What is the Individualized Major?

The Liberal Studies Program can help students create Individualized Majors not otherwise offered at UofL, including: Global Studies, Journalism, Linguistics, Non-Profit Entrepreneurship, Military Science, Environmental Studies, Ministry, Interpreting, Animation, and preparation for Medicine, Dentistry, Optometry, Pharmacy, Hospital Administration, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Art Therapy, Speech Pathology, Law, Library Science, Forensic Science, and Counseling.

The College of Arts and Sciences offers a Bachelors of Arts Degree in the Individualized Major which transcends the boundaries of inquiry permitted by single-discipline departments. UofL's Liberal Studies program is part of a national trend, giving eligible students the opportunity to create individualized, interdisciplinary programs that reflect each student's career goals and/or intellectual interests. Such programs include — but are not limited to — the following themes:

How do you want to live your life and what can you do in college to work toward that vision?
~Thomas Brown
  • Global Studies
  • Medicine, Health, and Wellness (includes pre-Medicine, pre-Dentistry, pre-Optometry, pre-Pharmacy, pre-Hospital Administration)
  • Therapeutic and Rehabilitation Services (includes pre-Physical/Occupational Therapy, pre-Expressive Therapies, pre-Communicative Disorders)
  • Social Services and Criminal Behavior (includes pre-Law, pre-Counseling, pre-Forensic Studies) 
  • Computer Mediated Communication and Information Studies (includes pre-Library Science)
  • Environmental and Ecological Studies 
  • Community Development and Organization 
  • Human Rights Advocacy
  • Military Leadership
  • Creative Performance and Arts Administration
  • Global Ministry
  • Non-Profit Management and Entrepreneurship
  • Higher Education Teaching and Administration
  • Media (includes Journalism, Animation, Advertising, Web Design)
  • Languages, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies

Our majors have created hundreds of individualized programs. What would you like to design?

Mission Statement

The Liberal Studies Program enables students in the College of Arts and Sciences to create undergraduate majors that are both individualized and interdisciplinary, and provides a center for promoting innovations and creativity in emerging fields and disciplines.

  • For our majors, Liberal Studies provides courses on interdisciplinary inquiry and writing, and empowers students to create the course of study they need to reach their personal goals.
  • For the College, Liberal Studies ensures that students with a vision of their own futures will find a program that suits their needs and ambitions – whatever they may be – here in Arts and Sciences, even by including blocks of courses from other units.
  • For the University, Liberal Studies provides a center of innovation and excellence in interdisciplinary studies, where our students and our institution as a whole can compete on equal terms with any other institution in America.  Beyond the opportunities we provide to individual students, it is also the mission of Liberal Studies to bring outstanding achievers in many fields to our campus.  These visits enrich the intellectual life of the University of Louisville with lectures and courses taught by pioneering scholars who have demonstrated in their own lives and careers the importance of breaking free from the standard compartmentalized curriculum, and exploring new worlds of endeavor.