The Penn State College of the Liberal Arts seeks to offer students a transformative educational experience that combines core liberal arts values—communication, analytic thinking, ethical decision-making, and appreciation for other cultures and other times—with internships, research opportunities, and global experiences that allow students to apply their skills in real-world contexts and grow personally and professionally. That educational experience also includes providing students opportunities to learn from, and work with, the leading liberal arts scholars within their respective disciplines; and connecting students with the vast network of college and University alumni who can serve as mentors and otherwise assist students as they begin building their professional networks.
Get Started
We are offering on-campus visits on Mondays and Fridays. Please note, these visits do not include a campus tour. For those who are not able to visit Penn State University Park in person, please register for a virtual meeting, which will be offered on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Our on-campus and virtual appointments give students and families a better understanding of our programs and the resources and opportunities available to Liberal Arts students. Use the buttons below to schedule an appointment.
If you have any questions, please contact Recruitment Manager Chantel Harley at 814-865-7141 or cuharley@psu.edu.
Schedule a Virtual One-on-One Meeting
Attend an On-Campus Accepted Student Program
- History
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Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Major and Minor
Program Spotlight
Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies is concerned with the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean world, including the ancient Greeks, Romans, and the peoples of Egypt and the Near East. The study of these civilizations includes their languages and literatures, history and politics, religion and mythologies, philosophies, and material culture.
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Internships
Program Spotlight
Students in this major have interned with companies such as:
• Centre County Historical Society
• Richards Civil War Era Center
• Jewish Cultural Historical Museum
• Cengage Learning
• Wyoming Dinosaur Center
• Penn State Global -
Education Abroad
Program Spotlight
Popular destinations for students in this major:
• Italy
• Spain
• Greece
• Israel -
Post-Graduation Opportunities
Program Spotlight
Continuing Education
• Law school
• Graduate school to study classics, classical languages, history, library science, and archeologyAlumni Industries
• K–12 education
• Higher education
• Museum curation
• Project development
• Customer service -
Haven Harrington
Student Spotlight
Instead of just reading about the ancient city of Rome, a group of Liberal Arts students, including Haven, got to experience the city and its surrounding wonders firsthand through a faculty-led course trip offered by the College of the Liberal Arts. Haven learned firsthand about Roman history and archaeology. She said the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom “significantly enhanced” her academic journey at Penn State.
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John McFarland
Alumni Spotlight
John ’13 Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies is currently a Naval Officer for the United States Navy. John states that HIST/CAMS 100 was his favorite course at Penn State because it “simultaneously introduced me to the history and classics and ancient Mediterranean studies fields and began to satisfy my lifelong interest in Ancient Greece.”
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Jay Johnson
Alumni Spotlight
Jay’s latest folk-rock-indie album touches on travel, philosophy, love, and the natural world—essential components of the Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar’s undergraduate education in the College of the Liberal Arts. Jay is a 2013 graduate who double-majored in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and History with minors in German and Global and International Studies.
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Robert Gress
Alumni Spotlight
“The small class sizes in the Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies gave me the opportunity to learn from great professors in a more relaxed and personal environment,” said Robert, a 2022 Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies graduate.
Explore Classics and Ancient Mediterranean, our featured major of the month
- Liberal Arts by the numbers
Social Sciences
The social sciences examine the relationships between individuals and societies, as well as the development and operation of societies. The critical thinking, research, and analytical skills gained in a social science major help prepare graduates for diverse job titles, including economist, psychologist, political scientist, and historian, postsecondary teachers, museum curators, and social workers.
Languages
Intercultural communication, critical thinking and reasoning, cultural adaptability, information and trend analysis, and the other skills that drive the global economy, are in high demand today. Language graduates find jobs in tourism, international development, marketing, policy making, journalism, government, and more.
Humanities
Students in the humanities study how people process and document the human experience. Most majors in the humanities build widely transferable skills that employers appreciate and go on to be writers, counselors, event organizers, social media managers, fundraisers, travel bloggers, and more.
- African American Studies
- African Studies
- Asian Studies
- Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies
- Communication Arts and Sciences
- Comparative Literature
- English
- French and Francophone Studies
- German
- Global and International Studies
- History
- Italian and Portuguese
- Jewish Studies
- Korean
- Medieval Studies
- Philosophy
- Russian
- Spanish
- Women’s Studies