The Master of Liberal Arts degree is as 30-hour thesis degree (27 hours of course work and 3 hours credit for the thesis). The curriculum is based on the Great Books of Western civilization and the courses are dialogic and dialectic in format. The degree consists of six core courses of 18 credit hours, Directed Readings (up to 6 credit hours), Graduate Seminar (up to 6 credit hours), and a thesis (3 credit hours with at least 3 hours of the Directed Readings used to prepare specifically for the thesis). The combined number of credit hours for Directed Readings and Graduate Seminars is 9 credit hours. The degree program allows for areas of emphasis in literature, history, philosophy, and the liberal arts in general through the combined courses of Directed Readings and Graduate Seminars. As part of the degree students also participate in two, non-credit, special subject Colloquiums per semester.
The purposes of the Master of Liberal Arts are threefold. First, the degree serves the Faulkner University mission statement as a continuance of the undergraduate degree in liberal arts in which the education of the whole person is in view by means of the broad disciplinary content of the curriculum. Secondly, the degree serves the mission statement with assertion that all learning has as its end that we may know and honor Christ. And thirdly, the degree serves the students by introducing them to the great ideas and ongoing issues of mankind through seminal texts from western civilization. The degree also prepares students to pursue doctoral studies in such disciplines as literature, history, philosophy, religion, and the humanities. Hence, the specific outcomes of the MLA degree are to ...
- Expand the mission of the university by educating the whole person through a broad disciplinary content
- Demonstrate the unity of all learning with its chief end that we may know and honor Christ
- Enable students to be conversant about the perennial ideas and issues of mankind
- Prepare students for employment and/or further graduate study
The specific learning objectives reflect the focus on the great books curriculum and dialogic method through the lens of Christian thought. They are as follows:
Learning Objectives - Graduates of the MLA degree should be able to ...
- Demonstrate written and oral skills
- Attain a general knowledge of the curricular core texts and ideas
- Think critically, creatively, and analytically
- Understand the relationship of Christian thought to the themes of the Great Books of Western civilization