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?

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.

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, provides a deeper, broader perspective around individual creativity and what that looks like relative to the applicant's interests in higher education, UCLA, and the WAC major.

Academics: Minimum 3.0 GPA for CA residents. 3.4 for Out Of State/ International students. 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.

Aspects of Community Engagement: Evidence of being engaged with cultural and creative stewardship. This can be demonstrated just about anywhere in the application, and is individual to the applicant.

Read more about the major on the department website!