Liberal Arts

Liberal Arts


 “It is clear that education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man. The one is unity and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to become more efficient and it must also humanize him.” (Martin Luther King, Jr., City College Commencement Address, 1963)

The Hostos Community College Liberal Arts major recognizes the unique value of the Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree in the 21st century. It prepares students to enter a variety of future career and educational paths by providing the foundational knowledge they will need to be leaders in their field. Students who major in the Liberal Arts grapple with essential and significant questions that have relevance for our contemporary society and that humans have explored for millennia. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be an educated person? How do different cultures create community and define justice and power? What can different academic disciplines teach us about our world and ourselves?

A liberal arts education fosters inquiry and encourages curiosity. Just as importantly, it enables students to develop transferable skills that will make them more effective communicators and adaptable learners, enhancing their marketability in a rapidly changing economy. Majoring in the Liberal Arts gives students the opportunity to explore different cultures, modes of thinking, and ways of understanding the world, allowing them to become the kind of humanistic, broad-based thinkers and problem solvers increasingly in demand by employers in the 21st century.

Students who select the Liberal Arts take 30 credits beyond the 30 credits of General Education courses providing an interdisciplinary foundation of broad-based knowledge across diverse disciplines. They will also be assisted in identifying and pursuing courses aligned to their particular academic and career interests at Hostos and beyond.