B.A. in World Arts and Cultures at UCLA
The B.A. in World Arts and Cultures (WAC) enables students to critically examine and constructively engage the social and cultural contexts that shape artists and their creativity. Our interdisciplinary curriculum accentuates those local histories and global influences that inform ethnographic, curatorial, creative and scholarly praxis, as well as activist politics and questions of social justice.
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World Arts and Cultures is the interdisciplinary research arm of our school, and creates a place for creativity that might not exist in a studio setting.
Are you a creative person? Maybe you make/do visual and/or performing arts, but don’t quite want to major in it? Maybe your creativity is in writing, cooking, handcrafts, cultural knowledge, community organizing, data visualization, et al?
Maybe you have considered a range of different majors but none of them feel quite right? Maybe you have a lot of different academic interests that appear unrelated, but you personally feel that they are connected and make sense to you in a creative interdisciplinary kind of way?
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While World Arts and Cultures is primarily a research-based curriculum, in some courses you will be required to engage in artistic activity as part of the class. Examples of activities include: creating video essays, making field recordings and mixes, body-based exercises, creative writing/poetry, making zines and protest posters, etc.
The purpose of these assignments is to understand why and how creative activity/making shows up in the lives of people, and there is no expectation that you have specific artistic skills; your participation and effort are the most important.
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A slam poet who wanted to eventually go to medical school, but didn’t want a health sciences undergraduate major and wanted to minor in LGBTQ studies. They majored in WAC and took advantage of the Art and Global Health research center, had double minors in LGBTQ Studies and Neuroscience, and is now a psychiatrist working with the LGBTQ population.
A photographer who was interested in entrepreneurship, but wanted more discussions around visual culture and how to build and lead culturally nuanced ideas around business and commerce. Triple minored in Film, Television & Digital Media; Entrepreneurship; and Digital Humanities. Worked in college admission and outreach following graduation, then went on to work in diversity technical sourcing for a tech startup.
An Ayurvedic chef who was planning on majoring in Philosophy because it was the closest thing to holistic health, but was missing the connection to food culture. World Arts and Cultures provided the space to connect their interests in nutrition, philosophy, and culture.
An actor/performer who didn’t want to be a musical theater major because they were critical of the lack of diversity in the field. Started at UCLA as an Environmental Science major, then switched to WAC because of the opportunity to explore theater and performance as a tool for social change.
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Our students have had a wide number of professional paths after graduating with a BA in World Arts and Cultures. From curatorial work to therapists, from non-profit work to educators, our students have found many ways that a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary education have supported their professional goals. For many students, WAC has enabled them to demonstrate to graduate school admissions committees that their bachelor degree taught them not simply about culture and the arts, but also provided them a training in ethical research toward social justice. Courses such as “Art and Moral Action,” “Art and Global Health,” or “Film and Feminism” provide practical experience for careers in environmentalism or work toward gender equality. Those interested in non-profit or organizational leadership get hands-on training in our field-research class and our several community engagement courses. For those aiming to work in museums, we have courses on “Visual Culture,” “Introduction to Museology,” and “Curating Cultures.”
“I benefited immensely from the diverse course work, the emphasis the department places on personal research interests and molding the coursework to an individual’s interests, collaboration with peers, and the opportunity to design my own independent studies. World Arts and Cultures steeped me in advocacy and allowed me to actively challenge “traditional” ways of knowing, while still centering my work on psychological nuance and conceptualizations of experience. The department of World Arts and Cultures afforded me an education with incredible breadth and depth, as well as opportunities for collaboration that continue to support me in my current clinical, research, and academic endeavors.”
— Hanna Young, WAC Class of 2021"The WAC curriculum is fun to learn because it’s about things I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn and discuss if I was in a different major. Also, in my opinion, one of the best aspects of this major is learning to uncover fallacies in many industries."
— Kamaryn Truong, WAC Class of 2024 -
In no particular order:
Supplemental Essays: For both writing prompts provided in the supplement we are looking for strong evidence of critical thinking, personal, and intellectual interest around the interdisciplinary possibilities in WAC. For Prompt #1, clearly explains “why WAC?” and not any of the other pathways available in academia around creativity, culture, and/or social justice. For Prompt #2, we are interested in your perspective around individual creativity and social issues.
Please note that in the WAC supplemental review, we read the UC PIQs for Transfer applicants only. We do not read the UC PIQs for First Year applicants.
Academics: Minimum 3.0 GPA for CA residents. 3.4 for Out Of State/ International students. 3.5+ GPA preferred. Within Academic History, grades in specific courses that are relevant to the major (typically around the arts, humanities, and social sciences) that show academic themes and trajectories that demonstrate ability and progress.
Aspects of Identity and Character Directly Related to the Major: Imagination, active questioning and inquiry, reflective analysis, risk taking, intuition, conscientiousness, persistence, ability to accommodate the unexpected, ability to identify and take advantage of support networks, and works at self development. We consider the supplemental essays, as well as Academic History and Extracurriculars from the UC application, to evaluate this area.
Aspects of Community Engagement: Evidence of being engaged with cultural and creative stewardship. We consider the supplemental essays, as well as Academic History and Extracurriculars from the UC application, to evaluate this area.
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