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Program Description
Degree Requirements
Admission Requirements
Qualifying Paper
Individualized Program
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Master of Liberal Arts Program
811 Anderson Hall
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122
215-204-1644 (phone)
215-204-9611 (fax)

Jayne K. Drake
Director, MLA Program
mla@temple.edu
215-204-7743 (phone)

Michael Szekely
Assistant Director, MLA Program
mszekely@temple.edu
215-204-6704 (phone)

Colleen Knapp
Administrator
colleen.knapp@temple.edu
215-204-1644 (phone)

Alpha Walker
MLA Coordinator
alpha.walker@temple.edu
215-204-1644 (phone)

Degree Requirements

Courses:
10 graduate courses are required for the degree.

Of these 10 courses:

• Two MLA Foundations Courses are required. These Foundations or Introductory Courses are offered every semester and should be taken as early as possible in the students' career. They introduce key readings in the liberal arts traditions, including broad concepts of interdisciplinary study, types of interdisciplinary inquiry, and relationships between disciplinary and interdisciplinary thinking.

• TwoMLA proseminars are required. These Proseminars or Topics Courses are offered every semester and turn on a variety of interdisciplinary  topics such as: Gender Issues, Race, Visual Culture, Popular Culture, Politics and Society, The Arts and Contemporary Culture, Religion and Society, Modern Intellectual Traditions, The Classical Traditions, Global Cultures, and Urban Culture.  (Students may take more than two proseminars if they wish. In fact, many students find these interdisciplinary Topics and Foundations courses so interesting that they register only for them.) Because topics for these courses vary semester by semester, students are permitted to register for the same course up to two times.
  
• Six courses selected from the wealth of graduate offerings from departments in the College of Liberal Arts and across the University tailored to the students' individual plans of study, qualifications, necessary course prerequisites, etc.

Qualifying Paper
In their last year or last semester, students must complete an essay, or Qualifying Paper (may be a creative project), that represents the culmination of their individual plans of study.   It must demonstrate students’ ability to write analytically on a topic of their choice; to read, absorb, evaluate, and cite scholarly thought and research; and to establish and develop a sound perspective on the topic under consideration.  Pleasego to the Qualifying Paper link, above, to learn more.

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"The Master of Liberal Arts Program offers the deep satisfactions of an engaged intellectual life while working full-time. The range and depth of my learning experiences, the new eyes and new tools gained in the Program strengthen my sense of connection to family, work, community, and the larger world. To paraphrase John Dewey, I feel the Program places its students and graduates firmly in 'better possession of their powers'." -William Casey, Social Security Administration