Established by the University of Malta Council in February 2014, the Centre for the Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) is responsible for the design, coordination, evaluation, and promotion of the University’s flagship Programme in the Liberal Arts and Sciences (PLAS).
As the administrative and academic hub of PLAS, CLAS is committed to providing high-quality, student-centred support to learners enrolled in the programme. The Centre also contributes to the University’s public engagement mission by fostering interdisciplinary learning and encouraging collaboration between academia, industry professionals, and the wider community.
PLAS is rooted in the long-standing tradition of liberal education, which traces its origins to the artes liberales of classical Greece and Rome and has evolved through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and into the modern era. At its core, liberal education seeks to broaden knowledge, develop critical and creative thinking, strengthen transferable skills, and promote informed civic engagement.
Today, PLAS offers a diverse portfolio of micro-credentials that enable learners to explore new areas of knowledge, pursue personal interests, and engage with contemporary issues from multiple perspectives. Subjects include archaeology, history, literature, culture, conservation, philosophy, economics, public policy, migration, music, biology, medicine, earth systems, marketing, art, astronomy, sociology, politics, winemaking, chemistry, architecture, law, photography, and many more.
Through its flexible and interdisciplinary approach, PLAS provides lifelong learning opportunities that enrich personal development, encourage intellectual curiosity, and connect learners with the latest academic research and expertise available at the University of Malta.
The Centre for the Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) was established by the Council of the University in February 2014 with the main remit of designing, coordinating, evaluating and promoting the University’s new flagship Programme in the Liberal Arts and Sciences (PLAS).
As the administrative hub of PLAS, the Centre seeks to provide high-quality, learner-focused administrative assistance to students enrolled in the Programme. The Centre contributes to the University’s ongoing public outreach initiative, while promoting further interdisciplinary collaboration within the University and through its engagement with specialists outside academia.
The Programme falls within the tradition of liberal education which goes all the way back to the classical artes liberales in Greek and Roman antiquity, undergoing subsequent transformations in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and down to the 21st Century. Originally conceived as the education required by a free person (liber; a citizen as opposed to a slave), a ‘liberal education’ developed into a philosophy of education that empowers individuals with a breadth of knowledge and transferable skills, as well as a stronger sense of civic engagement.
In this light, the Programme in the Liberal Arts and Sciences offers a broad range of micro-credentials in areas such as archaeology, history, literature, culture, conservation, philosophy, economics, public policy, migration, music, biology, medicine, earth systems, marketing, art, astronomy, sociology, politics, winemaking, chemistry, architecture, law, photography, and more.