OSU-Cascades Liberal Studies

Quick Links for Liberal Studies

Liberal Studies Advising Website

Liberal Studies OSU-Cascades Courses

Introducing the OSU Cascades Project in American Studies

Contact Dr. Neil Browne, neil.browne@osucascades.edu

In the Fall term 2009, the Department of Liberal Studies at OSU Cascades initiated its project in American Studies with the first of a planned series of interlocking courses focused on issues and movements in American Culture.  In 2009, we examined the American experience during the 1960's and 1970's.  These courses included AMS 311: American Culture and the Vietnam Experience; ART 399: Teen Film; COMM 412: The Grateful Dead, Deadheads, and Cultural Communication; and PS 375: Civil Rights Movement and Politics.

We continue our project in American Studies in 2010-11 during the Fall and Winter terms.  Selected courses are all clustered around a common theme: American Culture, Experience, and the Meaning of Work.

Fall 2010 courses include:

AMS 311: Topics in American Studies: American Society and Work,  Dr. Natalie Dollar

ENG 362: American Women Writers: American Women and Work, Dr. Neil Browne

PS 399: Current Problems in Politics: Women Lawyers in Film, Dr. James Foster

ART 399: Studies in Film: Work, Labor, and Film, Dr. Henry Sayre

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Studying in the American Studies Project, students will engage contemporary questions about American culture in their historical and global contexts.  Participants will examine these complex issues and processes through a variety of media—film, music, literature, history, politics, and art.  Because teaching faculty members come from several different disciplines, students learn to approach course objectives from many scholarly vantage points.

This kind of skillful thinking is more important today than ever before. Students today are confronted with information from a variety of different sources, tv, film, print and electronic news sources, and we seek to teach them the strategies and the tools to navigate the complexities of an informational society. We are convinced that equipping students to navigate a global world means teaching them to reflect deeply on issues of equity and cultural diversity. Across the country, American Studies majors go on to apply their knowledge in a broad number of fields, sparking new thinking and practices in business, education, art, law, medicine, and politics. Over and over again American Studies graduates prove the immeasurable value and applicability of liberal arts training and education. We are certain that providing students with the skills and resources to think critically, globally, and multiculturally is at the heart of what a modern university must do to achieve relevance for the world in which we live.

Description of Liberal Studies Major

The OSU-Cascades Liberal Studies program allows students to select from a set of three pre-designed themes established by departments within the OSU-Cascades College of Liberal Arts (C-CLA) or design their own theme of their choice. These themes, offered as focused areas of concentration utilizing Cascades faculty expertise, can be completed on-site by taking courses from the following departments: Art, English, Political Science, Spanish, Speech Communication, and Women Studies .

Students work in close consultation with a Liberal Studies faculty advisor to mix and match courses from any combination of all 13 departments in the OSU College of Liberal Arts (CLA) to design their own major organized around a theme. These themes may include both on-site Cascades Liberal Arts courses and Anthropology, Economics, Ethnic Studies, History, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, and Sociology courses offered through OSU Distance Education.

Students in Liberal Studies (LS) receive a well-rounded education that prepares them for a variety of experiences and careers. Liberal Studies introduces students to diverse subject matter. In addition to this breadth of new knowledge, students will develop communication skills and the ability to think critically, a combination in demand everywhere in today's job market. The Cascades Liberal Studies program encourages students to seek opportunities beyond their degree requirements to further facilitate their ability to think critically and communicate competently in contexts outside the university.

Liberal Studies and Teaching:

If you are interested in pursuing Education/Teaching within Liberal Studies, you can chose the Pre-ed Option in Liberal Studies.  Students will complete a revised version of the University Baccalaureate Core and the College of Liberal Arts Core Requirements. See the Pre-Education website for additional information.

Many students complete the general Liberal Studies major (without the Pre-Ed option) while simultaneously preparing for entrance into the MAT program.  Check out the Pre-education website for more information.  

Cascades Liberal Studies Degree Requirements

1. The Liberal Studies (LS) program consists of a minimum of 45 credits organized around a theme articulated in a plan of study and an application essay. Students should develop their Plan of Study with their Cascades faculty advisor. This plan includes at least 27 upper-division credits and is developed from the course offerings of two or more departments within the College of Liberal Arts (CLA). Students often include some sort of practical experience through an internship or project as part of their major.

  • This plan of study and application essay must be approved by the OSU Director of Liberal Studies, Dr. Jeff Hale, Corvallis campus. Please review LS current on-site course offerings when scheduling classes for your plan of study. Students should submit their plan of study for approval--to their Cascades LS faculty advisor--no later than the end of their second term at OSU-Cascades.
  • Current faculty advisors include Dr. Neil Browne, Dr. Natalie Dollar & Dr. James Foster.
  • All courses included in plan of study must be offered by a department within the OSU CLA.

2. Students must satisfy the University Baccalaureate Core, College of Liberal Arts Core Requirements, and LS major requirements.

3. Student must earn a 2.3 or better cumulative GPA in LS courses.

4. At least one Writing Intensive Course (WIC), offered by one of the CLA departments selected for your major theme, must be completed with a grade of C or better.

Liberal Studies Advising

Website - OSU-Cascades Liberal Studies Advising

Detailed advising information can be accessed by visiting the OSU-Cascades Liberal Studies Advising page. New students, including transfer students, begin their advising process by registering to attend a required new student orientation session at which time they will meet with a professional, peer, or faculty advisor. Once students complete the new student orientation they will work with a professional or peer advisor in completing their BACC Core and College of Liberal Arts requirements. Students meet with faculty advisors regarding their Liberal Studies major requirements. Faculty advising is limited to Cascades Advising Week.

Liberal Studies Faculty

Full-time On-Site Faculty

Visiting Faculty 

  • Ellen Santasiero, English

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