Unlock Your Creativity to Transform the World
Explore communication, art, graphic design, theater arts and more.
The School of Arts and Humanities cultivates inquiry, critical thinking, and artistic expression through the teaching, learning, scholarship, creative work, initiatives, and organizations of our students and faculty. We foster freedom and responsibility while encouraging the expansion of knowledge, the exploration of values, and the discovery of one's self as an active citizen in the world.
At the School of Arts and Humanities you’ll become a lifelong learner dedicated to personal growth, intellectual curiosity, and creative passion. Your work in your major will go beyond the classroom, preparing you for success in your career through internships and real-world experiences.
Our Departments
The School of Arts and Humanities comprises seven academic departments offering programs that spark creativity, challenge expectations and drive innovation.
Department of Communication
Students are equipped to thrive in a demanding and innovative field. Read more about this department, the professional and student organizations you can join, available scholarships and upcoming events.
Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Students are challenged to learn about multilingualism and multiculturalism so that they are prepared to live in a global world. Learn about this department and hear what some of our alumni have to say about life after the hilltop.
Department of Literature, Writing and Rhetoric
Students majoring under this department become proficient in the written language and are primed for writing-intensive careers. Discover more about this department, majors and minors available, student organizations you can join and upcoming events.
Department of Performing Arts
Students train with the best and have the real-life experiences needed to excel in the creative field. Learn more about this department, professional opportunities available such as the Actors’ Equity Association, musical programs you can get involved with and available scholarships.
Department of Philosophy
Gain transferable life skills such as rational analysis, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Learn more about this department and how you’ll be prepared for success after graduation — whether through a job or continuing your educational journey.
Department of Religious and Theological Studies
Students explore the meaning and purpose of life, as well study the history, literature, and cultures associated with global religions. Read about this department, student organizations you can join, ways you can use this exciting degree and available scholarships.
Department of Visual Studies
Students are encouraged to explore their creativity and then cultivate and refine their skills through areas such as graphic design, video, photography, game studies and painting. See more about this department, majors and minors available, student organizations you can join and our alumni successes.
Our Programs
The School of Arts and Humanities’ programs and certifications will help hone your critical thinking and creativity, develop your oral and written communication skills, and explore careers through hands-on learning.
Academic Advising
The School of Arts and Humanities provides personalized academic guidance to help you choose your major and enhance your hilltop experience through study abroad, internships, and opportunities to engage with faculty.
The School of Arts and Humanities Stories
Meet Our Faculty
Our exceptional faculty challenge and motivate students to think critically and creatively. As a result, perspectives are broadened and personal transformations begin. We promote the interests, strengths and goals of each student.
Centers and Cultural Programs
Our Arts and Humanities programs contribute to a vibrant, creative and intellectual climate at St. Edward’s. We support a number of programs, organizations, and institutions, providing opportunities for exploration and self-discovery.
Fine Arts Gallery
The St. Edward's University Fine Arts Gallery serves both the university and Austin community through exhibitions of professional artists, faculty, alumni, and students, as well as sponsored lectures and other programming related to our visiting artist program.
Mary Moody Northen Theatre (MMNT)
Mary Moody Northen Theatre stands at the center of the university’s theater training program under the School of Arts and Humanities. The theater operates on a professional model, requiring students to learn all facets of theatrical production and demanding the highest level of commitment and craft in their work.
Hilltop Views
Hilltop Views is the university’s award-winning student-run newspaper. Published bi-weekly, Hilltop Views offers many opportunities for student journalists, photographers, and designers to receive vital newsroom experience that will prepare them for the industry outside of college.
Marcia Kinsey Visiting Writers Series
This series brings working writers, including award-winning novelists, poets, and playwrights, to campus to read from their work, talk about their writing and interact with students.
Contact the Dean’s Office
Students can contact the Dean's Office at (512) 448-8620 for help with:
- Registration
- Course schedules
- Help with registration in myHilltop
- Honors equivalencies
- Registration schedule
Dean’s Message
Dear Future Arts and Humanities Students:
Embrace the opportunities and challenges ... Hop on a plane in Texas, and be in Spain in seven hours. Skype your friends in Brazil. Share ideas with students in South Korea and South Africa via video-conferencing classrooms. Champion a global human rights movement on Facebook. With every heartbeat, and tap of a keyboard, our world becomes more interconnected and accessible.
At St. Edward’s University, we prepare you to keep pace with this prolific change and embrace the opportunities and challenges it brings. In the School of Arts and Humanities, it begins by empowering you with knowledge built on proficiencies in writing, literature, language, philosophy, religious studies and the arts. These explorations fuel imaginations and cultivate abilities to think critically, research topics from diverse perspectives and articulate findings and insights through writing, speaking and creative endeavors.
All the while, you'll refine your ideas and voice. Students present and display their work at exhibits and symposia. They publish two award-winning campus journals, Arete and Sorin Oak Review. Students produce and perform classics and original scripts on stage. Students examine arguments and ethics in our Passion and Civility debates and interact with renowned novelists, poets and playwrights in our Visiting Writers Series. Whatever your artistic or scholarly pursuit, you’ll hone and share them through your projects and research.
The knowledge and skills acquired in the School of Arts and Humanities extend across academic disciplines and far beyond our Austin, Texas, campus. Our students, for example, immerse themselves in international languages, cultures and business through studies at our partner universities in France, Argentina, Japan and other countries. They explore photography in China and event management in Scotland. They participate in service projects in India, Uganda and Canada.
Amid opportunities like these — grounded in local and global realities — our students see the world and its people in new ways, with understanding and respect. Throughout your educational journey, you'll cultivate qualities such as self-awareness, intentionality, flexibility, empathy and intellectual curiosity.
Above all, you’ll discover your passions, strengths and purpose, preparing you to thrive and make a difference in our rapidly changing world.
Sincerely,
Sharon Diane Nell, PhD
Dean, School of Arts and Humanities