"On a huge hill, cragged, and steep, truth stands and he that will reach her, about must and about must go.... "
-John Donne

The Origins of Liberal Studies
The decision to inaugurate the Liberal Studies degree came from changes in higher education. Before the Civil War, college education was general education, liberal arts, ancient classics, rhetoric, some mathematics and philosophy, covering a number of present-day subjects. After the Civil War, using the German universities as models and seeking to become research institutions, graduate education became increasingly specialized, professionalized, organized into distinct and specified academic departments/disciplines and increasingly interested in science and technology. That trend continued and accelerated in the 20th century.

The appearance of Liberal Studies in 1953 Professor Charles Hands described as "not really an innovation at all; it is, rather, a return to the past, to the idea that the study of the liberal arts at the graduate level—a study that . . . encourages . . . an interdisciplinary approach aimed at showing the interconnectedness of all disciplines—is vital to the future and well-being of society." It is this reassertion of the liberal arts tradition at the graduate level and in an interdisciplinary mode that Wesleyan University 1953 initiated and which became a major educational movement. This shift in emphasis from specialization, this return to an earlier tradition, broader, more inclusive, also creates the possibility for a creative and imaginative program design.

The Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs
One hundred and twenty colleges and universities, large and small, public and private, have followed Wesleyan’s leadership, adopting the philosophy of Graduate Liberal Studies, and they offer graduate degrees primarily known as Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS), Master of Liberal Studies (MLS), and Master of Liberal Arts (MLA). Other degree designations are possible, such as Master of Humanities, as long as the program carrying the name clearly exemplifies the philosophy of Graduate Liberal Studies. There is an organization that embodies and fosters that philosophy. It is the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Program (AGLSP). [To view the AGLSP website, go to http://aglsp.org/]. Due to its origins, Liberal Studies began and has remained primarily a graduate program with a distinctive philosophy of education: graduate, interdisciplinary, liberal arts, organized for working adults. While 3/4 of our students are at the graduate level, here at Georgetown there is also a Bachelor’s degree (known as the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies—BALS) which shares the interdisciplinary, values-focused philosophy of education of Liberal Studies. Georgetown University inaugurated a Doctor of Liberal Studies Degree in 2005. Liberal Studies Programs are administered through Graduate Schools, Schools of Arts and Sciences, and Schools of Continuing Education.

At Georgetown the course selections are created by faculty members from history, literature, philosophy, theology, sociology, humanistic approaches to sciences, some aspects of business and ethics, art and culture, to name a few. Usually the courses reflect one faculty member’s creation or synthesis. At Georgetown, we also have some team teaching. The goal is the same: a broader organization of materials focused on a particular theme.

In the year 2000 Dr. William Maehl, former Vice-Provost of the University of Oklahoma and then President of the Fielding Institute, reviewed what he considered to be the “best” of adult credit programs and concluded that “GLS programs usually have these three characteristics in common: an interdisciplinary approach, core study designed specially for the program, and a capstone experience. They also often reflect the values or mission commitments of their host institutions, especially among private colleges.” Those elements are clearly markers in every Liberal Studies degree program. Also programs do reflect the mission of their particular school, as Dr. Maehl noted. At Georgetown, Human Values and the Humanities predominate, conforming to the University’s mission and history.

The Origins of Georgetown's Liberal Studies Program
A small group of faculty and administrators led by representatives from Wesleyan, Dartmouth, and Hollins College in Virginia began meetings in 1973 to discuss the common interests in this exciting new kind of degree. Among the attendees was Joseph Pettit, D.B.A., then Georgetown’s Dean of the School for Summer and Continuing Education. Dr. Pettit, encouraged by the contacts he had made with other interested university representatives, pursued creating a Liberal Studies degree program for Georgetown University where liberal arts and human values have, in the Jesuit tradition, always been a cardinal part of the University mission and curriculum. His efforts were successful when he won approval for this new degree and courses began in the summer of 1974. By spring 1975, an association emerged from the members who had attended the early meetings. Georgetown was a charter member of the AGLSP.

Values Orientation
Focusing on specific themes, issues, questions, and difficulties, Liberal Studies courses allow and encourage students to confront perennial and current problems and recurring questions that we pose about our own identities, our past and future, our unique national experiences and conflicts, international behavior, and our place in a threatened environment. Thus a strong values orientation is crucial to the curriculum design of the degree. According to Gerhard Casper, former president of Stanford, “What we really need in universities . . . is a very vigorous and particularly a very rigorous discussion about the human condition, its elements, its values.” Dr. Ronald Johnson, Georgetown Professor of History and Liberal Studies, states, “In the midst of a society that is preoccupied with the achievement of professional status and individual success, we are committed to the study of the social ideals and values that unite us as humans and attempt to address the needs of a hurried, often fragmented world. We absorb new ideas and, almost without noticing it, develop new insights about our common life and mutual understandings.”

The main Jesuit tradition at Georgetown really has as its aim the liberal studies. The Jesuit approach involves educating the whole person, through a multidisciplinary approach based in the liberal arts. It expects to produce educated people who contribute to society is some way.

Interdisciplinary Approach
As the course titles and descriptions indicate, all the Liberal Studies degree courses make a deliberate effort to synthesize rather than merely analyze, to shift students’ attention away from specialized fields of endeavor toward broader, more comprehensive areas of human intellectual interest. “Implicit in the concept of a genuine liberal education is the necessity for integration. The liberal arts are precisely those subjects, those disciplines, those ways of thinking and knowing which do not focus on the self, the other, the thing in isolation but on all of them together—their similarities and their differences, all their varied relationships to one another: The liberal arts encourage the mind to move from the present to the past and the future, from the immediate to the timeless, from the individual to the universal and back again” (Georgetown University Main Campus, Goals and Objectives Statement, 1981).

Faculty
The faculty teaching in the Graduate Liberal Studies Degree Program are primarily Georgetown University faculty members drawn from the various departments of the University, seasoned in teaching adults in interdisciplinary courses. The faculty also includes adjunct professors who combine their active professional careers with classroom teaching.

Administration
Administered by the School of Continuing Studies, the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program operates under the aegis of Georgetown’s Graduate School. The faculty teaching in this degree program are primarily Georgetown University faculty members drawn from the various departments of the University, seasoned in teaching adults in interdisciplinary courses. The faculty also includes adjunct professors who combine their active professional careers with classroom teaching.

The Liberal Studies curriculum includes fourteen curricular fields, courses for which are generally offered each semester. To earn the master's degree you will need to successfully complete thirty credits, or ten courses, including a 3-credit required thesis course. While your path through these courses will vary, you must complete the following requirements in the program to graduate:

• 18 credits from within your chosen curricular field
• 9 credits from elective courses from within the LS program
• 3 credits from the required writing/research thesis course

A central theme of the master's program is a focus on human values. As such, many of the course offerings in the Liberal Studies program are designated as “Human Values” courses. Of the thirty credits required to complete the degree, students must complete two Human Values courses specific to their curricular field, one or both which must be designated as “Core” to their curricular field. The program administrators, curricular field advisors, and faculty are avalible to assist you in developing your academic schedule and path through your degree program.

When a student satisfies the requirements for a given curricular field, the curricular field title appears on the final transcript upon completion of the degree..

2010 Graduation Ceremony

Master of Arts in Liberal Studies graduates (July 2009 - May 2010) are invited to participate in two celebrations during Commencement Weekend. The School of Continuing Studies Commencement will be held on Saturday, May 22, at 5 PM in Gaston Hall . The Commencement will be followed by a reception in the Leo O'Donovan Hall, SW Quad .

The Baccalaureate Mass for all Georgetown University graduates is on Sunday, May 23 at 9:00 a.m. on the Healy Lawn and will be followed by a buffet breakfast in the Grand Ballroom of the Leavey Center.

Graduation invitations will be mailed in mid-March or given to students upon completion of their thesis. Students are allowed to bring up to 10 guests to the ceremonies. Caps and gowns will be on sale in the Georgetown University Bookstore the week prior to Commencement, and will cost approximately $55. More information regarding degree completion and commencement will be sent to students in the Spring.

Credits

In order to earn a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies degree, students must complete 30 credit hours, including a 3-credit thesis.

The Thesis Requirements

Thesis Proposal

Upon completing the course work or in the final semester of courses for their degree program, all candidates must register for the Thesis Proposal Workshop, LSHV 497 (0 credit, 0 tuition). This 0-credit course taken in conjunction with a 3-credit course in the fall or spring terms constitutes half-time enrollment status. The Workshop consists of four two-hour class sessions during which each student is guided through the creation and approval of a thesis proposal.

Thesis Proposal Approval Form

Thesis Proposal Outline

Thesis Completion

After successfully completing the Thesis Proposal Workshop, students must register for the Thesis Research/Writing course (3 credits) with two course numbers LSHV 498- and LSHV 499. If the thesis is not completed in the semester in which the student is registered he/she must enroll in Continuous Registration, for one semester. Students have two semesters (not counting summer) to complete the thesis.

Thesis Approval Form

For detailed information on thesis writing and requirements, please download the Liberal Studies Thesis Writing Guide

Grading System and GPA Requirements

A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required for graduation. Students will not be allowed to register for additional courses beyond the 27 required course credits in order to raise their GPA.

The Liberal Studies Program does not allow students to audit classes; therefore students must be officially registered in order to attend class. Registered students will receive one of the following letter grades:

A	4.00
A-	3.67
B+	3.33
B	3.00
B-	2.67
C	2.00
F	0.00
I	Incomplete (Graduate notation)
W	Withdrawal
S	Satisfactory (A grade of B or better in a pass/fail course)
U	Unsatisfactory (Any grade below a B in a pass/fail course)

Please note that while the grades of S and U are not included in the calculation of a student's GPA, a U is treated as an F for the purpose of reviewing academic performance leading to academic dismissal.

Academic Ineligibility

Master's Degree Candidates earning grades of two "C's" or lower are academically dismissed.  All grades, including "F's," are calcualated in determining the cumulative GPA.  An "F"=0.  At the completion of 8 courses (24 credits attempted), a student must have at least a cumulative 3.0 GPA.  If the student's GPA is below a 3.0, he/she is dismissed from the Program and further course registration or enrollment in the Thesis Proposal Workshop is canceled.

For more information on grades, grade changes, and grade appeals, please refer to the Liberal Studies Degree Handbook

Posting of Grades

Faculty members post grades directly to MyAccess. Therefore students are able to access their grades before or as soon as the administrative office. Grades are not due until several weeks after the term ends. Students who need to know their grade sooner (for employee reimbursement, for example) should contact their professor directly.

Final Paper/Test Pick-Up

While some professors return papers in class or via email, many prefer to drop final papers off at the Liberal Studies office where they are stored for two semesters. Students may pick up their paper during office hours at Suite 225, ICC.

Graduation

Master's degrees are posted in August, December, and May. MALS students follow the schedule and procedures for degree application and clearance provided by the Liberal Studies Program in conjunction with the Graduate School. Applications for the MALS degree must be submitted on-line. Go to http://grad.georgetown.edu for forms and instructions.

Advising

The Core Faculty is comprised of a faculty member from each of the curricular fields, who will be available as an advisor to students needing guidance in a curricular field. Students are also encouraged to request academic guidance and counseling as needed from the Director or Associate Director of of the Liberal Studies Degree Program, the core faculty or other faculty members.