Admission

Students are admitted to the Master of Liberal Studies program by the M.L.S.  Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences. To be considered for admission, students must hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and should have obtained an undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0. Students with a GPA slightly below 3.0 for a recent degree may be admitted on probation, as well as students with a lower GPA who are returning to college after a long absence with a fresh motivation to learn. Students admitted on probation must earn at least a B- in each of their first two classes with a 3.0 GPA in order to continue in the program.   The goal is to select applicants who can successfully complete graduate study and for whom the MLS program will prove to be enriching.

Learning Outcomes

Upon graduation, all MLS graduates from IU Northwest should be able to:

• Write at an advanced level, both professionally and academically in the discipline of their focused studies, as well as in general (which is a skill that they can use in their career)

• Have the capacity and ability to engage with their professional and scholarly peers and to present new ideas. This includes having the advanced ability to contribute new ideas and to connect with their peers and others in their classes and community.

• Deconstruct various theories and practices in order to create and answer critical questions based on a variety of different subjects in the Humanities or Sciences.

• Demonstrate ethical and effective oral and written communication, appropriate to chosen audience and context.

• Demonstrate all aspects of critical inquiries (both written and visual) that are concentrated on the historical, theoretical, and critical issues/subjects that pertain to the student’s chosen disciplines of study in the liberal arts.

• Become advanced critical thinkers. This means, graduates will be able to Identify, analyze, and evaluate important subjects and topics of their community and our world because of the various experiences and perspectives they obtained through the foundational disciplinary knowledge as discussed and presented in their courses.

• Become better citizens and leaders in their local community (and their career).

Academic Curriculum

The M.L.S. requires the completion of at least 11 courses (minimum of 33 credits). Early in their programs, students take a proseminar as introduction to graduate liberal studies and interdisciplinary methodology, and at least three core seminars, one each in the humanities, the sciences, and the social sciences. Seminars combine detailed study of a particular topic with a broad interdisciplinary examination of ways of understanding. The M.L.S. program draws on faculty with diverse expertise to explore topics through a multidisciplinary approach. The program is designed to allow students flexibility to fashion a course of study that blends their interests, talents and experience. Students, under guidance of their faculty advisor, may choose graduate courses and seminars in a variety of disciplines within the College of Arts and Sciences. If the student chooses, the program can culminate with a thesis or alternative project that will grow out of the information and methodologies acquired throughout the course work.

Proseminar (required)

• LIBS D510 Introduction to Graduate Liberal Studies (3 cr.)

Core Seminars (all three required)

Each of the core courses is a graduate seminar combining detailed study of particular topics with broad interdisciplinary perspectives. These courses give students the opportunity to explore the connections that exist among the diverse discipline and perspectives that define contemporary knowledge. Students may repeat core seminars (each may be taken up to two more times with a different topic).

• LIBS D501 Humanities Seminar Core Seminar (3 cr.)
• LIBS D502 Social Sciences Seminar Core Seminar (3 cr.)
• LIBS D503 Science Seminar Core Seminar (3 cr.)

Electives (no specific requirements)

Electives offer students a wide variety of choices with which to create programs of study suited to their individual interest. These elective courses may be selected to build support and background for the graduate project, or to enable students to more ably participate in the public intellectual, artistic, and cultural life of their communities.

• LIBS D511 M.L.S. Humanities Elective (3 cr.) may each be repeated (with different topics) as many times as needed to complete the students’ goals
• LIBS D512 M.L.S. Social Science Elective (3 cr.) may each be repeated (with different topics) as many times as needed to complete the students’ goals
• LIBS D513 M.L.S. Science Elective (3 cr.) may each be repeated (with different topics) as many times as needed to complete the students’ goals
• LIBS D514 Graduate Liberal Studies Overseas Study (max 6 cr.)
• LIBS D594 Liberal Studies Directed Readings (max 6 cr.)
• LIBS D596 Liberal Studies Independent Research (max 6 cr.)
  
  • M.L.S. students may take no more than a total of 6 credit hours of D594 and D596 combined.

• LIBS D501 Humanities Seminar Core Seminar (3 cr.)
• LIBS D502 Social Sciences Seminar Core Seminar (3 cr.)
• LIBS D503 Science Seminar Core Seminar (3 cr.)

Independent Research / Creative Activity Option

The Independent Research/Creative Activity Option offers students the opportunity to work closely with a faculty committee and to complete a final project designed around their unique interests. Students must take 12 credits of electives and then successfully complete their program with a graduate project. The graduate project is an independent scholarly enterprise in which the student demonstrates mastery of a specific topic. Examples include a thesis, a computer program, a translation of a work of literature, or an artistic composition or performance.

Requirement

• LIBS D601 M.L.S. Project Proposal Seminar (3 cr.)
• LIBS D602 Graduate Project (3-6 cr.)

Public Intellectual Option

Upon completion of two additional core seminars and 12 credits of electives, the Public Intellectual Option offers students the opportunity to work within a learning community made up of other students and led by a faculty facilitator to explore the variety of genres through which public intellectuals communicate, and to create their own portfolio of public intellectual work to be submitted for completion of the M.L.S. degree. The public intellectual coursework must be taken at IU Northwest.  

Requirement

• LIBS D600 Public Intellectual Practicum (3 cr.)