University College Utrecht: Liberal Arts and Science

At UCU, you study Liberal Arts and Sciences, an educational philosophy that is common in the United States. Instead of choosing just one subject, you create your own study program from a large number of courses in Science, Social Science, and Humanities.

Think about it. The problems we face nowadays are complex. To understand global warming, for example, you need the sciences. But you can’t fully grasp it without knowledge of politics, economics, or even ethics. By studying more than one discipline, you learn to approach problems from different perspectives and to think ‘outside the box.’ This is what we call multi- and interdisciplinary thinking.

Creating your own study program can be difficult. That is why at UCU you have a personal tutor, who will help you think about your future and choose the right courses. At University College Utrecht, you can choose courses from more than 20 different fields in Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science.

We also offer a pre-medical science program, which makes you eligible for a Master’s in medicine, like the SUMMA program at Utrecht University.

Following our Liberal Arts and Sciences educational philosophy, we believe that the different fields of study benefit from each other. Just a couple of examples of fruitful linkages between the fields are:

• History helps contextualize the theory and application of Politics or Law.
• Art History and Museum Studies are enriched by courses in Anthropology and Human Geography. If your interest is in art conservation, choose Biology or Chemistry.
• Linguistics and Psychology come together in the Psycholinguistics course.

At University College Utrecht, you have the possibility to declare an interdepartmental major. This means that you assemble your study program beyond the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science major by combining courses from at least two of these. You can also study a double major, in which you complete two full majors.