Message from Chairperson

Welcome to the Department of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts (SSLA)! Our four year undergraduate program is designed to cover a range of disciplines in the Social Sciences and Humanities, while maintaining the focus of a degree that provides a competitive advantage to our graduates. Our students cover a core curriculum in the first two years comprising of courses in the fields of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Philosophy, Sociology, Urban Studies, English Writing and Rhetoric, History and two semesters of a Foreign Language. In their third and fourth years, they choose a Major from Media and Culture, Political Science, Psychology, and History. Starting in 2023, they also have the option of doing a Minor in either Urban Studies or World Literature. In their last year, students can choose to do a thesis project, where each student designs and carries out their own research.

Rooted in the Liberal Arts' scholarly tradition, our degree provides a flexible structure with enough space for students to explore their own interests. Our courses are designed to develop critical thinking. When our students graduate, many of them go on for their masters and PhDs to renowned international universities, with funding from competitive scholarships. Others choose to join the job market. Our students have an edge over other candidates because of their analytical and creative problem solving skills. These are highly valued by employers and this is reflected in our graduates' employability rates. Our graduates have gone on to join NGOs, think tanks, media organizations, banks, corporations and Government organizations.

The department boasts more than forty full-time faculty with Social Science and Humanities training from some of the best universities around the world. They work closely with each student to provide mentorship and academic guidance. We also work with a number of excellent visiting and adjunct faculty, all of them experts in their fields. Social Science courses offered by our department are increasingly popular among students in other undergraduate programs across IBA, who find them to be exciting, challenging and enriching electives.

We are proud of our students who emerge as young adults with a curiosity to understand and be a part of a better world, with responsibility, compassion and kindness. Their training teaches them to appreciate the complexities of an ever changing world, but also grounds them in our own social and cultural contexts. We know today that societies prosper when we have a better understanding of the relationships that constitute them. And at its core, this is the knowledge that students of the Social Sciences and Humanities seek. We look forward to welcoming you to our department, and to continuing our learning together, always striving for excellence.

Dr. Laila Sohail Farooq
Chairperson, Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts