Humanities & Arts (BS)

WPI’s BS in Humanities & Arts (HUA) combines the humanities and arts with science to provide a unique balance in studies to help students understand that science and technology are means to a greater end.

With the support of a talented and dedicated faculty, as well as access to several world-class local cultural institutions for project work, seminars, and performances, HUA students will be equipped with the knowledge and understanding of human behavior and critical thinking skills needed to succeed in their careers and in life.

While many students choose WPI because of the chance to explore their interests through the 2-unit HUA requirement, students may also major or minor in the humanities and arts or pursue a double major in combination with a science, engineering, or management program.

Curriculum

The Humanities & Arts degree gives you the best of both worlds. In this immersive program, you’ll study human cultural achievements to develop broad, universal skills in research, analysis, writing, or performance. While complementing the technological side of your WPI education, these skills and experiences will also enrich your life and enhance your career. When you first arrive, a faculty advisor will work with you to design your own personalized course of study.

As an HUA major, you’ll also be able to choose one of 12 concentrations, giving you the option to dig deeper into one of your other passions, or explore a new interest.

Undergraduate Catalog

Available Concentrations

American Studies

Art & Art History

Drama & Theatre

Environmental Studies

History

Literature

Modern Languages

Music

Philosophy & Religion

Science & Technology

Writing & Rhetoric

Similar Majors

International & Global Studies (BS)

Liberal Arts & Engineering (BA)

Writing (Professional) (BS)

Project-based Learning

Projects are at the heart of the WPI curriculum. From the moment you step foot on campus, you’ll become immersed in our collaborative, hands-on atmosphere. During your time here, you’ll work with peers in different majors to create solutions to real-life problems locally, or around the world.

WPI's Global Projects Program immerses students in communities as close as our home city of Worcester and at more than 40 other locations worldwide. Students work in teams with a faculty advisor and are accountable to a project sponsor on a specific problem that connects social issues and human needs with science or technology.

By completing projects that combine the humanities with technology, you’ll explore and demonstrate the power of the humanities and arts to make the world a better place. Whether you translate a literary text for new audiences, develop tools for interpretation and analysis of historically meaningful large data sets, or animate a complex scientific concept for use in a science class, you’ll learn how your career path in the humanities and arts can affect the world for the better.

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Students at project center with windmills in the background

This is how we’re supposed to build an ideal school in theory. In practice, these are all the things working against us. Now we have to meet in the middle. WPI gave me the opportunity to see how theory and practice really work.

Alexia Bililies Rantala

'08

Getting Involved

Nestled among all the robotics and engineering clubs, you’ll discover student-run literary magazines, comedy and theatre troupes, a cappella groups, and more. The opportunities don’t stop there, though: be sure to explore the city around you to discover even more culture, history, and the arts. Visit the Worcester Art Museum, the Worcester Historical Museum, and the Center for Crafts, or check out art festivals like stART on the Street or Art in the Park, just minutes from campus.

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Students organizing project tasks with sticky notes on a whiteboard

After Graduation

Because graduates of the Humanities & Arts program have completed required math and science work, humanities coursework, and humanities and interdisciplinary projects, they’ve set themselves up for a distinct advantage in their chosen fields. Upon graduation from WPI, some students choose to continue their education with graduate or pre-professional studies, while others find careers in environmental studies, writing, teaching, performing, museum studies, public health, and more.

Humanities & Arts Department