MESSAGE FROM DEAN GILL

Welcome to the College of Liberal Arts at Colorado State University.  We are proud of the student-oriented, friendly, welcoming, and intellectually challenging learning environment we have created.

The College has a proud history, steeped in the land-grant tradition of the institution. 

The Division of Science and Arts was established at Colorado Agricultural College (CAC) in 1934, one year before CAC became Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (Colorado A&M).  In 1951, the Division became a School, and, following the institution’s renaming as Colorado State University in 1957, the school became the College of Science and Arts in 1959.  In 1968, the arts and sciences split, and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences was created.  Its name was changed in 1977 to the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and in 1992, it was renamed the College of Liberal Arts.

Liberal Arts is the largest college at Colorado State, with 12 departments and one center, nearly 4500 undergraduate students, and over 530 graduate students.  Our undergraduate students are enrolled in 14 undergraduate majors, 20 minors, and a variety of interdisciplinary study options, and our graduate students are enrolled in programs in all 12 departments.  Our students are taught by over 300 full-time and additional part-time faculty members.

A college of liberal arts at a land-grant, research-extensive university is at once the intellectual heart of the institution and significantly shaped by the applied mission of the other colleges.  As a result, the research, scholarship, and artistry of our faculty have both theoretical and applied dimensions.  As just a few examples, faculty members in philosophy are internationally recognized experts in animal rights and environmental ethics.  Faculty members in creative writing are not only poets and novelists but also write about nature and the environment.  Faculty members in economics, sociology, and political science work with engineers on clean energy projects, and an anthropology faculty member teams with natural resources faculty to study human ecology in the Greater Serengeti.

Our students and faculty also embrace the land-grant mission of service to the community.  Many courses have service-learning projects, and students complete internships with regional businesses, the Colorado legislature, and other entities.  Our students are active in service-oriented Alternative Spring Break and in projects in local K-12 schools, and faculty partner with regional, national, and international organizations to improve the lives of others.

I invite you to browse our Web site and learn more about the departments and units that make up our college.   You will discover we have excellent students, award-winning teachers, scholars with national reputations for their research and creative activity, and internationally known artists and performers.  You will find that we are committed to making a difference.

If I can be of service to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Ann M. Gill
Dean