Why design your own liberal arts degree at Lang? How does one begin this process of academic exploration and self designing a major? This course takes these questions as its primary focus. Intended especially for students considering majoring in Liberal Arts (Lang’s Self-Design major) but open to all Lang students, this course prepares you to make the most of your New School education. To do so, we examine the meaning and value of liberal arts in higher education, in contexts from the local to the global. The Liberal Arts major at Lang lets you bring together subjects you're passionate about in a rigorous curriculum focused on interdisciplinary, multicultural, and issue-based perspectives beyond the framework of Lang’s other departments. In this class, students develop and workshop comprehensive, individualized plans for their studies that incorporate prior educational experiences, articulate their personal educational philosophy, and outline how they plan to achieve the interdisciplinary education they seek. A self-designed major (or any major in the liberal arts) encourages curiosity, exploration, breadth and focus – and also demands responsibility.