Thinking about studying Liberal Arts? Second-Year Dev writes about some of the key elements that you might be considering. Still got unanswered questions? Check out the blogs below or contact one of us Student Ambassadors through Unibuddy on the King’s College London website [Click here.]
Module Options:
In a Liberal Arts degree at King’s, there’s a lot of freedom when it comes to choosing what to study. You can pick modules from approximately 13 different subjects ranging from Arts (Film, New Media etc.), to Humanities and Social Sciences (Philosophy, Geography, History, Politics etc.) You can find the full list of modules on the BA Liberal Arts page, in the ‘Teaching and Structure section [Click here.]
Contact Hours and Class Sizes
From my experience, you can expect to do about 3-5 modules per semester or 9-12 contact hours per week, depending on how many credits your modules are worth. You’ll likely have large lectures (between 75 and 200 people,) and then seminars with smaller groups of less than 20 people. From second year onwards, some modules offer tutorials, and lectures are also more likely to be smaller, as people from all departments have more choice over what modules they study.
Field Trips
One of the best things about a Liberal Arts degree is the field trips and extra opportunities students have. During my first year, the staff took us to watch a performance at the Globe, as well as many other museum and gallery exhibitions (as part of the core Liberal Arts modules). I’m sure there would have been even more opportunities if Semester 2 hadn’t been impacted so much by strikes and the Coronavirus pandemic!
Assignments and Exams
The assignments and exams are not too draining as long as you do the necessary work and pace yourself well in the lead up to an assessment or exam. The spacing between them can vary depending on your individual module selection; I was quite happy with mine as I had a reasonable amount of time between different assignments, so I didn’t feel too stressed out. Bigger coursework deadlines also tend to occur at the same points in the year across the faculty, for example at the ends of reading weeks and obviously during exam periods. You’ll have plenty of notice before deadlines or exams, and provided that you put a little effort into managing your time, you’ll be able to catch up or refocus your efforts if you’re struggling to stay on track.
Resources, Support and Facilities
There are several libraries across the different campuses, all of which you are free to use, stocked with physical copies of anything you might need to read. It’s also worth mentioning that King’s Libraries have adapted to online learning really well, and you can find a digital copy of most books on the library’s website. There’s plenty of academic support from professors, seminar leaders and personal tutors, who you can go to if you have any questions about the content that you’re studying, or just for some extra support if you need it, whether that’s personal, academic or otherwise. King’s has many cafes, restaurants and eateries where students can relax, study or grab a bite to eat between classes. Along with these more informal spaces, there are also lots of study spaces (besides the libraries,) and rooms on campus for students to use; some even have nap pods and other cool facilities!
Study abroad opportunities
Liberal Arts has an option for a Semester abroad in your second year, or a year abroad if you are a Modern Language major. This is incredible as you can go for a part of your degree, and experience living in a different country without it delaying your graduation, if finishing university in 3 years is something that’s important to you. Sadly, due to the Pandemic I didn’t get to experience this, but there was great communication from the King’s Global Mobility Office regarding the application process and deadlines. If you do choose to study abroad, (and manage to go!) there’s lots of choice over where to go and what to study, as you can pick from dedicated Liberal Arts institutions, or partner institutions in your major discipline. For more information on Study Abroad opportunities at King’s click here.
Read More:
To go to the BA Liberal Arts course page to read more about it and related degrees, click here
To read about Ellie’s study abroad experience in Sydney, click here
To read about a day in the life of a student in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at King’s, read Iona’s post by clicking here
Leave a Reply