a variety of contexts: rhetorical symbolism, public address, organizations, family, health, media, and theatre. The department offers a diverse curriculum for majors, minors, and service courses for other departments and units within the university. Students learn about the communication process inherent in the areas of interpersonal, group, organizational, public, and media studies.
Communication course work assists students in enhancing their critical inquiry, oral performance, media and message design, problem-solving, and relational conversation skills. A foundation is provided for graduate work in various areas of communication studies, humanities, and/or social science and in professional programs such as law, business, health, and social work. Course work also assists those students pursuing career fields that apply communication principles: public relations, marketing, video or film production, corporate media production, training and development, human resources, public affairs, and special events planning.
Geography
Geographers study the connections between the landscapes they see and the forces that shape them. No matter what they’re studying - a deceptively fragile rainforest, the silent diffusion of a disease, or the creeping sprawl of a suburb - geographers ask three basic questions: (a) Where are things located? (b) Why are they there? and (c) How do they interact with the world around them? Where, why, and how: three commonplace interrogatives that help chart a path through the maze of places and processes, change, and continuity that give our world its hues, tastes, and sounds. Where the historian sees order in the past, the geographer seeks a rationale for the location of things in their place.
History
A history major makes a fine foundation for a career in politics, activism, law, or journalism. Many students find the stories of the past—whether they involve ancient Greece or modern Africa—to be an exciting field of study. If that’s you, be prepared for lots of critical thinking and a great deal of research—because historians are good at digging up information, remembering it, and finding patterns.
Philosophy
Philosophic inquiry aims, ultimately, at a general understanding of the whole of reality. It draws on the insights of the great historical philosophers, on what has been learned in all other major fields of study, and on the rich perspective embodied within our ordinary ways of thinking. Philosophers address a diverse array of deep, challenging, and profoundly important questions. Examples include the nature of the self and of personal identity; the existence or nonexistence of God; and the nature of such phenomena as time, mind, language, and science.
Political Science
Politics is about power: who has it and how it is used. The study of political science provides students with an understanding of the many different and intriguing ways in which power is given, taken, distributed, limited, manipulated, and used, and helps them better appreciate and understand the many different forms taken by systems of government around the world.
Religious Studies
The discipline of religious studies offers students opportunities to explore the patterns and dimensions of the many different religious traditions of the world from the perspectives of the academic study of religion. The courses are designed to help students develop basic understandings of the many ways in which religions shape personal views of the world, create and sustain the communities in which we live, and interact with politics, economics, literature and the arts, and other structures of society.
Sociology
Human beings are social animals. We live in groups and do most things with other people. Much of what we think, say, and do is influenced by what others expect of us and by how others treat us. Sociologists study the patterns of interaction between people in all sorts of settings: at work, at play, at home, etc. They try to clarify what is going on, what lies behind it, what is likely to come from it, and what might be done differently. Their theories and research findings can provide insights into processes and events that affect us in our everyday lives.
Perhaps you have wondered why some families get along fine while others seem mired in problems, why some people get involved in criminal careers while others resist temptations, why some companies are much more productive than others, why some government programs succeed while others backfire. These are the kinds of issues sociologists look into in systematic ways.
Visit the IUPUC website to view degree requirements for the Division of Liberal Arts.
Minors available in Liberal Arts
A minor can enhance the breadth and depth of your academic experience, strengthen your marketability and employment opportunities, or enable you to fulfill a life goal to simply learn more about a particular topic.
* Anthropology
* Communication studies
* Creative Writing
* History
* Literature
* Sociology
* Women’s studies