About College of Social Sciences and Humanities
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The College of Social Sciences and Humanities (Liberia College) was founded on an agenda of social responsibility to the Liberian society and the world to provide educational access to the citizens and other nationals across the globe. The Institution was first named College of Liberal and Fine Arts, and later Liberia College and now College of Social Sciences and Humanities. This agenda has served the college and its students well since the formation of the institution in 1862. Liberia College has continued to evolve since 1862, when the
government of Liberia, 15 years after independence, authorized the establishment of a college. Liberia College (College of Social Sciences and Humanities) of the University of Liberia was founded on an agenda of Social responsibility to the Liberian Society in particular and the world in general to provide educational access to the nation and other nationals across the globe.
At the college, a high premium is placed on academic freedom, and students receive a top quality education. Faculty and students are equally held in an orbit of high standard. Liberia College has flourished for over 158 years, and is widely regarded among Liberians as an academic powerhouse, standing at the top in a range of colleges and universities in Liberia. The college also strives to be among the most innovative academic institutions in the world. T
he college remains committed to empowering its students with the knowledge and practical skills vital to achieving personal and professional success in the changing local and global communities in which they live, work and compete in the job market. advance and knowledge cherished.
Liberia prides itself in having one of the oldest learning institutions not just on the African continent but in the world as well. The college offers Bachelor of Social Work Degree (BSW) and Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in several disciplines, while the total credit hours of 124 to 135 are required for graduation. Cherished with centuries of existence, Liberia College opened its doors to academic activities on February 4, 1862. It was established by the Liberian Government barely fifteen (15) years after the Independence of the Republic of Liberia. The college is historically the fifth oldest college on the African continent, and the oldest in the Republic of Liberia, dating far back to centuries ago. For over 158 years, Liberia College has withstood the test of time as one of the best colleges in the areas of academic excellence, research, quality teaching and creative thinking in which all scholarly works are cherished and promoted.
In 1951, Liberia College and the William V. S. Tubman Teachers’ College merged to form the University of Liberia through the Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia (TDEL), based in the United States of America. Through the farsighted and illustrious leadership of Dr. Julius S. Nelson, the current faculty members of the college are comfortably teaching through digital technology such as Moodle eLearning platform. For the past six months, the entire faculty including the chairpersons participated in various training cycles including workshops, seminars and symposiums for effective eLearning teaching.
The Liberia College located in Fendall, Louisiana, Montserrado County, Liberia, is without doubt one of Africa’s oldest universities, and the second oldest higher institution of learning in West Africa. Over the last one-half centuries, Liberia College has worked to build an institution with the adroitness to directly address the fluctuating academic challenges that the youthful population faces, and the college has grown over the century. It has been powered by continuous revolution and ongoing efforts to improve and provide quality education and truth, research as well as to enhance students’ creative thinking and approaches to contemporary situation through the application of quality education.
The history of the college provides overviews and progress, and begins with a look at the programs that the college is pursuing in correlation with the university’s goal of continuously improving the learning environment, research and quality education. Importantly, for the first time in the nation’s history, the current generation of students enrolling at the university is learning through an eLearning Moodle platform, which serves as an added advantage for the students. It also discusses holistic broad-based areas of great interests that enable students to develop the knowledge and skills necessary for achieving their specialized goals, improve their productivity, and to prepare them for the job market. This account provides faculty demographic and data analysis, and delves into academic activities of every department, and details achievements, challenges and prospects. This historical overview also gives its conclusions and makes several recommendations for implementation.
Presently, there are six (6) academic departments and ten academic departments in Liberia College, eleven of which confer undergraduate Bachelor’s degrees in several academic disciplines. The merging of the departments from 15 to six is came about as a result of a petition from Liberia College to the Academic Coordination Committee (ACC) and Faculty Senate, University of Liberia for Merger of Academic Departments in Liberia College due to the very rapidly in the world which affecting every sector of society, including higher education institutions. (The six departments are (1) Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work, Liberian Studies and Criminology (2) Department of Political Science, History, Philosophy & Religious Studies, (3) Department of Geography & Population Studies (4) Department of English and Language Studies (5) Department of Physical Education, ROTC, and Art & Crafts (6) Department of Communication and Media Studies.
The degree granting departments include ( 1)English and Literature, (2) Communication and Media Studies (3) French Studies (4) Geography (5) History (6) Institutes of Population Studies(Demography), (7) Political Science, (8) Sociology and Anthropology (9) Social Work and (10) Philosophy and Religious Studies. The non-degree granting departments (1) Physical Education and Sports (2) Liberia Languages (3) Arts and Crafts (4) ROTC (5) Social Science. Some HEIs have undertaken reform measures, including more specifically merger actions to complement one another to meet students’ needs, and foster more efficient operations and academic excellence. Merging of the various departments and academic units is a good idea that some universities including the University of Liberia, see as a way to maximize scarce resources and advance effective coordination of activities within and among departments.
The college opened its doors in 1862, marking the crucial period in the Liberian history with emphasis on education to ensure a sound and academically prepared human resource development. The nation, without over stating, indeed needed trained men and women to run its affairs. Many believed that a tertiary education institution could accomplish this objective. It was this thinking that gave rise to the founding of the College. In 1862 the nation’s founding father, Joseph J. Roberts became the first president of Liberia College. In 1951, Liberia College and the William V. S. Tubman Teachers’ College merged to form the University of Liberia through the Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia (TDEL), based in the United States of America.
By all accounts, the first group of students was seven, three of them were recipients of the American Colonization Society’s (ACS) scholarships and the other four students were self-sponsored. The first group of students was tested in Greek, Latin and Mathematics. The college without doubt, is one of Africa’s oldest universities, and the second oldest institution of higher learning in West Africa. About 19,000 students are enrolled at the University of Liberia, and of that number, approximately 7,000 enrolled at the Liberia College with the Department of English and Literature enrolling roughly 6,000 students yearly. The college offers four-year bachelor degrees.
Mission and Vision
The mission and vision of the college are aligned with those of the University of Liberia. One of the world’s oldest colleges, the college’s vision is to transform the way that the world is understood, how knowledge is created, and how problems are approached and solved including emerging problems. It also provides academic excellence, research, and teaching cardinally cherished and promoted, with an uncompromising devotion to high premium placed on academic freedom and creative thinking.
Faculty Statistics
For the current academic year, the college has 240 faculty members. Of this number, 190 are males, while 26 are female faculties. The institutional faculty breakdown for the academic year 2020/2021 shows that 2 (40%) represent faculty members with bachelor’s degrees, while faculty members with master’s degrees constitute 120 (55%) and 11 (5%) doctoral degree holders. The college’s statistics further show that 93 male faculty members are holders of bachelor’s degree, 86 of the male faculty members are master’s degree holders and 11 male faculty members have doctoral degrees. Of the twenty-six (26) female faculty members, five (5) hold only bachelor’s degree and 21 others hold master’s degrees. The 215 male faculty members, 110 members are full-time faculty as 111 members are adjunct faculty.