Faculty of Arts: Skills that define your future
Obtaining a university degree is a defining moment in one’s life. What you study now will influence how you live the rest of your life.
A strong grounding in the liberal arts helps graduates make informed decisions about the critical issues affecting all of our lives – issues such as politics, the economy, human rights, international development, ethics and morality.
The University of Regina Faculty of Arts is home to over 20 areas of study in the social sciences and humanities. Whether one’s passion is for journalism, justice studies, economics, or English; history, gender studies, or languages, arts students have the opportunity to study what they love, all the while gaining valuable skills that will serve them throughout their rest of their lives. Dr. Richard Kleer, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, emphasizes the strategic flexibility of a liberal arts degree. “You’re enjoying what you’re doing’, he says. ‘You’re learning, you’re growing as a person. But at the same time you are acquiring a broad range of skills that will pay off for you in many different lines of work.”
Graduates of the social sciences and humanities develop the ability to think independently and with a sense of the bigger picture. These are the type of leadership skills that employers tell us they want. Indeed, a 2013 study by the Association of American Colleges and Universities found that 93 per cent of the employees surveyed felt that a demonstrated ability to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems was more important than one’s undergraduate major. And 75 per cent expressed a desire for higher education to place greater emphasis on critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills.
So it is foundational to the Faculty of Arts’ teaching mission to assist our students in becoming open-minded and lifelong learners. We’ve built these commitments right into our mission statement and try to walk the talk every day.