Course Structure

Liberal Arts offers you the opportunity to design your own programme of study. Our programme complements Durham University’s Single and Joint Honours programmes, enabling you to study modules in up to four subjects in, and beyond, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

You can focus on two principal subjects from the outset, as you would in a Joint Honours programme, or you can take a broader range of modules in three or four subjects. If you are looking for the freedom to follow your intellectual interests, wherever these might take you, then Liberal Arts is the right programme for you. 

It is not only possible to study any subject in the Arts and Humanities, but also most subjects in the Social Sciences. It is possible, therefore, for students to combine History and Politics, for example, but also to study subjects in combinations less likely to be available in a Joint Honours programme, such as Theology and Anthropology, or Music and Sociology, or Philosophy and Geography. 

If the subject which you regard as your primary interest is in the Social Sciences, you should apply for the Combined Honours in Social Sciences programme (LMV0). Correspondingly, if you want to specialise in Mathematics or Psychology, or you want to study any other subject in the Sciences, you should apply for the Natural Sciences programme (CFG0 / FGC0). 

If your principal subjects include one or more modern languages – French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, or Japanese – then, at the end of your first year, you would transfer to the four-year version of your programme, and spend your third year abroad, either studying at university, or teaching English, or undertaking internships in companies and other organisations. If, however, you do not wish to take any subject other than modern languages, you should apply for the Modern Languages and Cultures programme (R002). 

If you are offered a place in one of the University’s international exchange programmes, then, during your second year, you would also transfer to the four-year version of your programme. 

Liberal Arts, like its predecessor, Combined Honours in Arts, appeals to highly qualified, self-motivated, and independent-minded students, who are seeking to make creative connections between their subjects. It offers exceptional flexibility, and the opportunity to study in some of the UK’s most prestigious departments in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.