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The Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (sometimes MALS) Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) Master of Liberal Studies (MLS) and Doctor of Liberal Studies (DLS) are postgraduate degrees. Characteristics that distinguish these degrees include curricular flexibility, interdisciplinary synthesis via Master's thesis or capstone project, and optional part-time enrollment. Like other Master's degree programs, students generally enroll after receiving bachelor's degrees. As of 2005, there are over 130 colleges and universities throughout the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom that offer Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (or similar) programs. Admissions criteria varies by institution.
Postgraduate liberal studies originated at Wesleyan University in 1953. Administrators sought to 'break graduate education free' from what they perceived as 'the bonds of overspecialization' then prevalent at colleges and universities throughout the United States and Europe. Initially aimed at professors and teachers, postgraduate liberal studies quickly gained popularity, and became a cause celebre during the progressive education movements of the 1960s. Then as now, Liberal Studies programs often draw courses and instructors from across a university's postgraduate curriculum. Students devise unique courses of study, to suit their individual interests.
Many institutions followed Wesleyan's initiative. Early proponents of graduate liberal studies included Dartmouth College, The Johns Hopkins University, and Georgetown University. Certain colleges and universities, such as Harvard, Stanford, and Northwestern began to offer postgraduate liberal studies courses through their respective continuing education divisions; however, increasingly during the past two decades, institutions have incorporated liberal studies degree programs into traditional postgraduate divisions, (e.g. Columbia University.)
In 2005, Georgetown University became the world's first university to offer a doctorate in liberal studies.*
External links
"Master of Arts in Liberal Studies"