Pictured | Lola Diaz | Master of Liberal Studies | Mexico City, Mexico (hometown)
Master of Liberal Studies History Track
The History Track graduate in the Master of Liberal Studies Program will be prepared to teach history at the post-secondary level and/or to pursue research or public history projects professionally.
The History Track is a 34-credit hour liberal studies degree that concentrates at least 18 credit hours of graduate work in the content area of history. The degree is designed especially to serve graduate students who wish to teach history in area high schools at the college level. This includes Advance College Project dual-credit courses. Others interested in the study of history are also welcome to pursue this degree path.
Degree Requirements (34 cr.)
All courses are 3 cr. hours unless otherwise designated.
Proseminar (3 cr.)
- LBST-D 510 Introduction to Graduate Liberal Studies
Library Research Training (1 cr.)
- COAS-Q 510 Topics in Information Literacy (1 cr.)
Core Seminars (9 cr.)
Students must complete one of each of the core seminars. The core seminars combine detailed study of particular topics with broad interdisciplinary perspectives. These seminars give students the opportunity to explore the connections that exist among the diverse disciplines and perspectives that define contemporary knowledge.
- LBST-D 501 Humanities Seminar (HIST topic)
- LBST-D 502 Social Sciences Seminar
- LBST-D 503 Science Seminar
Electives (12 cr.)
Students must complete 12 hours of elective credit, and 6 of these hours must be approved as meeting the HIST content requirement. Electives offer students a variety of choices with which to create programs of study suited to their individual interests. These elective courses may be selected to build support and background for the capstone experience (see below). Students may also repeat core seminars (each may be taken up to two more times under a different topic), and/or take graduate courses from other IU South Bend departments, divisions, and schools, with the MLS advisor’s approval. The 12 hours of elective credit may include no more than a combined total of 6 hours credit of directed readings and/or independent research.
- LBST-D 511 MLS Humanities Elective
- LBST-D 512 MLS Social Science Elective
- LBST-D 513 MLS Science Elective
- LBST-D 514 Study Abroad
- LBST-D 594 Liberal Studies Directed Readings
- LBST-D 596 Liberal Studies Independent Research
Capstone Experience (9 cr.)
- LBST-D 601 Graduate Project Proposal Seminar
- LBST-D 602 Graduate Project (6 cr.)
To complete the MLS degree in the History Track, students must choose one of the following two graduate project options.
- Independent Research / Academic Thesis in History
- Independent Research/ Public History Project
Each option offers students the opportunity to work closely with a faculty committee and to complete a final project designed around their unique interests. The graduate project is an independent scholarly effort through which the student demonstrates mastery of a specific topic. The traditional thesis makes a new contribution to knowledge, whether in the form new research findings or in the form of a new interpretation, contextualization, gathering, or organization of knowledge produced for the benefit of scholars and students of history. The public history project may be described as applied history. It, too, will involve research, but the project may be centered on oral history, archival work, museum work, or some other means of preparing resources to be shared with the wider public.
Photo credit | Peter Ringenberg