Liberal Studies MA Program
Overview
The Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program supports the diverse interests of students pursuing graduate study in a variety of areas across the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The program focuses on issues in contemporary cultural theory in a global context. The areas of study are flexible and open, and we particularly invite students who are interested in issues of pressing concern that cut across disciplinary boundaries – postcolonial studies; globalization; new media; race, gender and ethnicity; human rights; literary and cultural theory; feminist theory; politics, law and culture; and similar areas of work, all of which are reconfiguring the boundaries of contemporary liberal education.
Students in the program pursue an individualized course of study, focused on a particular problem or area of intellectual interest to be defined in consultation with the Director of the Liberal Studies program (Director) and participating faculty.
Unlike most Liberal Studies programs in the United States, our program is designed for students who intend to pursue doctoral work, or who intend to use their particular research interests as a platform for the development of their careers. Recruitment for this program has a national and international orientation, and we invite students who are interested in developing an international perspective on challenging issues in contemporary social and cultural theory.
If you have questions or wish to apply to the program, contact or schedule an appointment with:
Dr. Charles Shepherdson*
Director of Liberal Studies
(518) 442-4065
e-mail: mals@uamail.albany.edu
* Dr. Shepherdson assumes this role in Fall 2012. For Summer 2012, please direct all inquiries to:
Dr. John Pipkin
Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
(518) 442-4651
Requirements for Admission
Applications to the M.A. in Liberal Studies should be submitted to the Graduate Studies Office. Students wishing to start in the Fall semester should submit complete applications by March 15; those who wish start in the Spring semester should submit complete applications by November 1.
Completed applications must include:
(1) Transcripts of all previous undergraduate and graduate-level work
(2) GRE scores
(3) A TOEFL score (for non-native speakers)
(4) At least three letters of recommendation
(5) A statement of purpose that explains the applicant’s intellectual goals and interest in this program
(6) A sample of critical writing.
We welcome non-degree applications from students who wish to attend and take classes without completing the degree requirements.
Due to limited university funding, assistantship support is not available for Liberal Studies students.
Program Requirements
The program of study is directed toward the student's interests and specific career objectives and is designed in consultation with the Director and participating faculty.
Advanced Standing
A student may apply for up to 8 hours of previous graduate credit to be counted toward the credit hours required for the Liberal Studies degree. The precise credit value of previous graduate coursework will be determined during the student's initial interview with the M.A. Advisor. Courses presented for advanced standing are subject to all the requirements and restrictions described in the University’s Graduate Bulletin.
Coursework
All students must earn a minimum of 30 credits, distributed as follows:
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Two core requirements (6-8 credits), which include one course from the list of approved core courses in Humanities, and one course from the list of approved core courses in the Social Sciences. These core courses are typically “field courses,” or surveys of a broad disciplinary area, designed as introductory courses for graduate students in a variety of disciplines. Full time students must complete the core courses during their first year of study. Part-time students will complete them as advised.
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Elective courses selected under faculty advisement (minimum 18 credits), which may include GLS 697 (Directed Readings, 1-4 credits), and which must include at least 2 courses at the 600 level (6-8 credits). Electives must also include courses in at least two departments.
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GLS 699 Master’s Thesis (4 credits). The final independent research project is typically based on (but not reducible to) the student’s course work. This research project is designed in consultation with a minimum of two full-time faculty supervisors, and must be approved by the Director.
Students are not permitted to register for GLS 699 until they have (1) identified a thesis committee of at least two full-time faculty members who agree to serve as first and second readers; and (2) submitted a written thesis prospectus of 8-10 pages, with a supporting bibliography of at least 25 items, that outlines the research project and is formally approved in writing by the thesis committee and the Director of Liberal Studies. It is therefore imperative that students submit the approved prospectus during the semester before they expect to write the thesis, ideally at the time of pre-registration.
Thesis
The final research thesis represents the culmination of the degree. It provides evidence of the student's academic work, and will be used to represent the student for any further doctoral program applications and/or employment following completion of the degree. In planning this thesis, students should begin to formulate a research topic as early as possible in their course of study, and should choose their individual courses accordingly. They may also find it useful to compile and revise annotated bibliographies as a way to help define their area of study. Other recommendations will be made by the thesis committee as appropriate.
Forming the Thesis Committee
The student begins this process by consulting with the Director or a designated faculty advisor, who will assist in identifying faculty members who might direct the research. The thesis committee must consist of at least two full-time faculty members, one of whom will serve as the committee director, the other as second reader. In appropriate cases, a third committee member is possible, though not required. Faculty members from other institutions are also permitted to serve as second or third reader with the approval of the Director.
The student will present prospective committee members with a draft of a 1,500-2,000-word research prospectus, along with a draft of a bibliography of at least 25 items that define the principal area of research. The bibliography must include primary texts and/or objects of research, and secondary theoretical/critical texts, which together will constitute the basic subject matter of the thesis. Working with the committee, the student will then revise the draft prospectus and bibliography as necessary. When the committee has approved both documents, the student will submit them to the Director along with a signed memorandum of approval from the committee members. When the Director approves the prospectus, he or she will formally constitute the thesis committee, name one member as thesis director and will notify all others of his/her appointment. The completion of this process will allow the student to enroll in GLS 699.
Guidelines for Completion and Submission of the Thesis
Once the committee has been constituted, the student will continue to work on the reading list and draft the chapters of the thesis. The student will be expected to work independently, while also to communicating regularly with committee members to discuss progress and problems and to determine the direction of further work.
The faculty member designated as first reader on the committee is charged with supervising the writing process, with advice and participation from the second reader being determined at the discretion of both committee members. The first reader is charged with being accessible to the student, establishing and maintaining the protocols governing the student-committee relationship, compiling all relevant correspondence, calling any meetings of the committee and student, setting the date of completion, and other administrative tasks. The student is charged with completing the work, and keeping the committee members informed of his or her progress, but should also remember that faculty members have classes during the school year and may have research plans for the summer. Deadlines, turnaround times for preparatory materials prior to submission of the final document, and the date for final submission of the thesis must be explicit and agreed upon well in advance. The above process is subject to the review of the Director, who is expected to be available for consultation with both the student and the faculty committee, and who is further charged with approving the final research project. Changes in the student’s committee are possible at the request of either the student or the faculty committee members, with the Director’s consent.
Other research thesis projects may be formulated in consultation with the committee and submitted with the written approval of the committee and Director. The research project normally emerges from the students’ academic work in the Liberal Studies program. Accordingly, it is typically influenced by the coursework completed for the degree; the final thesis, however, must consist of substantially new research and writing, beyond work done in fulfillment of course requirements. Students are responsible for reviewing the relevant University regulations published in the Graduate Bulletin. Once the thesis has been completed and approved by the thesis committee, it should be prepared for final submission in accordance with the guidelines established by the University Library and the Office of Graduate Studies, and submitted to the Director for final approval.
Sample Course Offerings of
Participating Faculty
Africana Studies Department
Marcia Sutherland, Associate Professor (Ph.D. Howard University)
- A AFS 611A Socio-Methodology for Africana Studies
Anthropology Department
Louise Burkhart, Professor (Ph.D. Yale University)
- A ANT 666 Seminar in Ethnohistory: Historical Anthropology and Colonialism
Jennifer Burrell, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. New School for Social Research)
- A ANT 670 Human Rights, Humanitarianism, Development
- A ANT 670 Power, Politics & Violence in Latin America
- A ANT 670 Global Flows; Transnational Lives
Art Department
Rachel Dressler, Associate Professor (Ph.D. Columbia University)
- A ARH 499 The Art of Death
- A ARH 499/598 Women in Medieval Art and Society
- A ARH 442/542 Early Painting - Netherlands
East Asian Studies Department
James Hargett, Professor (Ph.D. Indiana University)
- A EAC 530 Chinese Travel Literature
Anthony DeBlaisi, Associate Professor (Ph.D. Harvard University)
- A EAC 571 Change in Medieval China
- A EAS 568 Confucius and Confucianism
English Department
Richard Barney, Associate Professor (Ph.D. University of Virginia)
- A ENG 720 Biopolitics and Mediation
- A ENG 580 Sublimations: Aesthetics, Medicine and Politics in 18th-Century Britain
Bret Benjamin, Associate Professor (Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin)
- A ENG 680 Imperialism in the Age of Decolonization
- A ENG 642 Keyworks of Transnational Cultural Studies
- A ENG 642 Reading Capital
Lana Cable, Associate Professor (Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University)
- A ENG 500 Textual Practices
- A ENG 580 Models of History in Literary Criticism: Staging Empire
Tom Cohen (Ph.D. Yale University)
- A ENG 685 Walter Benjamin and the Destruction of “Modernism”
Helen Elam, Associate Professor (Ph.D. Yale University)
- A ENG 410/681 Authors and Critics: Homer/Auerbach; Kafka/Benjamin; Wordsworth/de Man
- A ENG 615 British Romantic Poets
- A ENG 500 Textual Practices (A Survey of Contemporary Literary Theory)
Jennifer Greiman, Associate Professor (Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley)
- A ENG 580.2 Models of History: Transatlantic Revolution and Empire, 1750-1850
Kir Kuiken Assistant Professor (Ph.D. University of California, Irvine)
- A ENG 541 Romantic Ideology/Aesthetic Ideology
- A ENG 410 Topics: Literature and the Problem of Sovereignty
- A ENG 410 Topics: Literature and Community
James Lilley, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. Princeton University)
- A ENG 581 Romance, Race and the Aesthetics of Ruin in Atlantic Modernity
- A ENG 580 Eccentricities (Colonialism and its Peripheries)
- A ENG 580 The Transatlantic Origins of the Gothic Novel
Paul Stasi, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley)
- A ENG 415 The Making of the Working Class
- A ENG 450 The Postcolonial Novel
- A ENG 372 Globalization, Commerce and Culture
Charles Shepherdson, Professor (Ph.D. Vanderbilt University)
- A ENG 500 Textual Practices: A Survey of 20th Century Literary and Cultural Theory
- A ENG 642 Current Trends in Critical Theory
History Department
Richard Fogarty, Associate Professor (Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara)
- A HIS 616/626/633 France and Its Empire at War, 1914-1918
- A HIS 616/626/642 Islam, Immigration, and Integration in Modern France
- A HIS 620/643/670 War, Society, and Culture
- A HIS 626/628/642 Race and Racism in the Modern World
- A HIS 626/628/642 War, Society, and Culture
- A HIS 616/626 European Imperialism
Susan Gauss, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. Stony Brook University, SUNY)
- A HIS 571 State and Society in Latin America
Geography and Planning Department
Ray Bromley, Professor (Ph.D. Cambridge University)
- A PLN 501 Globalization and International Planning Practice
John Pipkin, Professor (Ph.D. Northwestern University)
- A GOG 500 Introduction to Graduate Study (Geographic Thought)
- A GOG 530 Topics: Symbolic Landscapes
- A PLN 501 History and Philosophy of Planning (joint)
Journalism
Thomas Bass, Professor (Ph.D. University of California, Santa Cruz)
- A JRL 420 Media in the Digital Age
- SCIPO Political Economy of the Media (taught at the University of Paris, 2011)
Languages, Literatures and Cultures Department
Ilke Kressner (Ph.D. University of Virginia)
- A SPN 519 Transatlantic Dialogues in Hispanic Cultures
- A SPN 513 Legacy of the Sixties in Spanish American Literature and Culture
- A SPN 644 Colonial Literature from a Postcolonial Perspective
- A SPN 536 Spanish American Novel: ‘Modernismo’ to the ‘Boom’
- A SPN 529 Literatures and Cultures of the Borderlands
Susan Blood (Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University)
- A LLC 610 Baudelaire in Theory
Latin American and Caribbean Studies Department
Pedro Caban, Professor (Ph.D. Columbia University)
- A CLS 403/599 Latina/os and the New Political Economy
Music Department
Robert Gluck, Associate Professor (M.F.A. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
- A MUS 451 Jazz, Identity and the Human Spirit
Max Lifchitz (M.A. Harvard; M.S. Julliard)
- A GLS 500 The Humanities through Music
Philosophy Department
Lisa Fuller (Ph.D. University of Toronto)
- A PHI 572 History of Political Philosophy
Robert Meyers, Professor (Ph.D. University at Buffalo, SUNY)
- A PHI 546 The Continental Rationalists
Rachel Cohon, Professor (Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles)
- A PHI 524 17-19th Century Ethical Theory
Jonathan Mandle, Associate Professor (Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh)
- A PHI 574 Contemporary Political Philosophy
Ronald McClamrock, Associate Professor (Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
- A PHI 542 Phenomenology
Jason D’Cruz, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. Brown University)
- A PHI 525 Contemporary Ethical Theory
Nathan Powers, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. Princeton University)
- A PHI 523 Ancient Ethical Theory
Kristen Hessler, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. University of Arizona)
- A PHI 506 Phi & Ethical Issues
Political Science Department, Rockefeller College
Morton Schoolman, Professor (Ph.D. Brown University)
- R POS 603 Contemporary Political Theory: The Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School
- R POS 603 Contemporary Political Theory: Bergson and Deleuze
Torrey Shanks, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. Northwestern University)
- R POS 500 Inheritance and Critique – The Political Thought of John Locke
- R POS 565/A WSS 565 Graduate Seminar in Feminist Theory
Jennifer Fredette, Visiting Professor (Ph.D. University of Washington)
- R POS 437Z Law and Society
Meredith Weiss, Associate Professor (Ph.D. Yale University)
- R POS 448Z Identities, Boundaries, Mobilization
- R POS 567 Contentious Politics
Peter Breiner, Associate Professor (Ph.D. Stanford University)
- R POS 500 Political Philosophy
- R POS 501 Field Seminar in Political Theory
- R POS 603 Contemporary Political Theor
Sociology Department
Steve Messner, Distinguished Teaching Professor (Ph.D. Princeton University)
- A SOC 481 Quantitative Research on Crime
- A SOC 601 Social Deviance
- A SOC 666 Markets, Morality, and Crime
- A SOC 666 Macrosociological Perspectives on Crime and Delinquency
Richard Lachmann. Professor (Ph.D. Harvard University)
- A SOC 441W U.S. Foreign Policy in Comparative Perspective
- A SOC 535 Qualitative Research Techniques
- A SOC 701 Comparative Historical Sociology
- A SOC 701 Comparative Historical Studies of the State in the First and Third Worlds
Christine Bose, Professor (Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University)
- A SOC 221 Statistics for Sociologists
- A SOC 340 Women in the Political Economy
- A SOC 440 Global Gender Issues
- A SOC 640 Gender Inequality
- A SOC 644 Global Gender Inequalities
Angie Chung, Associate Professor (Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles)
- A SOC 535 Qualitative Research
- A SOC 627 Urbanization
Ron Jacobs, Associate Professor (Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles)
- A SOC 510 Sociological Theories I
- A SOC 511 Sociological Theories II
- A SOC 666 Cultural Sociology
- A SOC 666 Civil Society and the Public Sphere
Karyn Loscocco, Professor (Ph.D. Indiana University)
- A SOC 642 Sociology of Work
- A SOC 645 Race, Gender and Work
Women’s Studies Department
Barbara Sutton, Assistant Professor (Ph.D. University of Oregon)
- A WSS/A SOC 515 Global Politics of Women’s Bodies
- A WSS/A LCS/A HIS 551 Gender and Class in Latin American Development
- A WSS 590 Research Seminar in Women's Studies
Vivian Ng, Associate Professor (Ph.D. University of Hawaii)
- A WSS 442 Transmedia Storytelling
- A WSS 520 Advanced Feminist Pedagogy and Theory
- A WSS 565 Feminist Theory
- A WSS 590 Research Seminar
- A WSS 512 Race, Gender and Cultural Politics in Asian Diaspora
