Graduate Studies

Liberal Arts and Sciences
2023-2024

Admission | Courses | Program | Requirements | Integrated Program | Certificate | Profile


Interim Chairperson: James Schmidt
Program Director: Betsy Perabo
Graduate Coordinator: Amy Carr
Main Office: Morgan Hall 232
Main Telephone: (309) 298-2214
Graduate Coordinator Office: Morgan Hall 203A
Graduate Coordinator Telephone: (309) 298-2507
E-mail: Grad-LAS@wiu.edu
Website: wiu.edu/LAS
Location of Program Offering: Macomb

Graduate Faculty

Professors

  • Lori Baker-Sperry, Ph.D., Purdue University
  • Amy Carr, Ph.D., University of Chicago
  • Betsy Perabo, Ph.D., Yale University

Faculty teaching in the Masters of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) program are full or associate members of the graduate faculty from departments in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and, subject to LAS Director approval, full or associate members of the graduate faculty from other colleges at WIU.

Learning Outcomes

For student learning outcomes, please see wiu.edu/provost/learningoutcomes.

 Program Description

The Master of Liberal Arts and Sciences (MLAS) is housed in the Department of Race, Religion, Gender, and Multidisciplinary Studies and is for students who need or desire advanced education but do not require a specific specialized content area. This interdisciplinary degree stresses critical thinking, comparative analysis, and flexible content rather than a more traditional advanced specialization in a fairly small content area. MLAS is designed especially for students seeking a master’s degree as an occupational qualification and for those who wish more in-depth inquiry into the liberal arts and sciences as a step toward greater personal fulfillment. MLAS promotes an advanced level of critique, analysis, and comparison across disciplines; students explore the broad questions faced by human beings, as well as the specific means by which individual disciplines in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Mathematics have addressed these questions. The degree requires 33 semester hours, including core courses and a 6-credit exit option, and incorporates post-baccalaureate certificates currently available in the CAS. Students who do not pursue one of these post-baccalaureate certificates can construct their own individualized LAS program. These students will design a plan of study from the CAS’s general list of graduate courses offered, in consultation with the Coordinator of MLAS. They must then explain their program in a written statement, which will be reviewed by the Coordinator of MLAS, the MLAS program committee and the Department Chair.

 Integrated Baccalaureate and Master’s Degree Program

We offer integrated programs with the following bachelor’s degrees: Anthropology, Foreign Languages and Cultures, and Liberal Arts and Sciences. Please refer to Integrated Programs for more information.

 Admission Requirements

  • A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 OR 3.0 or higher GPA for the last two years (60 s.h.) of undergraduate work
  • Successful completion of at least 18 credits of upper-division coursework in the Arts and Sciences, or a grade point average of at least 3.0 (based on all hours attempted).
  • A 1-2 page personal statement which explains their larger personal and/or career goals and how the MLAS degree will further those objective.
  • An academic paper of at least 5–10 pages that demonstrates an ability to develop a thesis and make a sustained, well-researched argument
  • 3 confidential letters of recommendation

Applications will not be reviewed until all materials have been received.

Course Revalidation Requirements

Per Graduate School policy, the work required for a master’s degree must be completed within six consecutive calendar years, including transfer courses. Students may petition the Graduate Council for an extension of time for outdated courses. Evidence must show that such courses have been revalidated by examination or some other means as determined by the LAS program. The LAS program will not revalidate outdated courses older than ten years. For the Graduate School’s complete policy, please see “Time to Complete Degree/Revalidation of Courses” in the current graduate catalog.

 Degree Requirements

I. Core Courses:  9 s.h.

LAS 501 Tradition and Change: Focus on the History and Philosophy of the Sciences (3)
LAS 502 Tradition and Change: Focus on the Social Sciences (3)
LAS 503 Tradition and Change: Focus on the Humanities (3)

II. Electives:  18 s.h.

Any College of Arts and Sciences Post-Baccalaureate Certificate and/or directed electives approved by the Director of Liberal Arts and Sciences. No more than 3 credits of electives may be independent work.

III. Select one of the following exit options: 6 s.h.

A.Thesis

LAS 667 Thesis (6)

B.Internship

LAS 695 Internship Preparation (3)
LAS 696 Internship (3)

C. Applied Project

LAS 699 Applied Project (6)

TOTAL PROGRAM: 33 s.h.

Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Programs

The College of Arts and Sciences offers post-baccalaureate certificate programs in Community Development and Planning and GIS Analysis. For program details, go to the post-baccalaureate certificates page.

 Course Descriptions

Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS)

495G Liberal Arts and Sciences Senior Capstone. (3) Capstone course for the Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences degree. Students will study examples of scholarship from a multidisciplinary perspective, research and present an interdisciplinary solution to a significant problem, and prepare a self-reflective academic personal narrative. This course is offered only to students accepted in the integrated bachelor’s/master’s program in LAS. Prerequisites: A&S 195, ENG 280, senior standing, and permission of the Director of LAS.

501 Tradition and Change: Focus on the History and Philosophy of the Sciences. (3) This course covers the development of the scientific approach for explaining natural phenomena. Philosophical issues and technical and theoretical advances, from different historical periods, will be covered.

502 Tradition and Change: Focus on the Social Sciences. (3) This course covers the divergent approaches used in the social sciences to study human behavior. The historical development of disciplines in the social sciences, the field of inquiry in each of the branches of the social sciences, as well as the methods used to study human behavior will be covered.

503 Tradition and Change: Focus on the Humanities. (3) Through engagement with scholarship and the arts from a variety of humanities disciplinary perspectives, this course explores questions humans have asked throughout time, especially concerning self and identity, and the theories and methodologies by which the humanities address these questions.

504 Integration Independent Study. (3) Investigation of an interdisciplinary topic based on the student’s major interests or area of study. Students must identify a graduate faculty member willing to work with them and oversee the independent study. Prerequisite/Corequisite: Completion of at least two of the following: LAS 501, 502 or 503 with a corequisite of the third, approval of proposal, and permission of LAS director.

505 Research Methods. (3) This course provides an understanding of a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods (data collection and analysis) to use across many arts and sciences disciplines. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.

667 Thesis. (1–6, repeatable to 6) Prepared under direction of a faculty member with full graduate faculty status from within the College of Arts and Sciences. Defended before a committee composed of the faculty director and two graduate faculty. Graded S/U. Prerequisite: Completion of LAS 501, 502, and 503, approval of thesis proposal, and permission of LAS Director.

695 Internship Preparation. (3) A course intended to prepare the student for LAS 696: Internship when taken to satisfy the MLAS internship exit option. Directed by a faculty member with full graduate faculty status from within the College of Arts and Sciences. Graded S/U. Prerequisites: Completion of LAS 501, 502, and 503, approval of internship proposal, and permission of LAS director.

696 Internship. (1–6, repeatable to 6) Directed by a faculty member in coordination with an on-site supervisor. When taken to satisfy the MLAS exit option, a final report must be presented to and approved by a committee of the faculty director and two graduate faculty. Graded S/U. Prerequisite: Completion of LAS 501, 502, and 503, approval of internship proposal, and permission of LAS director.

699 Applied Project. (1–6, repeatable to 6) Conducted under direction of a faculty member with full graduate faculty status from within the College of Arts and Sciences. Defended before a committee composed of the faculty director and two graduate faculty. Graded S/U. Prerequisite: Completion of LAS 501, 502, and 503, approval of applied project proposal, and permission of LAS director.