Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies

The program is designed to promote broad intellectual comprehension and personal enrichment rather than academic or professional training within a particular field or discipline. It is a program aimed at meeting the special needs of students in our state and region who seek to deepen their knowledge in a supportive and flexible cross- disciplinary learning environment. Typical students enrolled in the program include: 1) recent graduates of Bachelors' programs who want to continue a broad education before pursuing a professional degree or career; 2) students who wish to pursue interdisciplinary graduate studies in such fields as women's studies, American studies, the humanities, or religious studies; 3) professionally employed people who wish to refresh themselves culturally and intellectually; 4) high school teachers who wish to expand their cross-disciplinary understanding; and 5) older students who want to renew their liberal education after initiating or concluding a successful career as a teacher, lawyer, homemaker, librarian, or technician.

The Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program, then, is not meant to take the place of traditional masters programs with their focus on a single scholarly field or pre- professional training. This program focuses on significant human issues, topics, and perspectives explored through a variety of interdisciplinary methods and approaches. Many colleges and universities have successfully developed graduate options like this precisely to meet the contemporary demand for interdisciplinary study and analysis concerning such issues or topics. It may be that the major issues which we face today, or have faced historically, cannot be adequately comprehended through a single disciplinary lens, but need to be explored through various disciplines. Not surprisingly, it would seem that a comprehensive understanding of the world cannot be developed within the isolated confines of any particular discipline, but demands a multi-disciplinary approach and an inter- disciplinary conversation. The trend toward such interdisciplinary studies is increasing and will continue to increase in the near future. No other college on our campus is more suited philosophically or practically than the College of Liberal Arts to provide this sort of graduate education.

THE PROGRAM

The program consists of seven courses (32 credits) divided in three parts: 1) a Core Seminar specifically designed for and required of every student, to be taken within one year of entrance to the program; 2) a Concentration made up of five elective courses chosen from various disciplines across the liberal arts that centers on an interdisciplinary theme or topic; and 3) a Master's Thesis which is intended to act as an integrating capstone experience for MALS students.

Since students in the MALS program are granted a good deal of freedom in determining their program of study, particularly with respect to their "concentration" and the topic of their master's thesis, advising becomes a crucial function in this program. The Director of the MALS program will act as each student's official advisor until completion of the Core Seminar. At that time, the Director will assist each student in finding an appropriate UNH faculty member to be his or her "Concentration and Thesis Advisor." That advisor will help the student develop a coherent cross- disciplinary program of concentration courses, ultimately aiming toward a master's thesis as a capstone to that concentration.

LIBERAL STUDIES CORE SEMINAR

Each MALS student is required to take one Core Seminar as an introduction to the program as a whole. The seminar must be taken within the first year of a student's matriculation in the program, preferably in the first semester. Enrollment is limited to not more than fifteen students. Because many of this program's students are employed, the Core Seminars are taught at times which are convenient to them, such as evenings, weekends, and summers. Core Seminars are interdisciplinary (and sometimes team-taught) explorations of significant issues, topics, themes or perspectives in human life in general and the contemporary world in particular. Although all of the Core Seminars focus on interdisciplinary issues and themes, each is meant to involve not only different topics but also divergent disciplines from across the liberal arts such as literature, the arts, philosophy, history, women's studies, political science, sociology, and so on. Each Core Seminar is designed to provide a supportive and interactive classroom experience. Furthermore, each is designed to highlight those methodologies and approaches to significant human issues which characterize the particular disciplines involved. Since graduate education in liberal studies relies heavily on the ability to write clearly and cogently, a significant and sustained effort is made to help students improve their writing skills. Finally, in order to maximize its interdisciplinary nature, each Core Seminar incorporates a number of speakers from various disciplines in order to address the topic or issue involved from their particular perspective.

CONCENTRATION

(five courses or 20 credits) Students develop a proposed, study made up of five elective courses from graduate programs across the university. The concentration is an interdisciplinary study which focuses on a significant topic, issue, perspective, or cultural development. A concentration may be selected from a [gradually expanding] menu of established concentrations or may be self-designed and tailor-made for each student with the help of his or her advisor. The five courses which constitute the concentration are to be selected from 700-900-level courses regularly offered within departments and colleges across the university, including up to three independent study courses carried out as a tutorial with particular faculty members (with permission). The following sets of cross-disciplinary courses are intended to act as models or paradigms of what such thematically organized concentrations might look like.

ROMANTICISM IN ART, MUSIC, AND LITERATURE

HIST 847: France from Louis XIV through the French Revolution ARTS 796i: Independent study in Nineteenth Century European Art ENGL 869: The English Romantic Period ENGL 842: American Literature 1815 - 1865 MUSI 709: Music of the Romantic Period FREN 775: Nineteenth Century French Literature (taught in French)

ASPECTS OF THE MODERN AND THE POSTMODERN

ENGL 814: Literary Criticism ENGL 845: Contemporary American Literature ENGL 866: Twentieth Century British Fiction HIST 816: Twentieth Century U.S. History MUSI 811: Music of the Twentieth Century PSYC 871: Psychology in Twentieth-century Thought and Society SOC 830: Political Sociology ARTS 796i: Independent study in Contemporary Architecture

WOMEN IN THE MODERN WORLD

ENGL 812: Feminist Criticism Theory and Practice ENGL 885: Major Women Writers GERM 795: Independent study: Women and German Film ENGL 981: Studies in Post-Colonial Literature HIST 865: Themes in Women's History WS 795: Independent study WS 798: Colloquium in Women's Studies ECON 798: Economic Problems - Women and Economic Development

THE FAMILY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

SOC 721: Family Interaction EDUC 834: Children's Literature FS 944: Children in the Family ANTH 795: Independent study: Female, Male, and Society ENGL 995: Independent study: Children in Nineteenth Century Literature

ECOLOGY AND VALUE

EC 810: Environmental History RECO 808: Environmental Economics RECO 911: Natural and Environmental Resource Management PHIL 701: Topics in Value Theory (Environmental Ethics) RS 795: Independent study: Ecology and Religion

NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICAN WOMEN WRITERS IN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR TIME

HIST 824: Modern US Social History HIST 865: Themes in Women's History ENGL 843: American Literature, 1815 - 1865 ENGL 844: American Literature, 1865 - 1915 ENGL 812: Feminist Criticism Theory and Practice WS 795: Independent study

THESIS

This is meant to be a capstone experience in which, with the support of their Concentration and Thesis Advisor, students work out a final project consistent with their concentration and interests. The project can be a scholarly thesis or an equivalent creative endeavor which integrates the student's learning in a particular concentration. The Director of the program will meet periodically with those students enrolled for thesis credit in order to provide a forum for discussing their research and writing.

ADMISSION TO THE PROGRAM

A Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience is required for admission. Students interested in applying for admission to the MALS program should contact the Director of the program concerning procedures for admission. Please provide relevant transcripts of your educational experience, a resume, and letters of recommendation. Finally, you will need to submit a brief essay describing why you are particularly interested in this program and indicating (tentatively) the sort of interdisciplinary focus or area of learning in which you might like to concentrate your study.

If you are interested, please contact David Andrew at dsa@christa.unh.edu, or call at 862-3724. If you would like to have further information about the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies or the graduate school in general sent to you, you can call the graduate school at 862-3000.