BA Liberal Arts

About this course

Liberal arts is one of the oldest ideas in education: the belief that a broad, well-rounded intellectual formation, rather than narrow specialist training, produces better thinkers, more capable citizens, and more flexible professionals. A liberal arts degree typically combines subjects drawn from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, developing analytical reasoning, effective communication, and the capacity to engage with complex problems from multiple perspectives. It is particularly well-suited to students with wide-ranging intellectual interests who want to resist premature specialisation and to develop a genuinely versatile mind. At Queen Mary University of London, this four-year full-time programme offers the flexibility to follow your intellectual curiosity across a range of subjects, exploring the areas you are most passionate about while developing transferable skills in analysis, argument, and communication. You will engage with subjects from across the humanities and social sciences, building a curriculum that reflects your own interests and the connections you find between different fields of inquiry. The programme develops your ability to draw on multiple disciplines when approaching a problem, to think critically and independently, and to express complex ideas with clarity and precision. Queen Mary's location in London and its strong research culture across the arts and social sciences provide an intellectually stimulating context for a programme built around breadth and curiosity. Graduates from liberal arts programmes are valued by employers precisely because they have demonstrated the ability to think across disciplines and to adapt their intellectual tools to new problems. Careers in journalism, publishing, the civil service, law, finance, education, the charity sector, and the creative industries are all common destinations. The flexibility and analytical strength of a liberal arts education also make it excellent preparation for a wide range of postgraduate programmes, from law and business to further study in any of the disciplines you explored during your degree.

Student Satisfaction