W. Francis Ryan                                  Director, Institute of Humanities

The Master of Arts in Humanities is an interdisciplinary program designed for qualified holders of the bachelor’s degree who seek to deepen their understanding of cultural and ethics topics and who regard the liberal arts as subjects of lifelong study. The program is open to both traditional and nontraditional students. For persons who have postponed graduate study for family or professional reasons, the program offers opportunities to pursue cultural studies that may have been bypassed in the processes of career building. Courses are offered at flexible times with many courses scheduled in the evenings.

The humanities are defined as those fields that have from earliest times recorded—in script or sound, on canvas or stone—the achievements, ideals, and even  failures of humanity.  The humanities examine the intellectual foundations and values of political cultures through literature, the languages, the history of ideas, and the theoretical and historical aspects of the fine and visual arts. These studies emphasize the relationships of past and present, a sensitivity to aesthetic expression, an appreciation for the complexities of problems, and the abilities to make critical discernments and to express them with logic and clarity. Students may take courses from the fields of Art History, Classics, English, History, Modern Languages and Cultures, Philosophy, and Religious Studies. Courses from other departments that clearly address the above goals may be taken with approval.