<p>I'm just really curious about this whole "liberal arts" thing... I mean, I know that Emory U isn't a liberal arts college ( OR IS IT? D: ), but I see that both Emory College and Oxford College focus on liberal arts.</p>
<p>Now... I'm really confused about what liberal arts really is, 'cause I'm interested in Emory's journalism co-major program (hopefully philosophy or sociology + journalism!), and I'm not sure if those programs are in liberal arts or not.</p>
<p>If anyone can clarify this... I'll appreciate it greatly.</p>
<p>Liberal arts basically means undergraduate education. Not professional degree related. They make you take variety of classes in liberal arts education to broaden your mind, so to speak. Its focus is general knowledge/education.</p>
<p>The way I look at it is this: US News & World Report (USNWR) ranks colleges in two categories: national universities and liberal arts colleges (LACs). As melin720 points out, the LACs focus on undergraduate education only and do not have masters or Ph.D. programs or law schools or medical schools. Emory is a national university offering all of these these programs. However, Emory does offer a liberal arts education. I think that a lot of people view the Emory student population as predominantly “pre-professional” as so many students are interested in medical school, law school, business school, etc. There are also plenty of liberal arts majors at Emory. Philosophy, sociology and journalism would be in the liberal arts field.</p>
<p>Liberal Arts degrees encompass the sciences, social sciences, and humanities - every major offered by Emory College. With the exception of those students in the nursing and business schools, all undergraduates study the liberal arts for 4 years, including those that plan to continue to professional school (law, medicine, public health, etc). Those in the business and nursing schools study the liberal arts for 2 years, before being admitted to their respective programs.</p>
<p>Please do not count Emory’s journalism program as one of the reasons to go. The fact of the matter is, the journalism program is very small and a lot of people don’t like it. If you are really interested in journalism, consider other schools (Northwestern, NYU, etc.) that also have strong liberal arts and a good journalism program.</p>
<p>Yes the journalism program is small, but the statement “a lot of people don’t like it” really isn’t based on any fact. I had two friends who were in the program who graduated in the last couple of years, and they enjoyed it. Of course, it’s certainly not one of Emory’s marquee programs, but it’s not a bad program by any stretch of the imagination. My suggestion to mmmaythe would be to visit campus, sit in a class, and meet faculty/students in order to make his/her decision. Besides, most people end up switching their majors at least once in college, and Emory makes that easy for you. I did a couple of times.</p>