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COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES

Two students sit on a bench on campus.

Founded in 2003, Villanova University’s Department of Humanities studies the questions that matter most for living a good and deeply human life.

Our popular interdisciplinary classes enlist the best minds of the ancient, medieval and modern worlds to help us to contemplate the great questions—about God, the natural world, society and the human person. As a major or minor, you’ll read the great books that speak best to these perennial questions, drawing on Villanova’s Catholic and Augustinian legacy and seeking answers that accord with faith and reason.

Award-winning faculty from the liberal arts and social sciences craft complementary classes that equip students to debate, analyze and discern what it means to be fully alive. Our alumni prove the versatility of our curriculum, as they thrive in diverse professions, including teaching, law, medicine, business, and journalism.

Why Humanities

Why Humanities

Our Curriculum

Our Curriculum

Department of Humanities

St. Augustine Center Room 304
Villanova University 
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA 19085

Chairperson: Dr. Michael Tomko

Administrative Assistant: Laura Klee

NEWS & EVENTS

FALL 2024 HUMANITIES CLASSES

The Humanities Major offers interdisciplinary courses that get at the heart of what it means to live a deeply human life. Check out our Humanities course offerings for Fall 2024. MORE...

ALUMNUS AWARDED OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP

Humanities alumnus Gabriel Calvo '21 has been awarded the prestigious John & Daria Barry Scholarship for graduate studies at Oxford University. MORE...

FRUITS OF A HUMANITIES EDUCATION

Curious to know what you can do with a Humanities degree? Read these inspiring stories from our Humanities alumni and learn about the next steps in their lives. MORE...

PUBLISHED & NOTED

We congratulate Eugene McCarraher, PhD, on the new paperback edition of his celebrated and much-discussed book "The Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism Became the Religion of Modernity" (Belknap Press, a Harvard University Press imprint, 2019). MORE...

THE 2022 FAITH AND REASON LECTURE

The 2022 Department of Humanities Faith and Reason Lecture featured Humanities professor Dr. Anna Moreland and former Humanities chair Dr. Thomas W. Smith answering the problem, "Overcoming Romantic Chaos on Campus." You can hear their advice on our YouTube channel. MORE...

EDUCATION WITH IMPACT

 

AN EDUCATION IN THE LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES promotes intellectual curiosity and rigor; instills the fundamentals of critical insight, mature judgment and independent thinking; and strengthens students’ sense of their moral responsibility for others and for the betterment of society.