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  • Career preparedness

    With a well-rounded liberal and applied arts education, our graduates are prepared for successful careers in a variety of fields.

  • Texas state capitol

    The College of Liberal and Applied Arts facilitates internships with the state legislature for students looking for hands-on experience in government.

  • SFA-TV2

    Our students participate in content creation and production at SFA’s TV and radio stations as well as our digital and printed publications.

  • SFA social work students

    We believe in giving Lumberjacks opportunities to make an impact by assisting the community and preserving its history.

Welcome to the College of
Liberal and Applied Arts

The College of Liberal and Applied Arts at SFA provides students with the broad-based skills required to be successful over a lifetime. A combination of humanities and social sciences ensure our students communicate well, think critically, solve problems creatively and value ethics.

College Facts

  • 2
    ACADEMY
    AWARDS

    WON BY ALUMNI
  • 49
    ACADEMIC &
    CREATIVE BOOKS

    PUBLISHED SINCE 2015
  • 3
    GRAMMY
    AWARDS

    WON BY ALUMNI
  • 18
    TEACHING
    AWARDS

    WON BY FACULTY

Applied Skills Internship

The College of Liberal and Applied Arts Applied Skills Internship has a unique format that lets you add an internship to your résumé without having to commit to working off campus.

Transformative Experiences

At SFA, we believe students benefit greatly from hands-on learning in and out of the classroom. Transformative experiences are at the core of our academic philosophy.

LUMBERJACK SPOTLIGHT

  • Then and Now: Alumna shares her and great-grandmother’s SFA experience.

    Determination and the Lumberjack spirit seem to run in the family for Heather Dulin, a 2009 SFA graduate whose great-grandmother, Ibby Inez Fuller, attended during the university’s infancy.

    “It’s incredible to think my great-grandmother attended the same university I did 82 years earlier,” Dulin said. “While our lives in Nacogdoches and on campus were different, I know we were in search of the same thing — a formative educational experience centered around learning and growing to be better women. And that’s exactly what we achieved.”

    Read more about her story.

    Heather Dulin

    Heather Dulin, psychology major, class of 2009

  • Undergraduate Research in English

    Jessie Jenkins, Hannah Tumlinson, Abigail Perschall and Alex Sides won the Top Scholars award for the 2018 Undergraduate Research Conference. Their project, "Critical Companion to Bastard Out of Carolina," was sponsored by Dr. Michael Martin, professor of English. The students worked for nine months as a cohesive team to research the intersections of identity for underprivileged and underrepresented white, rural Southerners through Dorothy Allison's “Bastard Out of Carolina.”

    Jessie Jenkins, Hannah Tumlinson, Abigail Perschall and Alex Sides

    Jessie Jenkins, Hannah Tumlinson, Abigail Perschall and Alex Sides

  • RANKING ABOVE THE REST

    Alex Medina graduated from Duncanville High School in June 2015 and began attending SFA the following fall semester. Since joining the ROTC program, he has completed Army Air Assault School at Fort Benning in Georgia, and he was awarded the George C. Marshall Award, which is presented to the nation’s top Army ROTC cadets.
     
    Medina commissioned as a second lieutenant infantry officer and graduated in May 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in biology with a focus in cellular and molecular biology and a minor in military science.

    Cadet Alex Medina

    Cadet Alex Medina

  • WILMA CORDOVA EMPOWERS STUDENTS TO EMPOWER OTHERS.

    SFA professor Wilma Cordova believes social work is a calling. She guides her students through rigorous research, fieldwork and role-playing exercises to prepare them for careers as advocates for equality and social justice.

    Watch the full story.

     
    Wilma Cordova, Professor of Social Work

    Wilma Cordova, Professor of Social Work

  • What language do bears speak?

    As a class project in her invented languages course at SFA, Lindsey Antonini developed a language for bears called Arktosk. Her work garnered a mention in the New York Times article "Create Your Own Language, For Credit."

    After graduating from SFA with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a minor in linguistics in 2012, Antonini commenced doctoral studies in linguistics.

    Lindsey Antonini

    Lindsey Antonini, Class of 2012

  • Jazz History: From Brazil to America

    For his book, "Cuttin’ Up: How Early Jazz Got America’s Ear," SFA faculty member Dr. Court Carney interviewed musicians in Salvador, Brazil, to build upon his research on the intersections of race and music. Dr. Carney’s work incorporating the idea of music, place and memory in Bahia serves as an important addition to his scholarship on these relationships within the United States.

    Dr. Court Carney

    Dr. Court Carney

  • DR. JOYCE JOHNSTON HONORED WITH CIVIL JUSTICE AWARD.

    Dr. Johnston received the Texas American Board of Trial Advocates 2018 Champion of Civil Justice award on behalf of her work with SFA’s Pre-Law Academy. The Pre-Law Academy, which Johnston has overseen since 2014, is an innovative summer program that introduces high school students to a career in law.

    Dr. Joyce Johnston, Director of Division of Multidisciplinary Programs

    Dr. Joyce Johnston, Director of Division of Multidisciplinary Programs

  • CROSSING DISCIPLINES

    Decades before being named chair of SFA’s Department of Government, Dr. Kwame Antwi-Boasiako began a career in broadcasting that would lead him down a meandering and versatile career path. After attending the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Antwi-Boasiako disc jockeyed and worked as a sports commentator before moving to America and receiving his doctoral degree in public administration. The diversity of his professional and educational background continues to lend itself to the depth of knowledge he shares in the classroom.

    Dr. Kwame Antwi-Boasiako

    Dr. Kwame Antwi-Boasiako

  • LINKING CLASSROOMS: PROFESSOR PUTS RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE

    Dr. John C. Pruit, SFA assistant professor of sociology, studies the long-lasting lessons preschool teaches students. Studying education and preschool teachers in particular has influenced Pruit's own teaching style. Through his research, he has realized that preschool teachers both teach and care for their students, which is something he tries to achieve in his own interactions with college students.

    Recently, Pruit received the Teaching Excellence Award for being an outstanding faculty member in the College of Liberal and Applied Arts.

    Dr. John C. Pruit

    Dr. John C. Pruit

  • Lights. Camera. Lumberjack in Action.

    As media operations specialist for KHOU-TV, Devonte Hill preps for the morning news followed by Great Day Houston, a one-hour daily program broadcast live in front of a studio audience. Hill is constantly in motion – preparing sets, moving props and cameras and adjusting lights. He also creates stories for the show, assists in producing segments, writes teasers and cuts voiceover footage.

    Devonte Hill, Class of 2014

    Devonte Hill, Class of 2014

Working Side-By-Side

  • George Avery

    George Avery

    As director of the anthropology and archaeology lab, Dr. George Avery works closely with students through field excavations and lab research. He is currently overseeing a team that is excavating Freedom Colonies — self-sufficient rural communities where African Americans created a safer place for themselves post-Civil War — in Deep East Texas.

  • Joyce Johnston

    Joyce Johnston

    French professor Dr. Johnston hosts weekly gatherings at a local coffee shop to help students and community members hone their conversational French speaking.

  • Kenneth Untiedt

    Kenneth Untiedt

    SFA English Professor Dr. Kenneth Untiedt is helping to preserve the past through the world-renowned Texas Folklore Society. With its roots dating back to 1909, it’s the longest-existing, state-based folklore organization.

  • Anne Smith

    Anne Smith

    Philosophy Professor Dr. Anne Smith has a wide variety of interests. A renowned scholar of all things Harry Potter, she teaches a course annually where students can dive into the philosophical ideas of the wizarding world.

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