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| Liberal Studies Policies and Procedures |
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| Liberal Studies Policies and Procedures |
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Overview
The School of General Studies first offered Liberal Studies Master of Arts programs in September 1987; the programs were American Studies, East Asian Studies, Islamic Studies, and Medieval Studies. A program in Jewish Studies was introduced in September 1988, followed by programs in South Asian Studies in 1991, Modern European Studies in 1992, and Human Rights Studies in 1998. The Liberal Studies programs moved to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1995.
These programs are interdisciplinary and cross-departmental. Students approach a particular culture, geographical area, historical period, or topic by drawing on the traditional liberal arts fields-the humanities, social sciences, and arts. The aim is to reach across departmental boundaries rather than choose one area to research exclusively.
Although the value of a liberal education as a means of achieving a fully examined life has long been accepted, such education has increasingly been consigned to undergraduate study, and even there it has lost ground to professional programs. The Liberal Studies M.A. programs represent a new approach to liberal arts education at the graduate level. Students define their own territory of intellectual inquiry while benefiting from the groundwork laid over the years in each of the traditional disciplines.
The Liberal Studies M.A. programs are nonprofessional in intent-that is, they are not meant to provide specific training for a vocation, advancement in a profession, or preparation for further graduate study in a specialty. They are designed for those who are motivated by their intellectual curiosity to enter an advanced study in the liberal arts but who are not yet ready to begin the arduous research and disciplinary focus required for pursuit of the Ph.D. degree. Also, the Liberal Studies M.A. degree can be earned through full- or part-time study, enabling qualified adults to participate without giving up their careers to do so. The Liberal Studies M.A. programs are thus less restrictive than traditional graduate degree programs but more challenging than continuing education courses, which are not subject to strict observation of degree requirements.
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