About the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

Liberal arts have always been a part of Georgia Tech, with English one of six subjects offered when we opened our doors in 1888. We have not stopped innovating since.

Today, our core goals are to enrich knowledge-making processes, encourage discovery, and advance problem-solving approaches in ways that incorporate philosophical, socio-historical, cultural, linguistic, political, and economic perspectives and ethical principles.

Our six schools (Economics; History and Sociology; Literature, Media, and Communication; Modern Languages; Public Policy; and the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs) and 18 research centers offer programs and experiences that redefine what the humanities and social sciences can be. The College has twelve areas where curriculum and research bridge across two or more schools:

• Digital humanities
• Energy, environmental science, and sustainability
• Ethics and emerging technologies
• Gender studies
• Global development
• Global languages and cultures
• Health analytics, policy, and well-being
• Media studies
• Security issues
• Science and technology policy and governance
• Social justice

The result? Graduates uniquely equipped with a richly defined base of technical expertise, a well-grounded sense of social responsibility, and an awareness of the need to improve the human condition.

The College proudly advances former Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr.’s legacies of transformative urban leadership and socially and ethically conscious action. Our cross-disciplinary research, teaching, and service enlarge upon the very same realms that were part of his original Forward Atlanta plan. Today, our work encompasses innovative education, global leadership development, international relations, governance, and public policy, community relations, economic development, innovation, urban development and sustainability, arts, media and entertainment, sports and society, and more. We hope that by illuminating Mayor Allen’s legacies, Georgia Tech students are inspired to leadership grounded in courage, compassion, and social justice.

Ivan Allen are the people who ask, ‘Why?’ We don’t just come up with solutions. We invent brand new ways of coming at the problem.

Through distinguished careers in academia, business, community, government, international affairs, law, media, public policy, and technology, Ivan Allen College alumni are forging new pathways and redefining our future.

Explore our Alumni success stories