Nov 27, 2024

2015-2016 Graduate Catalog

2015-2016 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Humanities, M.A.H.

About the Humanities Master’s Degree Program

Flexibility for Inquiring Minds: The Master of Arts in Humanities (M.A.H.) degree is designed to provide students with an opportunity to enrich their lives through interdisciplinary studies in the Humanities. The coursework encourages the development of a broad and varied awareness of several humanities disciplines, and combines scholarly competency with intellectual challenges.

The four required courses all emphasize the interdisciplinary aspect of the program. The first, the Introductory Seminar, HU 500 , serves as preparation for graduate studies in the Humanities; the second, the Philadelphia Seminar, HU 525 , affords students exposure to the area’s cultural riches through a series of weekend field trips. The third, the Humanities Colloquium, HU 650 , helps students view broader issues in the humanities through the lens of a single discipline. The last of the four, the Capstone Seminar, HU 698 , includes among its objectives the student’s culminating project while at the same time offering participants a summative overview of the Humanities.

Students may opt for one of two basic approaches in undertaking the program: they may (a) choose to concentrate up to half of their coursework (18 credits) in a single Humanities discipline or concentration area, or (b) choose to achieve greater variety and breadth in their studies by distributing their elective courses among several disciplines of their choosing.

The disciplines included in this program are grouped into three “concentration areas.” Every student in the program must take at least one course in each of these areas –i.e., a single course from all of (a), a single course from all of (b), and a single course from all of (c).

Literature (i.e., the offerings of the English Department)
Fine Arts/Art History, Theatre, and Music
Historical and Political Studies; International Peace and Conflict Resolution; and Philosophy and Religion

Courses that fall outside the Humanities as the program defines them are generally not accepted in the M.A.H. for credit. At the time they apply for admission to the program, however, students may seek permission to take a limited number of credits (a maximum of 6) in selective courses in relevant disciplines outside the Humanities as normally defined. Such requests must be approved by the University prior to the student’s formal admission to the program.

Study-abroad Opportunities: Both through its College of Global Studies and through its normal course offerings, Arcadia affords its students exciting opportunities to travel and study abroad. Graduate students in the Humanities may take up to 9 credits of their coursework in study-abroad situations. Increasingly, short-term study-abroad options—some offered in the summer, others at various times in the year—make it feasible for graduate students to travel and study abroad in ways that conform to the needs of their personal schedules. The London Internship and the Irish Parliamentary Internship are also available to those graduate students who might have available the time and the resources for a full semester abroad.

The Career Internship: This option is also increasingly popular among Master of Arts in Humanities students. Students may arrange to pursue a Career Internship a single time in their program, although the Internship may not occur during the student’s first semester at Arcadia. While internships are not normally salaried positions, the University has no policy forbidding a student from receiving pay if the internship site offers it. An additional benefit of the internship program consists of its flexibility: a Career Internship in the Humanities may be arranged for any portion of the calendar year, so long as it meets the University’s minimum requirements. Students typically secure internships in the fields of editing, publishing, arts management, theatre, philanthropy, museum management, and librarianship, to name but a few.

Master of Arts in Humanities Admissions Requirements

In addition to the general admission requirements, the following requirements must be met:

A graduate application, including personal statements, to be completed online at www.arcadia.edu/gradapp.
A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a recommended GPA of 3.0 or better with an undergraduate major in one of the Humanities disciplines. Applicants with other majors will be considered on an individual basis according to the extent of their undergraduate coursework in the Humanities.
One official transcript from each college, university or professional school attended. Transfer credits included on a transcript must include grades earned; if not, an official transcript from the original school must be submitted. Transcripts must be sent from the issuing school in a sealed envelope and contain the appropriate signatures and seals to be considered official.
Two letters of recommendation. The letters must be of a professional not personal nature. If the student has been out of school five years or less, at least one letter must come from a professor.
A personal interview with the program Director.
International applicants should visit www.arcadia.edu/international for detailed information on admission requirements and application procedures. Official results from the TOEFL or IELTS are required for all students for whom English is a second language or who have not earned degrees or diplomas from post-secondary institutions in Englishspeaking countries (e.g. the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand). A course-by-course evaluation of all transcripts by an independent evaluation service based in the United States also is required.

All application materials must be sent to the Office of Enrollment Management.

Rolling Admission: Completed applications are reviewed on a rolling basis throughout the year. Students may start in the Fall, Spring or Summer semester.

Expenses 2015-16

	Tuition:	$720 per credit
	Fees:	Deferred Payment– $40 Audit– $720 per course Parking–before 4 p.m. $30 per semester (Fall and Spring) after 4 p.m.–No charge

Financial Aid: Graduate students who have been accepted into a degree program and are enrolled for at least 6 credits per semester are eligible to apply for financial aid. Please visit www.arcadia.edu/financialaid for information regarding required forms and documents, most of which can be submitted online.

Graduate assistantships are available to all students registered for at least 9 credits per semester. Students may apply for assistantships upon acceptance and registration. Questions regarding graduate assistantships should be directed to the College of Graduate Studies at 215-572-2925.

Federal Loans: Graduate students are eligible to borrow through the federal Stafford Loan and federal PLUS Loan programs. Arcadia University, in partnership with AES/PHEAA, offers the no-fee Arcadia University Preferred Stafford Loan Program, which provides students with benefits that include: Origination and guarantee fee waivers Interest rate reduction during repayment Superior administration and servicing All financial aid paperwork not submitted online should be sent to the Office of Enrollment Management/Financial Aid. Please e-mail finaid@arcadia.edu or call 1-877-ARCADIA (1-877-272-2342) with additional questions.

Study Abroad Transfer Credit: In addition to policies regarding transfer credit, students may request transfer of a maximum of 9 credits of graduate study earned through the Arcadia University Center for Education Abroad, with prior written approval of their faculty adviser. Students who transferred credits taken prior to admission may transfer a total of 9 credits, including those taken through the Center.

For example:

	0 entry-level transfer credits: Arcadia accepts 9 Center credits.
	3 entry-level transfer credits: Arcadia accepts 6 Center credits.
	6 entry-level transfer credits: Arcadia accepts 3 Center credits.

Master of Arts in Humanities Degree Requirements (M.A.H.)

A program of 36 credits fulfills the degree requirements.

All students must take the following four courses. Attention should be paid, in planning one’s program—best initiated in the fall semester of the year—that the first two of the required courses are offered ONLY in the fall semester, whereas the third and fourth of the required courses are offered ONLY in the spring semester. None of the four courses is offered during summer sessions.

Additional Information

Each year, on a three-year rotation, the Humanities Colloquium (HU 560) is offered in one of the three “concentration areas” enumerated above as a, b, and c.

Since, again, every student must take at least one course in each of the “concentration areas” listed above as a, b, and c, it should be noted that the Humanities Colloquium may be used to satisfy this distribution requirement. For example: the student who might not otherwise choose to take a course in “concentration area” b, which area includes Fine Arts/Art History, Theatre, and Music, but who chooses, say, to take a Humanities Colloquium such as “Women in Modern Music,” will have satisfied both the Colloquium requirement and the distribution requirement, just by having taken that one course.

Independent study (HU 689):

Students may arrange for a maximum of two independent studies, each for 3 credits, over the course of her program. While independent study is not allowed during the student’s first semester, it becomes possible in any semester thereafter. Independent study allows the student to pursue unusually specialized work—work not offered in a normal course—under the supervision of a single professor, whose willingness to serve as the student’s supervisor has been secured in advance. Independent-study options must be explored with the program director before the student seeks to register, and requires the approval of a written proposal.

Choosing to pursue a “concentration” in the program:

As stated earlier, all students have the option of devoting up to 18 credits or half of their program to study in a single discipline or discipline area—or, alternatively, of spreading their coursework among a variety of disciplines and concentration areas. Neither approach is considered the “preferred” or “right” way to undertake the degree program. The student’s choice between these two options is made in consultation with the program director, and depends most of all on the student’s goals in seeking the Master of Arts in Humanities degree. Nor does this choice need to be made, inflexibly, at the outset of the student’s program; it may evolve as the student pursues her coursework.

A caution must be offered regarding the choice of a concentration, however: the size of the faculty and the range of courses offered might differ considerably from one discipline to the next. The larger departments among the Humanities at Arcadia are those in English, in Political and Historical Studies, and in International Peace and Conflict resolution. Fine Arts/Art History also constitutes a large department; but students in the M.A.H. program may undertake studio courses in the fine arts ONLY if they have the necessary background in studio art and ONLY if they have the prior approval of the Chair of the Fine Arts Department. This approval process requires an interview with the Chair of Fine Arts, and may entail a portfolio review.

That the size of the faculty in other disciplines such as Music, Philosophy and Religion, Art History, and Theater is more modest does not mean that students are prevented from seeking a concentration in one of these areas; it simply means that students interested in these areas have to have realistic expectations as to the range of courses that will be offered.