Division of Continual Learning
MALS Program Requirements
Courses
The program consists of 33 hours of graduate study to be completed within five years. The curriculum is centered around a series of seminars that employ the disciplines of the various liberal arts in ways that enrich the students' understanding of themselves and of the world around them. The seminars are organized into three thematic categories, and cover a wide variety of subjects and issues. Seminar topics change each semester.
MLS 610: Culture and Ideas
Artistic, literary, philosophical or religious traditions, works of particular thinkers, and historical discourse on intellectual issues.
Recent seminars include:
- Arts and Activism
- Modern Problems of Belief
- Creativity in the Workplace
- Clue: Detective and Mystery Fiction (online)
- The Contemporary World (online)
- The Dragon Awakes: Charting the path of Modern China (online)
MLS 620: Human Nature and Society
Issues concerning human nature, society, or political life through works or problems from the various social sciences.
Recent seminars include:
- Dress, Identity, and Culture
- Art of Being Human
- Simple Living in a Complex Age
- The Global Economy (online)
- Livable and Sustainable Cities (online)
- Global Arts: Windows into the Hearts of Other Cultures
MLS 630: Scientific Reasoning
Reflections on scientific reasoning and/or investigations of particular problems to illustrate scientific reasoning.
Recent seminars include:
- Emerging & Re-Emerging Issues in Biological Sciences
- Mending the Body/Mind Split
- Bodies of Evidence: Exploring Forensic Anthropology
- Revolutions and Revolutionaries in Science (online)
- Biological Rhythms (online)
MALS students must take at least one seminar from each of the thematic categories. Students may choose to take all their course work within the liberal studies department, or they can, with the help of an advisor, select graduate-level electives in other departments at the university. (Departmental prerequisites and consent of the instructor are often required.) Degree candidates complete their requirements with six additional hours of seminar work in one thematic category. Under special circumstances, a thesis option is available.