BA in Liberal Studies: Child Studies
Location: AU Los Angeles
Credits for Degree: 180 quarter credits
Standard Mode of Instruction: Classroom
Standard time to completion: 36 months
*Actual time to completion ranges from 9 to 36 months, depending on the number of transfer credits.
Program Description
The BA in Liberal Studies Program uses an interdisciplinary approach toward learning and emphasizes critical thinking, creative problem-solving, awareness of multiple perspectives, social and intercultural awareness, civic and community engagement, and an ability to connect learning to one’s lived experience. The Liberal Studies program is particularly structured to give students flexibility while designing their path to a meaningful degree. For this degree program, students can transfer in units from across a wide range of general education subjects without needing to follow a specific pattern of prerequisites. The core curriculum is recommended, rather than required, so that students can easily individualize their learning experience.
Although all students in the BA in Liberal Studies Program graduate with the same degree, students can choose an area of concentration to focus their studies. Students select a Major Area of Concentration from the following:
- Addiction Studies
- Business and Management Studies
- Creative Writing
- Liberal Studies
- Psychology
- Urban Studies
Students can also choose a Minor Area of Concentration in any of the above specialized areas, as well as the following:
- Child Studies
- Queer Studies
Areas of Concentration
Students must complete a minimum of 40 units and a maximum of 80 units in a Major Area of Concentration. The BA in Liberal Studies Program currently offers six Major Areas of Concentration with a wide variety of core courses, electives, internships, and independent study opportunities for each.
Note that units counted toward an Area of Concentration cannot be used to meet the domains of knowledge requirements and vice versa.
Students may also opt for a Minor Area of Concentration in any of the above-listed specialized Major Areas of Concentration, except for Liberal Studies. To earn a Minor Area of Concentration, a student must accrue at least 20 units in the concentration.
Students are encouraged to work closely with their faculty advisors as they develop degree plans appropriate to their educational and career goals. The faculty strongly recommends that at least half of the units in the student’s chosen Major or Minor Area of Concentration be upper division. Students who are not able to accrue 20 upper-division units in one of the specialized Major Areas of Concentration should opt for Liberal Studies as their Major Area of Concentration. Students are also strongly advised to take as many of the core courses in the specialized Major Area of Concentration, as listed in this catalog and as identified on the quarterly course schedule. Students who take the recommended core courses acquire a strong foundation in their chosen discipline.
The student should choose and declare the Major Area of Concentration in the first two quarters of enrollment and work closely with his or her advisor to identify internship opportunities and independent studies that will reinforce the learning in the chosen discipline. If a student has not completed 40 credits in a specialized Major Area of Concentration by the time of candidacy review, the Major Area of Concentration will be designated as Liberal Studies.
Child Studies: Minor Area of Concentration
The Child Studies Minor Area of Concentration provides an interdisciplinary approach to the study of children with an emphasis on Psychology. The Child Studies minor prepares undergraduate students for positions in education, human services, and child advocacy, as well as for clinical and research-oriented graduate programs in education, psychology, and child development.
Students concerned with working effectively to enhance the quality of children’s lives will benefit from the blend of clinical and developmental psychology, as well as aspects of physiology, neurology, sociology, philosophy, economics, social policy, and the law. As one of the few social groups still lacking equal rights under the law, children are particularly vulnerable to the vicissitudes of our social conditions. Child advocates with an interdisciplinary perspective gain from a sophisticated understanding of the contexts that shape children’s lives. The Child Studies minor provides the opportunity for in-depth study of the relations between community, peers, social agencies, families, schools and the developing self of the child.
Current Tuition and Fees
University Tuition and Fees
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