Liberal Arts and Sciences

Overview

AUC is based on the American liberal arts and sciences model, with students living and studying together on an international campus located at Amsterdam Science Park. The Liberal Arts and Sciences programme of the University of Amsterdam is taught entirely in English, is small-scale and selective, and admits a maximum of 300 students each year based on their academic performance and motivation.

Liberal arts and sciences at AUC

Do you have broad interests, enjoy discussions and debates, like to be challenged and feel at home in an international environment? AUC offers a Bachelor (Honours) degree programme in the liberal arts and sciences, taught in English, and open to both Dutch and international students. As a student at AUC, you will learn to analyse complex issues from different perspectives by drawing on various academic fields of knowledge. Discussions start with the ‘big questions’ in science and society and lead to in-depth study in a wide range of academic disciplines.

Programme structure

Students at AUC choose to major in the Sciences, Social Sciences or Humanities. Within each of these majors are a variety of “tracks” through which students specialise in more specific areas of knowledge known as concentrations. These concentrations make the programme cohesive, and ensure that students attain a certain level of expertise in a specific field to proceed to Master’s degree programmes or more advanced studies in an exact field. 

These areas of study can also be combined to create unique programmes designed to address contemporary issues (for example, “health” and “biomedical sciences” to better understand public health policies, or “information” and “communication” to study the increasing effect of big data on society).