Required courses
The Masters of Liberal Studies requires an Applied Project, which is completed in two courses:
MLS 593: Design for Impact (3 credits)
MLS 593: Engage for Impact (3 credits)
Course information:
The MLS 593 classes must be taken during the final semester and are supervised by a member of the MLSt faculty. The Applied Project is different from a thesis. The Applied Project incorporates skill-building and experiential learning tailored to the student's professional and/or personal goals geared toward social impact. Students must earn a grade of B or better to graduate. (a B-minus grade is not acceptable.)
There are several options for the Applied Project, including, but not limited to:
• participating in the community
• engaging in campaigns and advocating for social impact
• media production (i.e. documentaries, podcast series, etc)
• organizational consultation
• development of non-profit organizations
• policy design or critique
• creative projects
• a research project
Only a few students know what their applied project will be when they enter the program, but later in their studies, ideas for the Applied Project begin to germinate. Students often have ideas on projects at the beginning, but they frequently change their minds as they discover exciting new areas for study and research from their studies. Ultimately, some students choose to extend research begun in classes, while others may choose to pursue newly developed scholarly and artistic interests.