Please be informed we no longer accept candidates into the MLA degree program.
Effective Summer 2019, we will actively begin a teach-out of students who are still in the pipeline to complete the degree program. We anticipate that the teach-out will last approximately two years to allow those students who are taking only one course per semester to complete the degree in a timely manner. Students who are currently admitted and actively enrolled should confirm with their program advisor, Dr. Kris Sloan, that they are on track to graduate.
For those of students who have not attended within the last year or so, if still interested in completing this degree, we want to support our students in that effort. However, that will necessitate students reapply to the university, and meet with Dr. Sloan to plan your course sequence.
Please know we very much want to our students succeed. Because graduate coursework does not always transfer easily to another institution or to another program, for that matter, we urge students to seek out degree completion with us while there is still time. Questions or concerns about the degree closure itself may be directed to Dr. Bill McHenry. Please rely on Dr. Sloan for program information.
Interviewed by CNN
CNN Money interviewed Dagoberto Garcia MLA ’12 about his job-hunting experience and his advice for current students and recent graduates. Read more.
Degree Plan
For detailed descriptions and timing of courses, please see the Graduate Bulletin (course catalog).
I. GATEWAY COURSE: LIBERAL ARTS PERSPECTIVES (3 CREDIT HOURS):
This course critically explores the ways that the liberal arts have been conceived and perceived, using a thematic approach to explore different disciplinary ways of learning and knowing. You’ll develop your ability to articulate a vision of liberal arts education: what it consists of, why it exists and how it relates to other modes of intellectual inquiry. This course prepares you to offer informed leadership on the role of the liberal arts in education and society.
II. THEMATIC STUDIES (9 CREDIT HOURS):
You’ll complete at least one course in each of the following categories.
- Interpreting the World: Explore the ways in which cultural groups, academic disciplines, organizations and traditions explain the world and what effects these explanations have on human perception, experience and understanding.
- Community and Identity: Investigate areas such as the effects of globalization on identity, the ways in which art emerges from a culture, and the impact of work, race, gender and class on conceptions of community, as viewed from various interdisciplinary perspectives, including anthropological, historical, literary, psychological, sociological and political.
- Spirituality and Self: Examine topics such as spiritual pilgrimage and quest, peace with justice issues, religious diversity, spirituality in the arts, the integration of spiritual values into professional lives, and the Catholic intellectual and spiritual tradition.
III. ELECTIVE STUDIES (15 CREDIT HOURS):
You’ll complete 15 semester hours in courses of your choice. Since the MLA is an interdisciplinary degree program intended to educate you in content and methodologies of various disciplines within the liberal arts, no more than three elective courses can come from one disciplinary area. Elective hours come from courses in the following categories:
- Dual-level courses: These graduate-level courses, adapted from undergraduate courses offered at St. Edward’s, have a separate graduate-level syllabus component that requires additional coursework and readings. Up to five seats in select undergraduate, New College or Honors Program courses will be reserved for MLA students.
- Directed Studies courses: You and a faculty member meet to work out a research plan; the faculty member directs you in your exploration of
- the topic, leading to a significant paper or other research product.
- Thematic Studies courses: You may take extra Thematic Studies courses for credit after completing the Thematic Studies requirement.
- Courses transferred from another institution: Upon approval of the program director, you may transfer up to nine hours of graduate courses into the MLA program.
IV. MLA SPECIAL PROJECT (6 CREDIT HOURS):
Project Planning Seminar
In your next-to-last semester, you’ll take a Project Planning Seminar, a course designed to teach you how to research and develop a project and its proposal. Since seminar students work on proposals in various areas, you’ll also coordinate with your mentoring professor. The program director serves as the second committee member on every Special Project developed out of the planning course.
Special Project
In your last semester, you’ll produce a Special Project, a public contribution that grows out of the MLA experience. Your mentoring professor is the instructor of record for the Special Project. You must develop a successful proposal with the full participation of this professor, who assumes principal responsibility for direction of the Special Project. Your mentoring professor and the program director make up your committee for the Special Project.
The Special Project must give clear graduate-level evidence of insight and perspective on an issue, theme or concept of significance. It may take the form of a formal thesis, a full-length article for publication, a proposal for implementation in a specific setting, artwork for public display, a community service research project, a website or some other format — and we encourage a design that enhances public understanding and dialogue on a significant issue.
See an example of one student's special project that focuses on politics in the Middle East.
Outcomes
Liberal Studies graduates acquire knowledge across many topics, providing a multitude of career options.
Examples of career paths graduates pursue:
- Journalism
- Marketing
- Museums
- Counseling
- Law
- Social Services
- Teaching
- Curriculum development
Graduates interested in furthering their education may continue in a PhD or a MFA program.
Outside the Classroom
At St. Edward’s University, we understand the importance of having the opportunity to apply skills and knowledge in a real world setting. In order to encourage this hands-on learning, we offer credit for students who choose to take on an optional internship. This is a fantastic chance for students pursue a career or professional interest, or to supplement their academic program.
Examples of past experiences our students have enjoyed include work at the:
- Mexi-Arte Museum
- Austin Area interreligious ministries
- New Literati, the New College literary magazine