University College Tilburg: Liberal Arts and Sciences

Program content

After a broad, interdisciplinary foundation in the first year, you will specialize in one of our five majors in the second year. You can expand or deepen your expertise through electives and a minor that best fits your interests.

• During your first year you familiarize yourself with the core disciplines of the program.  
• In the second year you specialize in a chosen major. You will follow both mandatory and elective courses. You can choose from five majors:
  • Business and Economics
  • Law in an International Context
  • Social Sciences: Human Behavior
  • Arts and Humanities: Past – Present – Future
  • Cognitive Neuroscience: Brain and Cognition
• In your third year, you largely combine your own curriculum. You have the opportunity to follow electives outside of your study program at one of Tilburg University’s prestigious national or international partner universities. During the second semester, you conclude the study program by writing your Bachelor thesis. Depending on your major, you obtain the title Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science.

Typical courses are:

• Individuals and Collectives: Introduction to Business and Economics and Social Sciences  
  Using theories from Social Sciences and Business & Economics, you gain a thorough understanding of the theme sustainability. Learn how sustainability is closely related to social relationships and individual decision making, how businesses and individuals allocate scarce resources, and what happens when individual and collective interests do not align. 
• Imagining Justice: Introduction to Law and Humanities 
  Get acquainted with important works at the intersection of law and the humanities. Discuss them in the context of their time as well as their relevance to contemporary issues, such as law and morality, civil disobedience, human rights and civil rights, capitalism, refugees, and power relations. 
• Mind and Brain: Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience 
  Get introduced to the fundamental problems and views of the relationship between the mind and brain. Explore both historical views and the views of contemporary scientists. Gain basic knowledge about the brain and nervous system and become familiar with methods of experimental research on the mind-body relationship. 

More on the program and courses

Study Liberal Arts and Sciences in Tilburg

• Follow courses in an international environment with students from all over the world. Learn from each other’s experiences and points of view and become skilled in collaborating in teams characterized by diversity.
• Learn to fathom complex societal issues by approaching them from multiple perspectives.
• The program is officially recognized as small-scale and intensive education. There is room for studying the material in depth, leading to a lot of interaction with your fellow students and your lecturers.
• Several courses are team-taught, meaning two lecturers from different fields of expertise jointly teach the course to demonstrate how you can approach a question or issue from different angles, right in front of the classroom.
• Study and live in an environment that suits you! University College Tilburg offers you the opportunity of sharing a room with your fellow students*, however this is not mandatory.

*Are you interested in living together with fellow Liberal Arts and Sciences students in the city center of Tilburg? Check Step 7 on the Application and admission page to see when you can apply . There are limited rooms available in the shared housing facility, which means a room cannot be guaranteed.

What to expect when coming to Tilburg

• International student support
• Study in Holland

Beyond your Bachelor's: Extracurricular Activities

• Join Extra Muros, the Liberal Arts and Sciences student association. They organize academic, cultural and social activities for University College Tilburg’s close-knit and active community.
• Challenge yourself by participating in one of our on-top programs.

View all extracurricular activities

Careers and subsequent Master’s programs

After obtaining your Bachelor's degree in UCT: Liberal Arts and Sciences, you can choose to do a Master's program. After you have completed a Master's program, you will have favorable career prospects as a PhD student, or business developer.

Graduates found work at ASML, Greenpeace, de Europese Commissie and UNHCR.

 Discover what you can do after your Bachelor’s

Please follow the national application and admission procedure (in Dutch) if you are applying with a Dutch vwo or hbo-p diploma, regardless of your nationality. A general description of the national application procedure is also available in English.

Admission requirements

• To be eligible for admission to a research university such as Tilburg University, you must have a high school diploma equal to the highest level of secondary education in the Netherlands  (the Dutch vwo diploma).
• As this Bachelor’s program is taught entirely in English, you must prove your English language proficiency. 

You can find more detailed information about the admission requirements on this program's 'Application and admission' page.

Go to application and admission

Related Bachelor's programs

• Global Management of Social Issues
• Online Culture: Art, Media and Society
• Psychology