The Master of Arts in Liberal Arts is an individualized program designed for the graduate student who wishes to pursue interdisciplinary studies. Such a program encourages students to consider issues and problems in society, culture, literature, science, art, and/or communication. Students will develop comprehensive contexts for scholarly work and appropriate methodologies for such studies. Graduate students in Liberal Arts may earn a Master of Arts degree by selecting 33 hours of graduate courses from three disciplines (programs) with the approval of their major advisor and committee. Two of the three disciplines must be from the College of Arts and Sciences. The discipline with the greatest number of semester credit hours is required to be a discipline in the College of Arts and Sciences. In addition, students will complete LA 5101 and LA 5301 and may not be taken concurrently.
At the time of entrance into the program each student must complete a degree plan with a Liberal Arts advisor and select a committee based on the student’s areas of interest. Leveling work may be required in some disciplines.
Offered in Alpine College of Graduate Studies.
Contact
Liberal Arts Advisor: Laura Payne, Ph.D.
E-mail: lbutler@sulross.edu
Examples of completed Masters Projects
Permian Pulse by Grant Griffin of Gonzales. Grant integrated Art, Geology, and Natural Resource Management into a public art project that transformed pumpjacks in an oil field into a spectacular display of light. For Grant, this was an opportunity “…to bring beauty to a blighted place and draw attention to new technology.”
Teaching ePortfolio by Kristen Malabayabas of Fort Worth. Kristen developed a teaching portfolio to be used in a community college setting by integrating Political Science, History, and Education.
Analysis of Emergency Contact Procedures for Brewster County by Spenser Smith of Marfa. Motivated by the 2011 catastophic wildfires in Brewster County, Spenser analyzed the state of emergency contact procedures in Brewster County by integrating Communication, Public Administration, and Education into his research.
Under the Stasi by Marilyne Crill-Dieckert of College Station. Marilyn integrated English, Theater, and Music into an original musical composition bringing to our social consciousness the “…pervasiveness of the dehumanization demonstrated by the Soviets during their occupation of East Germany following the Second World War.”
Communicative Language Teaching Approach for Spanish by Dacil Gutierrez from Ojinaga, Mexico. Dacil integrated Spanish, Linguistics, and English to develop a communicative approach for the teaching of a second language. Dacil demonstrated “…that the communicative approach is an efficacious technique to use with students for the positive development of a second language.”
Conversation and Sustainable Use of Water Resources of the Rio Grande Basin: Community Outreach and Education by Christopher P. Hillen of San Marcos. Chris integrated Communication, Geology, and Natural Resource Management into the development of a two-part rainwater harvesting workshop held in the spring of 2012 in anticipation of summer rains. The project was “…an effort to draw attention to the water issues facing the Big Bend region of Texas [through] a multi-faceted social marketing campaign aimed at promoting water conservation in [the Big Bend] area.”
Petra’s Sueno by Olivia Gallegos of Alpine. Olivia integrated History, Art, and Theatre to develop the costuming for Tia Cuca, a curandera, in Rupert Reyes’s Petra’s Sueno. Olivia based the costuming upon her research of renown Mexican curandera, Teresa Urrea. Olivia noted that she researched “…some actual pictures of the actual Teresa Urrea” and based “…Tia Cuca’s costume…on the actual Teresa Urrea.”
Master of Arts in Liberal Arts
Year 1
Semester I
Semester II
Discipline 1 courses
3 credit hours
Discipline 1 courses
3 credit hours
Discipline 1 course
3 credit hours
Discipline 1 course
3 credit hours
Discipline 2 course
3 credit hours
Discipline 3 course
3 credit hours
Total: 9 sch
Total: 9 sch
Semester III, Summer
–
Discipline 2 course
3 credit hours
–
–
Discipline 3 course
3 credit hours
–
–
Total: 6 sch
–
Year 2
Semester I
Semester II
Discipline 1 course
3 credit hours
Discipline 2 course
3 credit hours
Discipline 1 course
3 credit hours
LA 5301
3 credit hours
LA 5101
1 credit hour
–
–
Total: 7 sch
Total: 6 sch
Total Credit Hours Required for Master of Arts in Liberal Arts: 37
