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The College of the Liberal Arts is the place to find your place.
Unlimited options and unwavering support to prepare you for life and any career you choose.
It all starts here.

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The place to find your place

Unlimited options and unwavering support to prepare you for life and any career you choose.

It all starts here.

Canvas outage Penn State and many other universities are currently experiencing a Canvas outage, related to an ongoing security incident affecting Instructure, the vendor that provides the Canvas platform. The University is actively working with Instructure to monitor the situation, assess potential impacts, and restore normal service as quickly as possible. Ongoing updates are available on Penn State News.

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Meet our community

Get to know some of our talented Liberal Arts students, alumni, and faculty members. These stories highlight the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of our community and the impact they are making.

Emmanuel Kraft named Liberal Arts college marshal for spring 2026 commencement

Emmanuel Kraft will represent the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts as its college marshal at the 2026 spring commencement ceremony. The political science and communication arts and sciences duel-major said being selected college marshal represents the culmination of everything he has worked toward, both at Penn State and throughout his life. “At Penn State, I aimed to be successful through my academics, extracurriculars, community impact and personal relationships with others,” he said. “I wouldn’t change anything even if I could.”

Learn More About Spring 2026 Commencement

Cherish Graham named 2026 Schwartz Fellow

The Penn State College of the Liberal Arts has named Cherish Graham, a psychology student and mental health advocate, as the 2026 Schwartz Fellow. Her project, “Stories We Carry: Destigmatizing Mental Health in Ghana Through Community Storytelling,” will span a year starting in July and focus on six communities across Ghana.

Learn more about the Schwartz Fellows Program

Change-of-Campus student finds community in student organizations

Safiya Haruna’s transition from Penn State Berks to University Park left her feeling a little lost. After attending events, searching her emails for opportunities, and showing up to events that aligned with her interests, she found community in the African Students Association (ASA) and Black Caucus.

Explore our student orgs

International student builds community, research through Paterno Fellows program

Rand Tayseer Alkhunaizi, a Paterno Fellow and 2026 sociology student marshal, was encouraged by the Paterno Fellow Program’s sense of community, academic challenges, and rewarding environment. “Having faculty and students working together makes the program feel more supportive and more approachable for everyone,” Alkhunaizi said.

Learn more about the Paterno Fellows Program

First-generation student prepares for career in counseling psychology

Alivia Peterson, a first-generation student, has navigated her academic career alongside the help of faculty members and student services. Through that support, she was able to smoothly change her major from kinesiology to psychology and apply for graduate schools.

Learn about first-generation support

Ukrainian scholars welcomed to Penn State through Fulbright Scholars Program

Mariia Grytsenko and Oleksandr Gon, both faculty members at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, were selected by Fulbright to spend the 2025-26 academic year housed in the College of the Liberal Arts’ Department of German and Slavic Languages and Literatures.

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Research in CAT Lab guides student’s career path

Psychology student Miguel Morazan found a meaningful way to connect his academic interests with real-world research after joining the Department of Psychology’s Cognition, Affect, and Temperament (CAT) Lab, working with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG) while contributing to a project on parent-to-child anxiety.

Learn More About Undergraduate Research

Students explore Maya sites in Belize and Guatemala

A group of Penn State students traveled to Belize and Guatemala through ANTH 299: Exploring the Ancient Maya World, one of three embedded programs offered this past spring. Under the direction of Anthropology and English faculty, students spent the week exploring ancient Maya culture by visiting archaeological sites and interacting with the local people.

https://la.psu.edu/embedded-programs

History major builds inclusive spaces through campus leadership

Zach Hamer-Lang, recent history graduate, help to further inclusive spaces on campus through his involvement with the Association for Transgender Experience in Research (AFTER) and the Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC) student organization. “Everyone deserves to enter each space feeling confident that, at the minimum, who they are will be acknowledged and respected,” he said. “This security allows people to voice their ideas and share their passions without restriction.”

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Pursue your passions

The College of the Liberal Arts is home to nearly 150 undergraduate majors, minors, integrated undergraduate-graduate degrees (IUGs), associate degrees, and certificates.
There is truly something for everyone.

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Anthropology
Anthropological Science
Communication Arts and Sciences
English
Psychology (Life Sciences Option or Neuroscience Option)
Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL)
Women’s Studies

A liberal arts major helped recent graduate John Miller develop a greater worldly perspective, improve his communication skills, and see how people experience life in different ways—traits that have benefitted the Paterno Fellow on his unique path to medical school. Read his story.

Explore by Discipline

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.

Explore humanities majors

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, historian, postsecondary teacher, museum curator, and social worker.

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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.

Explore language majors

Pursue your interests

Transforming Industry and Business

Leveraging AI and Other Technologies

Helping People

Creating Healthy Communities

Influencing
Culture and Media

Advancing
Justice and Democracy

Enacting
Social Change

Stewarding
our Planet

Building Global
Connections

Explore our Research

Discover how Liberal Arts research is making a difference across disciplines, and explore the impact we’re creating together.

Mark your calendar

The College of the Liberal Arts hosts more than 200 events
throughout the year for students, alumni, faculty, staff, and the community.
Visit our events calendar to see the full list of upcoming events.
Below are the annual student events.