The European College of Liberal Arts in Berlin, Germany

European College of Liberal Arts (ECLA):
ECLA is a private, non-profit intitution of higher education in Berlin, Germany. Disciplines like philosophy, literature, political theory, art history, and film theory are taught in English by experts. Possible areas of concentration are Art and Aesthetics, Ethics and Political Theory, and Literature and Rhetoric. ECLA students and faculty come from all over the world and work together in English. They share the facilities of a small residential college and the cultural riches of Berlin.

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B.A. in Value Studies:The European College of Liberal Arts are introducing a 4-year degree programme leading to a Bachelor of Arts in Value Studies.

Students in this programme concentrate in the areas of Art and Aesthetics, Ethics and Political Theory, and Literature and Rhetoric. The programme is designed for students with a strong theoretical bent, who want to combine their pursuit of special interests with a demanding studium generale. Within the framework of the first degree programme to focus on the concept of value, ECLA’s non-departmental structure allows students to work with faculty from different backgrounds on moral, political, epistemic, religious, and aesthetic questions, with the understanding that such questions are naturally and deeply connected.

Apart from the academic training on campus, the programme includes a period abroad, as well as an internship.

Academy Year:In this one-year programme students divide their time equally between core courses and electives, and may study languages for extra credit if time permits. The latest core courses were dedicated to Greek Thought and Literature on Education, Art and Politics in the Florentine Renaissance, and The Ownership Society: Property in Modernity. Most AY students have already studied for 1-3 years elsewhere and typically come to ECLA to engage, or re-engage, their disciplinary training with a broader context of moral, political, epistemological and aesthetic concerns. Some students enrol in the AY Programme immediately after high school, often inspired by a serious interest in politics, ethics, literature or art - and a wish to find an alternative to what they consider premature specialization.

Project Year:In this one-year programme students divide their time between a core course, reading groups, electives and a year-long individual project after which the programme is named. The individual project, arranged according to individual background and plans for the future, allows the student to pursue an old interest further, or acquaint him- or her-self seriously with new territory. The work is supervised by faculty members with relevant expertise and culminates with a 25-page essay to be submitted in term 3, as well as an oral presentation of the project to the rest of the school. The PY core course is devoted to value problems, like the AY programme, but with a special focus on methodological issues. The PY core course is currently dedicated to Objectivity. Normally PY students have 2-5 years of relevant academic experience when they join the programme. Some have finished the Academy Year Programme; others come to the programme with some experience of value studies from disciplines like philosophy, comparative literature, political theory, theology and art history. Many PY students plan to continue with graduate studies, and in the past four years ECLA has helped place students in some of the best graduate schools, including programmes at Oxford University, New York University, Columbia University and Boston University.

International Summer University:The International Summer University, ECLA's first programme, has existed since 2000. Each year it has been developed with a new or revised curriculum. The last themes were taken from Dostoyevsky's novel The Demons. The next six week programme will be focused on Montaigne, a French Philosopher.

During the six week programme, students and faculty will explore how a new image of the modern self emerges from Montaigne’s Essays and investigate the impact of Montaigne's moral, religious, cultural and political ideals on our understanding of the modern self.