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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

Deal Adele Lindenmeyr sits at her desk.

DEAN'S WELCOME

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

Graduate students walking Villanova's campus

GRADUATE STUDIES

This is a photo of a student outside the Vatican in Rome.

STUDY ABROAD OPPORTUNITIES

A female graduate student works side-by-side with her faculty mentor in a biology lab.

RESEARCH

A student works the camera behind the scenes of a news broadcast.

INTERNSHIPS

STORIES OF DISCOVERY

CAPTIVATING COURSE SPURS CURIOSITY

Whitney Martinko, PhD, assistant professor of History, teaches a course called "Philadelphia: A Global City History?"—which covers Philadelphia’s growth from Colonization and global trade, to race, city planning, labor and reform, politics, industry, redevelopment, the city’s bicentennial, and globalization. “Some students come to my class with the conception that History is about memorizing facts; but doing History is really about analyzing evidence to make arguments about why and how things happened," says Dr. Martinko. MORE...

CREATING SOCIAL IMPACT

Social entrepreneurship is a fairly new concept, where a startup business or entrepreneur focuses on a cause such as homelessness, food poverty, health care or the environment. As the field has expanded, so to have the similarities between nonprofit organizations and social entrepreneurs. That’s when Lauren Miltenberger, PhD, assistant professor of public administration, and James Klinger, PhD, a professor from the Villanova School of Business, decided to get together and co-teach a course on this burgeoning topic, “Creating Social Impact,” which intersects the disciplines of their respective work. MORE...

INTERNS IGNITE CHANGE

In a globalized world, learning a language is about more than literacy—it’s also cultural, and students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences have the opportunity to apply their linguistic and cultural competencies in a real-world setting. The Community Interpreter Internship is a partnership between the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the five clinics in Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Undergraduate students with advanced proficiency in Spanish and an interest in helping the Hispanic community act as translators between clients and their student lawyers. MORE...

STARSTRUCK

In the Orion Nebula, the closest region of massive star formation to Earth, stars are born from the collapse of large clouds of interstellar gas and dust. A Villanova University research team led by David Chuss, PhD, ’95 CLAS, professor of Physics, has played a key role in developing a new camera for NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy that measures the polarization of radiation from such clouds, and in doing so unveils the magnetic fields that can affect the star formation process. MORE...

COLLEGE NEWS

Villanova University Celebrates the Class of 2019

Villanova University Celebrates the Class of 2019

Congratulations to the undergraduate and graduate students of the class of 2019! The University and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences celebrate the graduates at the University Commencement Ceremony and the College Convocation ceremony.

MAY 15, 2019

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This is the logo for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program.

Two Villanova University Students Named Goldwater Scholars

Julia Ferrante '20 CLAS, majoring in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, and Alison Mody '20 CLAS, majoring in Biochemistry, recieved scholarships from the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, chosen from a group of more than 1,200 nominated students nationwide. 

MAY 14, 2019

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This is the Fulbright logo.

Villanova Sets New University Record with 31 Students and Alumni Winning Prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Grants

Among the 31 Villanova University students and alumni who won Fulbright U.S. Student Grants awards, 24 are from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This marks the largest single-year number of Fulbright awards in the University’s history, surpassing the previous record of 16 winners set in 2018-19.

MAY 6, 2019

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Pictured here are the spring 2019 ACS Writing Award winners.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Recognizes Outstanding Writing in Augustine and Culture Seminar for Spring 2019

Villanova University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences honored six students for excellence in writing in the Augustine and Culture Seminar on Monday, April 30. ACS is a two-semester humanities sequence that educates students in Augustinian inquiry through a study of ancient and modern texts.

MAY 6, 2019

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MORE NEWS

AT A GLANCE

60+

GRADUATE STUDENTS PRESENT AT ACADEMIC CONFERENCES EACH YEAR

  

96.9%

SUCCESSFUL PLACEMENT RATE
FOR CLASS OF 2018

  

24

FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS IN 2019-2020

  

77.3%

OF THE CLASS OF 2018 
COMPLETED AN INTERNSHIP

  

200

STUDENTS COMPLETE A LAB OR FIELD RESEARCH PROJECT EACH YEAR

  

43%

OF THE CLASS OF 2017 STUDIED ABROAD

  

WHO WE ARE