Liberal Arts and Sciences

• B. A. / B. Sc. (depends on choice of Major)

The four-year Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences is the University of Freiburg's first interdisciplinary, English-taught undergraduate program and the first of its kind in Germany. It will start in October 2012 with a pioneer group of 50 students.

The LAS B.A., reaching across disciplines, offers an alternative to the University's existing B.A. programs that mostly focus on one or two disciplines. Regardless of individual students‘ choices, LAS will be characterized by three key features:

1. Generation, Dissemination and Application of Knowledge

2. Language and Culture

3. Responsibility and Leadership

The program will consist of four study areas:

1. The Core (66 ECTS points) constitutes the intellectual identity of LAS at the University of Freiburg: All students are trained intensively in general academic skills (researching and presenting study material, effective writing, numerical literacy etc.). In order to put these skills into context and to exemplify the necessity and complexity of interdisciplinary thought and action, the fi rst year of the program focusses on contemporary societal challenges (such as Global Inequality, Public Health, Environmental Issues etc.). In the higher semesters of the core program, the students' coursework is continuously complemented by instruction in the theory of science, knowledge and research. Finally, students follow a curriculum in responsibility and leadership.
2. The Languages part of the program (36 ECTS) ensures that all LAS students can communicate on academic topics in excellent English and good German, and ideally acquire a good grounding in a third language.
3. The Major (90 ECTS) constitutes the students‘ thorough training in a specific academic field of Sciences and/or the Humanities (e.g. "Life Sciences", "Culture and History") that is, in itself, interdisciplinary. It aims to provide sufficient depth to make admission into disciplinary M.A. or M.Sc. programs possible.
4. An Electives area of the curriculum (48 ECTS) enables students to either pursue further studies of their choice, engage in more practically oriented projects or undertake specific additional training necessary for admission into their chosen M.A. or M.Sc. programs.

The LAS program will be mostly organized in a block schedule. This gives students and teachers the opportunity to engage very closely with each other and the topic at hand. It will also provide space for innovative forms of instruction that characterize the entire program.

In conjunction with the foundation of the LAS program, the university will establish two new professorships („Science and Technology Studies" and „Epistemology and Theory of Science") and hire four full-time University Teachers. The remaining teaching load will be covered by special Teaching Fellowships awarded to distinguished academics from in- and outside the University of Freiburg.

The LAS program starts in winter semester 2012.