Academic Program: Program of Liberal Studies
Academic Program
A Clark education is unique in that it provides a high-quality liberal arts education
with personal attention and advanced study opportunities, as captured in the three
Clark signatures. Most students
begin their Clark career with a first-year seminar, designed to help them develop
the skills and habits of mind they will need to succeed at Clark. Clark has developed
a unique program of liberal studies that fosters critical thinking skills and broadens
perspectives. Because they can choose among many different courses, students can
take courses that interest them and, at the same time, satisfy their broad liberal
arts requirements.
By the spring of sophomore year, students declare a major in which they develop
depth and expertise. The University offers 31 majors, 30 minors and ten interdisciplinary
concentrations, which can be combined to match individual interests and academic
goals. Once students choose a major, their academic department becomes their intellectual
"home," where they are able to work closely with faculty on research and other creative
projects. As students acquire increasing depth and sophistication in a field of
their choosing, they are able to take advantage of Clark's wide array of courses
to construct an individualized program of study suited to their interests and career
goals. In many fields, students have the opportunity to enter an honors program
or accelerate to an advanced degree.
First-Year Seminars
First-year seminars allow students to explore, in depth, various issues and subjects.
First-year seminars focus on helping students develop core academic skills that
will enhance success in later Clark courses: reading, writing, speaking, thinking,
and debating, all at the college level of intellectual sophistication. Seminars
are intensive, stimulating, and challenging, and are limited to no more than 16
students each. The professor who teaches each first-year seminar also serves as
academic advisor to the students in the seminar until they declare a major. Thus,
students who enroll in first-year seminars start their Clark careers by developing
a close relationship with both a professor and a small group of students who share
at least one intellectual interest. All first-year seminars fill a Program of Liberal
Studies (PLS) requirement.
First-year seminars change from year to year. As an example, we expect to offer
the following seminars in fall 2009.
Fall 2009
ARTS 103: Drawing: Structure & Process
BIOL 108: Annotation of a Microbial Genome
CHEM 103: Accelerated Introductory Chemistry
CMLT/LAS 109: Human Rights and Literature
CSCI 100: Can Computers Think? - See course homepage
ECON 100: Local Eating to Global Warming: Case Studies in Environmental Economics
EDUC 060: Are Public Schools Serving Democracy
ENG 147: Mythologies
ENG 115: Speculative Fiction
ENG 104: To the Woods: Walden Today
ENG 131: Border Crossings: Narratives of Travel, Exile, and Immigration
GEOG/GES 090: Native Americans, Land and Natural Resources
GEOG 086: Losing Ground: Examining the Drivers and Consequences of Land Change since the Nineteenth Century
GOVT 099: Public Opinion and American Democracy
GOVT 102.1: Political Science Fiction
HIST 045: Reconsidering the Harlem Renaissance
ID 011/MGMT 011: Making a Difference
JAPN/AS/CMLT 180: In the Shadow of World War 2: Memory, Indentity, and Nation in Japanese Fiction and Film
MATH 110: Diving Into Research: Geometry
PHIL 108: Privacy Protection In Law & Ethics
PHIL 104: The AIDS Pandemic
PHIL 080: Educating the Philosopher-King: Virtue and Education in Plato's Republic
SPAN 194: Repression Revolution: Portraits of Indigenous People in Mexico
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