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COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

College of

LIBERAL ARTS AND
SCIENCES

DISCOVER YOUR PASSION

Biology professor and student working with high-resolution microscope.

The oldest and largest of Villanova’s colleges, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers more than 40 academic programs and cultivates knowledge, understanding and intellectual courage for a purposeful life in a challenging and changing world.

CLAS undergraduate and graduate students can find opportunities for collaborative research and learning with faculty who are dedicated teacher-scholars and among the most distinguished in their fields. From pinpointing a protein that could hold a key to cancer screenings, to testing the impact of industry on local waterways, to critiquing creative writing alongside published novelists, each experience elevates learning and yields insights.

The College’s dynamic, integrated curriculum encourages creativity and innovation, developing critical thinkers, strong communicators and ethical leaders well positioned for diverse and interesting careers. With an emphasis on faculty-student engagement, experiential learning and a global perspective, CLAS is where students find their passion, path and purpose.

EXPLORE OUR PROGRAMS

BACHELOR'S

Pursue a degree from among more than 40 programs in the humanities, social sciences, math and sciences.

MASTER'S

Choose from more than 20 degrees, including online options in the humanities, social sciences, math and sciences.

DOCTORAL

Find out about our funded, full-time programs in philosophy and theology, and a part-time option in theology.

CERTIFICATE

Enhance your career with graduate certificates in humanities, social sciences, math and sciences, including online options.

MINOR

Complement your major and enjoy an even more interdisciplinary and diversified academic experience by adding a minor.

CURRICULUM

Prepare for a purposeful career with our undergraduate core curriculum, a foundation emphasizing communication and critical thinking.

THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE

Dean Adele Lindenmeyer

ABOUT THE DEAN

A male student experiences virtual reality in the Center of Excellence in Enterprise Technology.

CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

A student works with her advisor writing a resume

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & INTERNSHIPS

Graduate students walking Villanova's campus

GRADUATE STUDIES

photo of a student outside the Vatican in Rome.

STUDY ABROAD OPPORTUNITIES

A male student works side-by-side with physics professor Amber Stuver.

RESEARCH

Four of the five 2021 CLAS Alumni Medallion Award recipients.

ALUMNI & FRIENDS

STORIES OF DISCOVERY

LEARNING IN THE SANDBOX

No matter how old you get, there’s something fun about playing in a sandbox. Thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), a group of interdisciplinary researchers will be developing high-tech sandboxes to provide hands-on learning for students. The technology is based around projecting a colorful augmented reality display onto sand in a real sandbox. The box was originally used in public exhibits for science education but has since been adopted by universities and research centers around the world. MORE...

BIGGER THAN BASEBALL

After months of uncertainty and a historic stoppage of play, 14 teams took the field on Major League Baseball’s Opening Day. But before the first pitch was thrown, Jennifer Joyce, PhD, associate teaching professor, Department of English, met with students from her long-running Baseball, Justice, and the American Dream course. The conversation was hardly about the dozen-plus teams getting back on the diamond. “To me, I think baseball operates as a microcosm for the larger understanding of American society,” she said. MORE...

BEATING BACTERIA

Disinfectants have been one of many methods deployed to try to stave off infection, with household items during the COVID-19 pandemic. But another public health concern is appearing, antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Bacteria change over time, and the increased use of everyday antimicrobial products only speeds up their ability to survive the disinfectants that have been around for decades. A team of students in the lab of Kevin Minbiole, PhD, professor and chair of Chemistry, is preparing chemical compounds that will kill off these resistant bacteria. MORE...

SCIENCE AND STORYTELLING

Christina Winterton, PhD, assistant teaching professor of Biology, adds a welcome flair to the study of genetics in her course Heredity and Human Affairs. In the course, students focus on the social/ethical impacts of genetics, including but not limited to: genetic engineering, assisted reproduction, artificial wombs, cloning, fetal stem cells and gene therapy. The class offers a lot of academic variety. So, for the students’ midterm projects, Dr. Winterton gave them options—one of which was to create a storybook. MORE...

STUDYING SLEEP

Less than 10 percent of college students get eight hours of sleep per night, but healthy sleep schedules are very important. So, Irene Kan, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, created the course, “Neuroscience of Sleep,” to delve into the many facets of sleep and how it impacts our behaviors. In the course, students debunk prior misconceptions about sleep and learn about the impact of sleep on cognition, physical and mental health. MORE...

COLLEGE NEWS

Fulbright logo

18 Villanovans Win Prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Grants for 2022-23

The US Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced the Fulbright US Student Program awards for 2022-23, with 14 of the 18 Villanova students and alumni from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

MAY 17, 2022

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Villanova Scientist Part of Team Producing First Image of Black Hole in Our Galaxy

Joey Neilsen, PhD, assistant professor of Physics, is a part of a team of astronomers unveiling the first image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy. 

MAY 16, 2022

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James Ijames

Villanova Theatre Professor James Ijames receives the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama

A playwright, educator, director and performer, Ijames was awarded the Pulitzer for his play Fat Ham, a “loose” according to the playwright—adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

MAY 10, 2022

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Celebrity Pregnancy in the Eighteenth Century is Focus of Villanova Theatre Professor’s New Book

Villanova Theatre professor Chelsea Phillips, MFA, PhD, describes how powerful celebrity women in the 18th century used the cultural and affective significance of their reproductive bodies to leverage audience support and interest to advance their career. 

MAY 9, 2022

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MORE NEWS

AT A GLANCE

60+

GRADUATE STUDENTS PRESENT AT ACADEMIC CONFERENCES EACH YEAR

  

97%

SUCCESSFUL PLACEMENT RATE
FOR CLASS OF 2021

  

25

FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS IN 2019-2020

  

91%

of students seeking an internship participated in at least one

  

200

STUDENTS COMPLETE A LAB OR FIELD RESEARCH PROJECT EACH YEAR

  

92%

of students seeking an international experience participated in at least one

  

WHO WE ARE