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 Welcome to all
prospective or new M.A.L.S. students, and greetings to continuing students and
alumni! We hope that this site helps to familiarize you with our unique program
and answers many of your preliminary questions. Because M.A.L.S. is a program
that requires the input and creativity of the student in designing the
curriculum, many questions about the structure and content will depend upon
your interests and your reasons for pursuing graduate education. Please see our
information on M.A.L.S.
Concentrations.
First, what is graduate liberal studies?
As it was first intended some thirty years ago,
the Dartmouth M.A.L.S. program sought to provide a forum for adult learners to
explore intellectual issues through a combination of disciplinary approaches
and materials. At the undergraduate level, liberal arts provides a broad
academic foundation in which students are exposed to subjects in the
humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. There are typically
two concurrent goals: to become intellectually well-rounded, and to hone one's
interest in a chosen discipline that emerges as an academic major. Building
upon this base, graduate liberal studies presumes some familiarity with a
particular field, but goes further to facilitate a more sophisticated
exploration of issues in an area by drawing from other relevant bodies of
knowledge. Please see our information on Sample
M.A.L.S. Programs.
Who attends the M.A.L.S. Program?
Our student body spans a fifty-year age range, a multitude of undergraduate
backgrounds, and numerous professional orientations. Traditionally designed as
a program of intellectual development for classroom teachers, M.A.L.S. now
includes individuals from the private sector, law, journalism, healthcare,
non-profit organizations, the arts, as well as recent college graduates
preparing for advanced graduate work at the doctoral level. Most students are
seeking a program that will allow them the flexibility to explore issues beyond
one discipline, to augment areas of knowledge that they may consider to be weak
in their own background, to test their creativity through writing, or to
solidify their academic foundation before pursuing a more focused program of
study. While nearly half of our students attend M.A.L.S. on a full-time,
year-round basis, many still take courses on a part-time basis while continuing
to work in the region. In addition, we continue to offer the summers-only
enrollment option to teachers and other professionals who cannot attend during
the academic year.
What can I do with a M.A.L.S. degree?
Unlike professional education or traditional academic programs, liberal
studies does not offer a set career path ensured by a degree. Many prospective
students exploring this field will return to or continue their profession with
a new perspective on key content issues and honed skills of inquiry. Others are
anticipating a career change and choose M.A.L.S. to gain a broader base of
knowledge in a new area. In the case of recent college graduates, M.A.L.S.
courses allow them to continue the breadth of inquiry of liberal arts while
also providing a bridge to a doctoral program in a discipline other than their
prior major. Our alumni pursue careers in most sectors: private, public, and
not-for-profit, with strong leanings towards educational and creative
fields.
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