History of the the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program
"The scholar is that man who must
take up into himself all the ability of the time, all the contributions of the past, all
the hopes of the future. He must be an university of knowledge."
Emerson ("The American Scholar")
Dating from 1952 when Wesleyan University established a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program, the Graduate Liberal Studies movement in the United States has continued to grow, with well over 125 established programs, including seven programs in the state of North Carolina (UNC-Asheville, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Wilmington, North Carolina State University, and Wake Forest University). Typically, the MALS degree program educated broadly, taking up big questions that require a perspective that crosses over many disciplines. Great Books courses, experimental curricula, innovative approaches all share a common MALS perspective in making an effort to transcend the narrow confines of a single discipline and to adopt a synthetic point of view, while maintaining respect for the powerful contributions of the traditional academic disciplines.
MALS degree programs draw older, non-traditional students--mid-career professionals, parents whose children have left for college, retirees seeking to explore new bodies of knowledge that demands of work and family prevented at earlier stages in their lives. Likewise, the objectives of UNCW's MALS degree program are clearly related to the desire of adults to continue learning over their lifetime. As students often tell their undergraduate college advisors, typical degree or professional programs leave little room for experimenting or for pursuing a line of study for the sheer pleasure of following one's intellectual curiosity. Thus, the program's major objective is to offer highly motivated, intellectually prepared adult learners an opportunity to explore the major issues and questions that have remained important to them. Additional program objectives are 1) to encourage working professionals and other adults to make connections between important ideas and the world in which they live and work; 2) to train active, engaged citizens to think creatively about the problems that face their communities and the world around them; 3) to improve the adult student's articulation skills, with particular emphasis on writing and oral argumentation.