Humanities at WashU

Claim your place in the world

The humanities help us understand the world and the problems we face today, in all their complexity.

What are the humanities?

It’s right in the name: in the humanities, we study human ties. What binds us together, and what drives us apart? The disciplines of the humanities help you to analyze the context and the meaning of the human experience, across place and time.

What are the humanistic disciplines?

You’re probably already familiar with humanistic fields such as art history, literature, history, music, philosophy, and religious studies. The humanities also include the study of culture and language such as African and African American studies, East Asian languages and cultures, international and area studies, film and media studies, and American culture studies. For a full list of humanities fields at WashU, check out the Explore Academics page.

What can WashU offer you as a humanities student? And how will studying the humanities lead you to a successful career path and a fulfilling life?

Students trained in the humanities are qualified for a variety of exciting careers in media and publishing organizations, museums, start-ups, healthcare organizations, universities and other institutions of learning, nonprofits, governmental agencies, law firms, film and theater companies, social justice and community organizations, management consulting firms — and so much more. Keep reading to learn more about the humanities at WashU and where these fields can take you, including stories from some of our recent alumni who are already making their names in the workforce.

Take the Next Step

Schedule a campus visit and get to know our community.

Visit the admissions website

The WashU Difference

Outstanding Faculty 

Renowned for their work, dedicated to teaching

At Washington University, you can develop your intellectual passion with the encouragement and guidance of some of the leading humanists in the world. WashU combines the world-class faculty expertise of a research university with the dedication to teaching and small class sizes more often associated with liberal arts colleges. Take classes with a Guggenheim fellow, learn poetry from a National Book Award-winning writer, or collaborate with a faculty expert on your own research project. In any of our humanities fields, you'll find respected scholars and beloved teachers.

Browse our departments to meet them and see their achievements.

Cross-Disciplinary Study

Explore the intersections between fields.

Topics of study in the humanities — documenting social inequality, studying religious groups’ secular interactions, translating literature — encourage multidisciplinary perspectives. On your way to earning a minor in medical humanities, for example, you can take courses in biomedical ethics, the history of the body, contemporary women’s health, and religion and healing. Students in majors such as African and African Amerian studies, American culture studies, international and area studies, and women, gender, and sexuality studies tackle questions that overlap several humanistic and social science disciplines.

Or you can make new connections across disciplines and branch into unexplored areas through your own research!

Experiences Beyond the Classroom 

The humanities take you across the world.

At WashU, there are so many opportunities to take your humanities studies into the world. Our students study history, literature, and languages in study abroad programs across four continents. Our Overseas Programs office excels at sending students to locations all over the globe to study and spend time immersed in the languages, cultures, and locations that inspire them. The Kemper Art Museum's student educators program gives students the opportunity to facilitate active conversations about artworks and exhibitions with visitors of all ages. You can also join practicums and groups that take you into the community and city of St. Louis as well as other regions.

Student Research 

Find the answers to the questions that drive you and add knowledge to your field.

At WashU we don't want you just to listen to what our faculty have to say. We want you to add to the knowledge available in the field you're passionate about. We celebrate the creation of knowledge from all of our communities. Completing a thesis project is often part of pursuing a major in the humanities at WashU. Our students dig into archival research, analyze primary sources, and collaborate with faculty and fellow students in preparing and presenting cutting-edge research. Recent examples of student research include a study of the relationship between the Wu-Tang Clan and black nationalist religious organizations based in New York City and a historical analysis of industrial pollution in Sauget, Illinois.

There are multiple ways for you to pursue research that interests you through one-on-one faculty mentorship. Check out the following opportunities:

The Humanities Digital Workshop

The Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship

Merle Kling Undergraduate Honors Fellowship

Office of Undergraduate Research

“Democracy demands wisdom and vision in its citizens. It must, therefore, foster and support a form of education, and access to the arts and the humanities, designed to make people of all backgrounds and wherever located masters of their technology and not its unthinking servants.”

— National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965
 
Photo by Christian Baker. Baker graduated with a major in Religious Studies and a minor in Text and Tradition is currently enrolled at the Washington University School of Law.
 

Your Humanities Résumé

The humanities prepare you for a path you can't even imagine.

Our humanities alumni have gone on to find success in every field – medicine, business, law, academia, technology, media, etc. They all tell us the same thing: studying the humanities prepares you for many possible career paths but also gives depth and dimension to any additional fields you wish to study and with which to navigate the rest of your life.

Studying the humanities at WashU will develop skills that will benefit you in any career you choose and will prepare you for active engagement in the world.

In particular, humanities courses help foster:

  • Critical analysis of words, sounds, objects, and images
  • Development of research methods to learn a new subject and test new ideas
  • Communication skills to present and defend a position
  • Ability to make connections across complex ideas
  • Appreciation of differing perspectives and experiences
  • Ability to understand the details of a situation while also balancing the bigger picture

These skills will help you to “future proof” your career by preparing you not only for today’s job market but well beyond.