About

About
About
Dean Clarence Lang
Dean Clarence Lang

Welcome to 

The College of the Liberal Arts

We believe the greatest learning experiences are those that give you the chance to put what you’ve learned in class to practice in real-world settings solving real-world problems. We also think it’s important that you have the chance to explore, and develop a greater appreciation for, the world in which we live.

That is why the college offers an interdisciplinary educational experience that teaches you how to think critically, analyze information thoroughly, communicate effectively, act ethically, and become engaged citizens in a diverse global society—skills that will help you grow as a person while preparing you for whatever career path you choose. Our Student Services offices also stand ready to help you take advantage of the numerous out-of-classroom opportunities—internships, education abroad, research, and mentoring—that will help prepare you to become leaders in your professions, stewards of inclusive learning, living, and work environments, and influential contributors to society.   

As a Liberal Arts student, you’ll have the chance to learn from, and work alongside, some of the most accomplished scholars in your chosen program. Four of Penn State’s twenty-four Evan Pugh Professors—the highest distinction afforded any Penn State professor—are Liberal Arts professors, and several more have received the highest honors they can be awarded in their respective fields. We are also proud that so many of our departments ranked among the top ten of their peers in the last National Research Council rankings.

We hope you will find this website useful as you learn more about the forty-nine undergraduate and twenty-seven graduate majors offered by the college, in addition to the more than a dozen baccalaureate and master’s degree programs offered through Penn State World Campus.

Sincerely,
Clarence Lang
Professor and Susan Welch Dean
College of the Liberal Arts 

Read More
Our History
1885
1895
1907
1909
1953
2011
2014
2019
2021
2022
The Farmer's High School was created. Classes in the liberal arts have been taught at Penn State since the beginning of the Farmer's High School. Students were offered courses in philosophy, rhetoric, and English grammar and composition, and soon after in languages, political science, literature, and history.
The School of Language and Literature was established under Benjamin Gill.

The School of History, Political Science, and Philosophy was created, with George W. Atherton as its first head.
The School of History, Political Science, and Philosophy became the School of History, Mathematics, and Philosophy.
The School of History, Mathematics, and Philosophy, and The School of Language and Literature were combined to form the School of the Liberal Arts. The first Dean of the new school was Edwin Erle Sparks, former head of the School of History, Mathematics, and Philosophy; he held the position of acting dean while he began his term as president of the college.

An official “home” for Liberal Arts was formed by President Edwin Erle Sparks, who created the School of Liberal Arts by combining the School of History, Mathematics, and Philosophy with the School of Language and Literature. A prominent historian, President Sparks named himself the school’s first dean.
When the Pennsylvania State College became the Pennsylvania State University, the School of the Liberal Arts became the College of the Liberal Arts.
The Liberal Arts Career Enrichment Network was established to help Liberal Arts students engage in career-related, international, and professional development activities.
Thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends, the College of the Liberal Arts raised more than $113 million in the For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students campaign.
Clarence Lang was named the Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts.
The Roz and Gene Chaiken Center for Student Success was established in the College of the Liberal Arts thanks to the generosity of Gene and Roz Chaiken, who are cumulatively the most generous donors in the history of the College of the Liberal Arts.
Thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends, the College of the Liberal Arts raised more than $132 million in the A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence campaign.

The college broke ground on its newest building in fifty years. Opening in the fall of 2024, the Susan Welch Liberal Arts Building will be an innovative hub of social science teaching, research, and outreach activity.

Life in Happy Valley

Happy Valley isn’t just the nickname for the area surrounding Penn State—it’s a uniquely wonderful place to live. State College and its surrounding communities have long been recognized as one the country’s most livable places, thanks to a thriving business community, exceptional housing in safe, family-friendly neighborhoods, first-rate schools and healthcare, highly engaged government agencies and civic organizations, and, of course, countless recreation and entertainment options.  

A drone photo of Pattee Mall and the surrounding buildings at Penn State University Park.
A drone photo of Pattee Mall and the surrounding buildings at Penn State University Park.
Student Bineta Brooks smiles while doing homework in the Chaiken Center for Student Success.
Student Bineta Brooks smiles while doing homework in the Chaiken Center for Student Success.

Liberal Arts Experience

We’re very proud of the exceptional achievements of our college’s students, faculty, staff, and alumni, whether they’re producing cutting-edge research, winning awards, distinguishing themselves through their service, or finding success in the professional world. We’re proud to tell their stories and share them with the greater Penn State community.

Creating a Livable Planet

Befitting our mission, the College of the Liberal Arts has committed itself to timely issues of significant global importance. For this academic year, the college’s Moments of Change initiative has chosen “Creating a Livable Planet” as its theme. The initiative is focused on a wide range of sustainability issues and highlighting the good work being done by the Liberal Arts Sustainability Council, as well as students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Throughout the year, the college is hosting numerous courses, lectures, presentations, and events geared around the theme.
Laurel Pearson, assistant teaching professor of anthropology, presented “The Ties that Bind—Embracing Connection for a Sustainable Future” as the college’s First-Year Lecture in September 2022.
Laurel Pearson, assistant teaching professor of anthropology, presented “The Ties that Bind—Embracing Connection for a Sustainable Future” as the college’s First-Year Lecture in September 2022.

Liberal Arts Values

The College of the Liberal Arts is dedicated to critically examining the human condition in all its social, cultural, and historical diversity. We’re committed to a fearless and inclusive environment that supports an open and respectful exchange of ideas in the classroom, on campus, and online. To that end, we do not tolerate threats, intimidation, harassment, vandalism, and violence directed at anyone in our community, no matter their race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, immigration status, socioeconomic status, political or religious convictions, or disability. And we support the work of every one of our departments and programs, including those that focus on the experiences of underrepresented groups.

Future Students
CURRENT Students
Graduate Students
Get Funding

Rock Ethics Institute research associate Yael Warshel is poised to receive a book award at the International Communication Association’s annual meeting for her pioneering work in the book “Experiencing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Children, Peace Communication, and Socialization.” Her book, a critical examination of peace communication interventions and their effects on children in conflict zones, has received international acclaim, with this being the book’s second major accolade.

Penn State University Libraries’ Open Publishing program recently launched a new Open Access monograph. “The Future of Foster Care: New Science on Old Problems,” edited by Yo Jackson and Sarah Font, is a collection of expanded conference proceedings from the 2019 conference of the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, a national leader in research designed to influence public policy that better protects vulnerable children from abuse.

P. Gabrielle Foreman, Paterno Family Professor of American Literature and professor of African American studies and history at Penn State and a 2023 MacArthur Fellow, embarked on a decade-long creative endeavor that culminated in her recently released edited volume, “Praise Songs for Dave the Potter: Art and Poetry for David Drake.”

WPSU uncovers the stories that unveil the triumph, grit, caution and legend that make up the history of the commonwealth in a new digital series titled “Past PA.”

Janet van Hell, a longtime Penn State faculty member in the College of the Liberal Arts’ Department of Psychology and director of the Center for Language Science, was recently promoted to distinguished professor of psychology and linguistics.

Liberal Arts Professor of English and Asian Studies Xiaoye You’s new book on rhetoric in early imperial China offers insights into how ancient rulers built and maintained an empire, and what that may reveal about contemporary issues.

Nearly 100 Centre County high school students visited Penn State’s University Park campus on April 12 to participate in the fourth annual Language and Linguistics Day hosted by Penn State’s Center for Language Science.

The Penn State Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction recently hosted its fourth annual conference in the HUB-Robeson Center at the University Park campus. 

An interdisciplinary team of Penn State researchers have received a $442,750 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, to support a multi-faceted, three-part study that observes how gay and bisexual men search and find HIV prevention information — specifically information about pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, a medicine that when taken as prescribed, is very effective at preventing HIV.

Two Penn State professors — one in history and the other in art history and anthropology — have collaborated on a three-pronged project that will spark conversation and awe about the art, culture, science and history of Andean peoples.