Master of Arts in Liberal Studies UMKC 2005-2006 Graduate and…

     Master of Arts in Liberal Studies

UMKC 2005-2006 Graduate and Professional Catalog (1.1)

                    May 12, 2005
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Contents

           Master of Arts in Liberal Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   .   5
                 Program Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     .   5
                 Admission to the Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .      .   5
                 Requirements for Completion of the Degree . . . . . . . . . . .         .   5
                 Relationship of the MALS to Interdisciplinary Doctoral Degrees          .   5
                 Coursework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .      .   5




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CONTENTS




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                                                                                                Master of Arts in Liberal Studies



Master of Arts in Liberal                                           is officially accepted into the program. The director also
                                                                    functions as principal graduate adviser in this program and
Studies                                                             approves each participant's individual plan of study.
     (816) 235-6257                                                 Requirements for Completion of the Degree
     mals@umkc.edu                                                  The degree is a 36 credit hour program. Generally, each
                                                                    participant's plan of study will consist of three parts; however,
Program Director:                                                   exceptions in the plan of study may be approved by the
    Burton Dunbar                                                   director to accommodate an individual's specific interests or
                                                                    special education or career backgrounds. The three parts of the
Program Description                                                 matriculation plan include:
The master of arts in liberal studies (MALS) degree program            · Introductory seminar, which must be completed before
enables mature individuals to pursue part-time,                          any other coursework;
interdisciplinary studies at the graduate level without                · The body of coursework itself; and
specializing in any one subject area. Offered at night and             · A final capstone seminar, taken during the last semester.
during the weekend, courses provide participants the
opportunity to extend the best experiences of baccalaureate         A written thesis is not required, but individuals who wish to
liberal education to the graduate level. Students admitted to the   complete a thesis project may apply 3 credit hours toward their
program will identify their own interests within the wide array     degree requirements. An individual who works well
of graduate courses in The College of Arts and Sciences and         independently and who has a particular interest that lends itself
will plan individualized programs of study with the                 to detailed research is especially encouraged to consider the
cooperation of the director of the program.                         thesis option. With the thesis option, the participant will select
     The end result of each participant's matriculation should      a faculty adviser other than the director of the program, who
be a challenging experience that samples the richness of            will direct the plan of study and research.
literature, the fine arts, history, and those principles of the     Relationship of the MALS to
social and natural sciences that affect our lives. UMKC is          Interdisciplinary Doctoral Degrees
fortunate to have the additional cultural resources of a wide       The College of Arts and Sciences has a strong tradition of
array of museums, libraries, archives, and special exhibits         interdisciplinary studies at both the baccalaureate and doctoral
within the Kansas City area. Many of the courses available for      levels.
the M.A. in liberal studies curriculum are designed to take              For the bachelor of arts and bachelor of liberal arts
specific advantage of these community resources.                    degrees, The College's integrated studies in the humanities
The 21st Century: Complex Communities, Cultures and                 curriculum (more commonly known as "cluster courses") and
Critical Choices                                                    the Program for Adult College Education (PACE) are two
The broader unifying experience of courses, offered M.A. in         programs that consist almost entirely of interdisciplinary
liberal studies participants, is the opportunity to explore some    coursework. At the advanced level of doctoral work, most of
of the basic issues affecting life in modern urban America.         the departments in the College participate in the campus
Students explore problems such as the environment,                  Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, which requires studies in at
international conflict, and social problems of the modern city,     least two fields.
topics which are not single topics of study, but intricate,              The M.A. in liberal studies degree continues the tradition
complex issues. The interdisciplinary nature of the M.A. in         of interdisciplinary work in the college at the intermediate
liberal studies coursework provides the mechanism to look at        level between baccalaureate and doctoral work. In a few cases,
these problems, and others, with a deeper understanding of          students completing this degree may find the transition to
exactly how contemporary problems are interrelated with one         doctoral work as the appropriate next step. However, students
another and with past history.                                      should recognize that the degree is not designed to provide
     Each semester, the critical choices theme is reflected         students in the program with specific subject skills usually
through the offering of at least one of the following courses:      associated with targeted career objectives in traditional
   · A&S 510 Methods of Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary               research areas.
      History of the 1930s                                               Students interested in coordinating their M.A. in liberal
   · A&S 511 Methods of Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary               studies coursework with future doctoral work at UMKC are
      History of the 1940s                                          strongly encouraged to make this intent known at the outset of
   · A&S 512 Methods of Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary               their work. Without initial planning conducted with a
      History of the 1950s                                          committee of doctoral faculty, a student's master's coursework
   · A&S 513 Methods of Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary               may not be appropriate to later doctoral studies.
      History of the 1960s                                          Coursework
   · A&S 514 Critical Choices: Methods of Inquiry in Science        Program participants begin by enrolling in A&S 509: Critical
Each of these courses is designed to explore, in an                 Choices: Methods of Inquiry into the Liberal Arts. On
interdisciplinary manner, interrelationships among                  completion of this required 3 hour introductory seminar, which
contemporary issues and past history and influences upon            is described below, participants earn 30 credit hours based on
contemporary decision making.                                       an individual study plan. In advance of each semester, a list
                                                                    will be published of departmental courses open to M.A. in
Admission to the Program                                            liberal studies participants and offered at night and during the
Individuals admitted to the program must have a baccalaureate       weekends. Program participants are also free to enroll in any
or equivalent degree, and mature academic interests. A              other course offered in The College of Arts and Sciences, as
minimum undergraduate grade-point average of 3.0 is desirable       long as they meet the entry requirements of the instructor and
but can be offset by professional and career accomplishments        the department. At the conclusion of the program, individuals
outside academe. Individuals applying for admission to the          enroll in a required 3 hour capstone seminar, A&S 520:
program also are required to have an in-depth interview with        Critical Choices: Final Research Project and Capstone
the program director. Approval is required before any student       Seminar, described later.

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Master of Arts in Liberal Studies


A&S 509 Critical Choices: Methods of Inquiry into the
Liberal Arts (3 hours)
Offered each fall and winter 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:
    · Refresh the research skills of adults who may be returning
      to formal classes for the first time in many years;
    · Provide an introduction to a vast array of research
      resources;
    · Refine writing skills; and
    · Help each student define his or her area of emphasis
      within the program.
Sessions introduce participants to the use of the Miller Nichols
Library on the main UMKC campus, as well as other area
libraries, such as the Linda Hall Library of Science and
Technology, the Truman Library, and the Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art. The seminar also studies the different methods
and research issues addressed by the humanities, sciences, and
social sciences. The seminar also provides opportunity for
each student to define an individual research question as a
unifying theme in the selection of classes throughout his or her
matriculation and as a final project to be investigated in the
capstone seminar of the program, A&S 520.
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:
    · Black Studies;
    · Communication and Film Studies;
    · Executive Leadership; or
    · Hospitality Studies.
For students who wish to write a thesis, up to 3 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 520: 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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