The "Liberal Arts & Sciences" project designs and implements an innovative and interdisciplinary study program that offers students a flexible educational path and the opportunity to pursue individual areas of specialization. The focus is on interdisciplinary learning, academic foundations, and engaging with future societal issues such as digitalization, sustainability, and social change. The program consists of an orientation year, which can be completed with a micro-degree, as well as interdisciplinary subject tracks starting in the second semester. Students are actively involved in the further development of the program – for example, through future workshops and regular exchange with the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. The program's flexibility necessitates structured student support, which is provided through student mentoring. Through elective options, current thematic priorities, and the promotion of regular exchange, the project creates an open, participatory, and future-oriented learning environment.
Student Life Cycle: Starting studies, specialization phase and final exam
Target group: Prospective students, first-year students, current students
University: Justus Liebig University Giessen
The "Liberal Arts & Sciences" project is developing and establishing an innovative, interdisciplinary study program designed to offer students a flexible and future-oriented model that combines interdisciplinary learning, individual specialization, and socially relevant topics. The program begins with an orientation year, during which students gain insights into research and scholarship across diverse academic disciplines and acquire fundamental academic skills. This provides a solid academic foundation. The orientation year can be completed with a micro-degree. Later in their studies, students choose an interdisciplinary track with future-oriented focus areas such as digitalization, sustainability, or societal change. A particular emphasis of the project is placed on increasing flexibility in the curriculum and on bridging the gap between theory and practice through internships, practice-oriented research modules, and project-based learning formats. These promote application-oriented learning and strengthen skills such as critical thinking, teamwork, and interdisciplinary problem-solving.
In addition to completing a micro-degree after the second semester, students have the opportunity to set their own thematic priorities and actively shape their curriculum. The program's continuous development is a collaborative effort between the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the participating departments, and the students. Since the program's launch in the winter semester of 2023/2024, the project has implemented and further developed the orientation year and five specialized tracks ("Ethics in Context," "Formations of Knowledge," "Perspectives of the Arts," "Global Sustainability: Social & Cultural Practices of Transformation," and "Sustainable Development and Digital Transformation"). This has expanded the program's academic diversity and elective options. For example, at the students' suggestion, the "Extracurricular Skills" module was created to provide additional opportunities for individual profiling within the program. Furthermore, the College conducts an annual future workshop where students actively participate in the program's ongoing development.
– Student Frederike Kopp
Charlotte Kitzinger | charlotte.kitzinger@clas.uni-giessen.de
Tel.: +49 641 99-12161
Maxime Musterfrau
