How do majors such as Business and Communications fit into a Christian university level liberal arts B.A.?
The degree that Providence confers is a Bachelor of Arts degree. At the centre of that B.A., every graduate must take 54 credit hours from Social Sciences, Humanities, Biblical and Theological Studies, and Fine Arts. These disciplines are clearly within even the narrowest definition of liberal arts. Although some majors such as Business or Education fall outside that narrow definition of liberal arts, they do fit into a broader definition: For example, how we relate to one another in business or education can be seen as part of our original “What does it mean to be human” questions. Because the outcome is a B.A. degree rather than a B.Comm. or a B.Ed., the institution as a whole, including Professional Studies, is recognised as a liberal arts institution.
