CourseworkProgram participants begin by enrolling in A&S 5509: Critical Choices: Methods of Inquiry into the Liberal Arts. On completion of this required three hour introductory seminar, which is described below, participants earn 30 credit hours based on an individual study plan. In advance of each semester, a list will be published of departmental courses open to M.A. in liberal studies participants and offered at night and during the weekends. Program participants are also free to enroll in any other course offered in The College of Arts and Sciences, as long as they meet the entry requirements of the instructor and the department. At the conclusion of the program, individuals enroll in a required three hour capstone seminar, A&S 5520: Critical Choices: Final Research Project and Capstone Seminar, described later.
A&S 5509 Critical Choices: Methods of Inquiry into the Liberal Arts (3 hours)Offered each fall and spring semester, this required seminar meets four weekends throughout the semester. Team-taught by faculty from the humanities and the social and natural sciences, the class also includes guest presentations by other faculty in various fields and research librarians. The goals of the seminar are:
Individual Study Plans (30 hours)A benefit of the MALS program is that it does not conform to any single fixed curriculum. Individuals develop their own plans of study in consultation with the director of the program or a graduate adviser designated by the program director. No more than three courses (9 hours) may be taken within any one department without permission of the department and the director of the program. Two courses (6 hours) may be taken from another school at the university outside of The College of Arts and Sciences. No more than 12 hours at the 400 level (or 300 level when permitted by the department) can be applied to the plan of study.Students are free to identify their own areas of study, or to choose from among the following areas of focus:
For students who wish to write a thesis, up to three hours may be applied toward the completion of the degree. Students are encouraged to exercise this option concurrently with the capstone seminar or soon after its completion.
A&S 5520: Critical Choices: Final Research Project and Capstone Seminar (3 hours)This course brings together MALS participants in the last semester of their work. Each participant in the seminar defines a final project and spends a semester developing it and presenting the findings to the group at the conclusion of the course. Each project is intended to be thought-provoking, and to cut across disciplinary lines in the examination of a question relevant to the area of emphasis that the student has followed throughout the program. In addition, guest faculty representing the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences help students understand how contemporary issues and problems are interrelated with one another and with past history.
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