Daisaku Ikeda College
Liberal Arts at Soka
Designed to fully develop students for global citizenship, Soka University of America’s Daisaku Ikeda College offers an undergraduate liberal arts curriculum that draws upon the cultures and experiences of peoples from across the globe.
While pursuing a BA in liberal arts, students choose a concentration in Environmental Studies, Humanities, International Studies, Life Sciences, or Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Study Abroad
In order to improve your target language skills and enhance intercultural understanding and awareness, SUA requires that you spend a semester abroad during your third year for academic credit.
Special Programs
SUA offers special academic programs including Fulbright advising, a partnership with the Claremont Graduate University, and graduate school advising.
Life Sciences
The Life Sciences concentration will prepare students to engage in the dynamic fields of biology, biomedical research, and biotechnology, as well as providing a pathway toward careers in medicine or public health.
BA In Liberal Arts
Ikeda College offers an education that is both broad and deep, incorporating the outlook of many different cultures and modes of thought. We believe student involvement with interdisciplinary and multi-cultural perspectives best prepares them for fulfilling and successful careers upon completing their undergraduate degree.
General Education
General Education will provide you with a wide range of knowledge and the skills and abilities to transform that knowledge into responsible and effective participation in society.
Core: Enduring Questions
Core is a two-course sequence that uses classic texts to explore enduring questions that humanity has asked itself over time and across cultures, encouraging you to engage in critical thinking and discussion.
Health and Wellness
In this course, you will explore physical, mental-emotional, social, spiritual, and environmental dimensions of health, as well as strategies for enhancing your personal well-being.
Writing and Communication
The Writing Program will introduce you to a broad array of principles and strategies of effective communication and argumentation, providing you with an extensive writing toolkit useful both in your classes at Soka and beyond.
Science and Mathematics
Through courses in Biological Science, Physical Science, and Mathematics, you will learn to understand the nature and relevance of mathematical and scientific inquiry and to effectively communicate these principles as methods of problem-solving.
Study Abroad
In order to improve your target language skills and enhance intercultural understanding and awareness, Soka requires that you spend a semester abroad during your third year for academic credit.
Creative Arts
The Creative Arts Program is focused on the hands-on creation of artistic works in a range of media. Through the direct experience of the artistic process, you will engage in a universal mode of human behavior, fostering the empathy necessary for global citizenship.
Modes of Inquiry
Modes of Inquiry will introduce you to diverse ways of understanding information and the human experience through interdisciplinary thinking.
Learning Clusters
In these brief intensive courses, you will launch local or global explorations to understand problems and develop solutions. This is an opportunity to journey across cultures, explore a wide swath of ideas, and embody global citizenship.
Language and Culture
The Language and Culture Program fosters the development of linguistic proficiency and cross-cultural awareness. This program prepares you for the required study abroad semester in a destination of your target language.
American Experience
You will seek to describe how some voices are heard–or not–and how the development of human rights, consolidation of power, and the rise of social movements are embodied in a public discourse enabled by free speech.
Pacific Basin
Designed to expand perspective and encourage global engagement, this course compares regions, cultures, societies, and economies within the Pacific Basin.
Creativity Forum
Creativity Forum is a unique course that provides the opportunity to reflect upon the creative process in the abstract and bring new perspectives to any discipline.
Capstone
In your final year at SUA, you will do a year-long in-depth research project about a topic within your field of concentration by drawing upon the skills and knowledge acquired from your Soka liberal arts education.
Concentrations
Each of our concentrations allows you to have an interdisciplinary and rigorous approach to your education while supporting the Pacific Basin focus of SUA and its emphasis on leadership and contributive citizenship.
Environmental Studies
Environmental Studies will provide you with a foundation in the scientific understanding of the environment, as well as the social, cultural, economic, and technological forces that shape human relations with the environment.
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Social and Behavioral Sciences fosters the understanding of human lives, behaviors, and institutions in social, historical, and cultural environments.
Life Sciences
Life Sciences will prepare you to engage in the dynamic fields of biology, biomedical research, and biotechnology while creating a pathway toward careers in medicine or public health.
International Studies
International Studies will provide you with the analytical tools necessary for a critical appreciation and contextualized understanding of the diverse forces that shape the contemporary world, preparing you to meet the challenges of global citizenship in the 21st century.
Humanities
Humanities will offer you the chance to pursue essential questions about what it means to be human, to become familiar with perspectives from around the globe, to develop informed and humanistic goals and concerns, and to sharpen analytical, critical thinking, and research skills.
Meet Our Faculty
Our faculty are here to interact with you in challenging and meaningful ways. Find your future mentor today by exploring their areas of expertise and research.
Undergraduate Faculty
Meet the undergraduate faculty of SUA’s Ikeda College.
Faculty Research
Learn more about research conducted by SUA faculty.
Your Liberal Arts Degree
At Soka you can pursue your academic passions without being confined to the borders of your discipline. We practice an interdisciplinary approach to learning that is reflective of global thinking.
- To foster an awareness of the needs of our changing world through developing a sense of history and an understanding of the nature of reality
- To think and investigate critically and creatively
- To be effective at various modes of expression and communication
- To acquire knowledge and appreciation of multiple cultures and traditions
- To become, through integrative learning, active and informed global citizens
- Complete a minimum total of 120 units
- Cumulative GPA of at least 2.0
