At first, I regretted applying directly to NYU's Liberal Studies Program. It seemed to be a jumble of humanities subjects, too broad and unspecific to dedicate time to when I could be pursuing a more specialized path. You see, I'm from England, where when you apply to university you are bound to a specific major. In fact, if you choose to switch your major you basically have to drop out of university and re-apply. The broad scope of liberal studies seemed alarming to me. However, I have been pleasantly surprised. I was happy I did choose the program in the end and have a greater appreciation of what I gained from it retrospectively.
Liberal studies sends many students to study away sites their first year through the Liberal Studies Core Program. This is a valuable experience, especially for those who have never ventured out of the U.S. to get experience a different culture. My whole first year of university was spent in Paris which put me out of my comfort zone, I had to adjust to a new way of life and speaking in a foreign language. Besides being challenging, it was also incredible to study in the lauded city, to follow a mundane routine that any school semester eventually takes on, yet at the pace of a new city which, I feel gave me, if even to a small extent, a taste of real life in Paris, free of the 'city of lights' romanticism.
The Liberal Studies Core Program is comprised of creative writing, two science requirements, Cultural Foundations I, II and III, which essentially focusses on Art and Literature, Social Foundations I, II, III which focusses on Philosophy and History. Though this seems like a lot of required classes, many schools, such as College of Arts and Sciences, have their own hosts of academic requirements. Liberal studies does not limit your options, as some may think. Though the requirements seem like a load of credits that could be spent trying out different classes, many have the room to double major and minor whilst having a good foundation to develop critical thinking and writing.
Through the core classes, I got exposed to interesting works I wouldn’t have otherwise read, seen or listened to, this included Native American oral narratives and Middle Eastern works of literature. I’ll be honest, sometimes I found the readings a bit pointless and random and complained about what use they would have to me, how I could apply this knowledge in the future. It was actually quite ignorant of me to dismiss these works. In hindsight, they gave me a new set of ideas to think about and some of the readings that I found random at the time linger in my mind. In my experience, liberal studies is all about exposing you to works that are important, that have shaped cultures and societies and the program does a fairly good job of bringing a global perspective to students.
I like liberal studies. Having said that, this is coming from someone who was unsure of what to major in, deciding between history, English, and philosophy. LiberalsStudies isn't the best program at NYU nor is it for everyone. If you have a clear idea of what you want to study and are definitely not interested in humanities maybe it isn’t a good fit for you(although I think everyone benefits from foundational knowledge of the important ideas that shape our world). Nevertheless, the program certainly has its value and has been a great learning experience for many.
