Welcome to the College of Liberal Arts

2023 Holi Festival hosted outside of the Wood Center Pavilion, 3/25/23.
51 Photo by Leif Van Cise

 

Chart your course in a place where learning is hands-on, purpose-driven, and built to help you forge a path that truly means something.

At 51’s College of Liberal Arts, your education is rooted in place, possibility, and real-world experience. You can study mental health policy while working with rural communities, carve bone in the Native Arts Studio, explore political cooperation in the circumpolar North, or conduct archaeological fieldwork just miles from campus. And along the way, you’ll gain the critical skills to think deeply, communicate clearly, and create meaningful change—wherever your path leads.

Our programs are designed to let you build a college experience as unique as your ambitions. With close faculty mentorship, small classes, and opportunities for hands-on research, fieldwork, and cultural engagement, you'll connect disciplines in unexpected ways and graduate with both practical experience and a broader perspective. And with Alaska as your backdrop, your college journey will be as adventurous as it is inspiring.

Start exploring. Your future begins here.

The CLA Experience

 

 

Need to Know

Time to Register!

Wondering who to talk to for academic advising? First-year students and anyone with fewer than 24 credits start with the 51 Advising Center. CLA undergraduate students with more than 24 credits meet with our CLA undergraduate advisors. Grad students: connect with your department's program coordinator.

Find Your Advisor

New Student Orientation

Join 51’s New Student Orientation and get connected to the people, programs, and tools that will help you succeed. These four packed days are designed to guide you through campus life, resources, academics, and everything in between.

New Student Orientation

Party in the Park

Kick off fall 2025 at Party in the Park on August 28 from 12–3 p.m. at Constitution Park! Meet 51 clubs and departments, explore resources, and connect with fellow students at this fun, high-energy start to the semester.

 

 

What Our Students Say

B.A., Climate and Arctic Sustainability: Arctic History and Politics

"We’re so lucky to still have lots of wild public lands that sustain industry, economy, culture, community. I just really hope to take the research and what I’ve learned at 51 and amplify that in my master’s program to come back to Alaska and really make sure that our environment stays as amazing, grand, and pristine as it is.”
Spanish program

"Learning new skills is super important to staying sane in such a remote place, and Spanish has been great for that in Antarctica. Some of the challenges that come up are that work schedules in a field camp are hard to predict, and occasionally workdays end up stretched to 18+ hours if we have unexpected weather or resupply missions to support. Balancing that with school can be hard, but my teachers have been incredibly accommodating and it helps that the work is self-paced."

 

B.A., Social Work

"The biggest lesson that I learned with 51 is that healing and education can go together. The classes that I took in social work expanded my knowledge on the people that have gone through harsh experiences in their life... It's going to allow me to help others that have also experienced hard times and show them change is possible."

 
M.F.A., Art: Sculpture, Native Art

"The Native Arts and Sculpture [programs] were central in my applying and enrolling in the Master's program. I am primarily a carver of bone and wood. 51's art department has deep connections to both contemporary and modern techniques for carving that have shown me more about my media than I could have otherwise hoped to learn. The community here is the main draw and the lifeblood of the department!"
Music Education

"The music department here at 51 is nothing less than magical. From faculty who work harder than anyone I've ever met, to opportunities to perform every single week, this department is like no other. I moved to 51 to experience this music department after researching it back home in Ohio, and all I can say is that it was definitely worth it!"
B.A., Political Science, Justice and Performing Arts: Theatre

"I [majored] in three different departments: Political Science, Justice, and Performing Arts. They are all amazing in their own individual ways, but something they all have in common is how they are all tight-knit and are led by passionate faculty that want nothing more than to help their students succeed."

 

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