Bachelor's in Humanities

Ateneo de Manila University, commonly known as Ateneo, is a prestigious private research university located in Manila, Philippines. Established in 1859, Ateneo has a long-standing reputation for academic excellence and social involvement. The university offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs across various disciplines, including arts and humanities, business, science, engineering, and social sciences. Ateneo is committed to providing a holistic education that combines intellectual rigor with social responsibility, emphasizing critical thinking, ethical leadership, and social justice. With a distinguished faculty, state-of-the-art facilities, and a vibrant campus community, Ateneo fosters an environment that nurtures academic growth, personal development, and service to others. Through its transformative education, research initiatives, and community engagement, Ateneo de Manila University prepares graduates to become well-rounded individuals who make a positive impact on society.

The Bachelor of Arts major in Humanities was introduced in the College of Arts and Sciences in 1983. The current program retains vestiges of the old classical curriculum—the College previously had a traditional Humanities course devoted to the classical languages and literatures and to the arts—but adds more modern courses. It is home to students interested in the arts (both the fine and practical), media (both printed and broadcast), and research and writing (both creative and critical). The program is based on the classical belief in the capacity of human beings for self-perfection. It seeks to liberate the individual genius by exposing students, in the words of Matthew Arnold, to “the best that is known and thought in the world,” or The Great Tradition to which the individual talent belongs. These are the classics of literature, philosophy, and the arts—the makers charting the march of human civilization. Thus, the program holds that while people certainly cannot live without bread, neither can they live only for bread. Following the classical belief in individualism, the program in Humanities recognizes the particular talents and interests of students. Thus, besides receiving the basic background to the humanities or their potentials in the actual practice of the arts, students chart their own course of studies under the supervision of the Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies and given the means and services of the university. The end of the Humanities program is to produce graduates sensitive to the delicate nuances of the human condition, aware and appreciative of the record of the great human passions and ideas that have shaped and continue to shape the modern world, infused with the spirit of rigorous rational inquiry, and equipped with the intellectual maturity to form and articulate their own ideas. With the students’ commitment, the program hopes to instill the virtues of intellectual tolerance, love and liberty of thought, and the belief in the essential dignity of human being—ideals that are the core of every attempt to change the world. The Bachelor of Arts major in Humanities, in short, is liberal education for genuine human liberation. It is a recognition of the impulses—ever fundamental but now too often ignored—that are the heart of our common humanity.

Ateneo de Manila University, commonly referred to as Ateneo, is a prestigious private research university located in Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1859, Ateneo has a rich history of providing quality education rooted in the Jesuit tradition of academic excellence, moral formation, and social involvement. The university offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs across various disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences, business, science and engineering, and the arts. Ateneo is committed to nurturing well-rounded individuals who possess critical thinking skills, a strong sense of social responsibility, and a deep appreciation for ethical leadership. The university's distinguished faculty, state-of-the-art facilities, and vibrant campus community contribute to an engaging and supportive learning environment. Through its emphasis on holistic education, research, community outreach, and values formation, Ateneo de Manila University aims to shape graduates who are not only intellectually competent but also committed to making a positive impact on society.