About the School of Humanities

 

Identity & Mission Statement

 

The School of the Humanities is an interdisciplinary intellectual community which analyzes and interprets the creation and transmission of human culture, both ancient and modern. We emphasize critical and creative thinking, communication skills, and the development of Christian perspectives as we engage the pressing aesthetic, philosophical, political, religious, and social issues of our day. Our mission is to educate students and the larger college community by cultivating an informed Christian faith, a maturing cultural literacy, and portable intellectual skills. We develop lifetime learners who demonstrate global awareness, civic engagement, servant leadership, and reconciliation in church and society.

 

Liberal Arts at Messiah College

 

The School of the Humanities is the home of a liberal arts education at Messiah College. Our focus of study on human thought, action, emotion, and character provides the means for students to form a comprehensive intellectual, moral, and spiritual identity during their college years, while they also cultivate the highly prized career skills of critical and creative thinking, articulate oral and written communication, and a broad grasp of society and culture. So wherever your interests lie in our many areas of study, you’ll find abundant opportunities to pursue them with confidence that your undergraduate education will open doors to a wide variety of graduate and professional programs and future careers.

Our faculty members are engaged in scholarship and deeply committed to teaching undergraduate students. Drawn from top graduate programs, they remain active learners in their fields of study and also have a passion for student learning. These scholar-teachers enthusiastically invite you to join them in the pursuit of lifelong learning. The newest academic building, Boyer Hall, provides us with facilities dedicated to the specific needs of humanities programs, complete with state-of-the-art classrooms and seminar rooms, a 140-seat lecture hall, a cinema, computer labs, a language lab, and departmental resource rooms where students and faculty meet informally to learn together.

Humanities majors enjoy a wide range of experiences while attending Messiah College. From seminars and research projects to global study abroad, internship, practicum, teaching and service learning opportunities, students are enriched through faculty mentoring and experiential learning that creatively link the classroom to the wider world.