This edited book offers a timely and deeply reflective case study of the Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences (LANS) programme at the University of Birmingham, UK: a bold educational initiative that ran for over a decade and sought to provide graduates with the critical, creative and collaborative skills needed for a complex world. This book is distinctive in its practitioner-oriented perspective, authored by the very academic staff who designed, delivered and sustained the LANS programme between 2014 and 2025. Drawing from direct experience, institutional memory, student narratives and programme documentation, the book provides a comprehensive view ‘from the inside’ of what it takes to create and maintain an interdisciplinary programme in a large, research-intensive university. The book will be of interest to academics, leaders and practitioners involved in curriculum design, liberal arts, institutional strategy, educational leadership and policy.

Evelyn Svingen is Associate Professor of Criminology in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology, University of Birmingham, UK. 

Lloyd Jenkins is Senior Lecturer in Historical and Cultural Geography in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK. 

Ilija Rašović is Associate Professor of Nanomaterials and Interdisciplinary STEM Education in the School of Metallurgy and Materials, University of Birmingham, UK.