Master of Arts in the Liberal Arts (MALA)

An Interdisciplinary Graduate Progam

 

 

Entrance Requirements:

Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher

GRE Verbal + Quantitative = 1,000 or higher

(Students may be admitted to the program provisionally while awaiting GRE scores)

 

Requirements for Degree:

Thesis Option:

            24 hours of coursework + 6 hours of thesis credit (LIBA 8000) + Thesis + Oral Defense

Non-Thesis Option:

            36 hours of coursework + Exit Exam/Oral Defense

 

LIBA 7000 & LIBA 7900 are required

 

At least 1/2 of the coursework must be at the 7000-level

 

No more than 1/2 of the coursework may be taken in any one department

 

Major Professor & Student Committee

Once a student decides on an area of major concentration, s/he must identify an appropriate

faculty member with expertise in that substantive area who is willing to serve as the major

professor.  Once that occurs the student should rely on that faculty member for advice

concerning the appropriate courses to take, thesis mentorship, and so on.  Prior to

having identified a major professor, the student should rely on the program director for direction.

 

Each student will need to recruit a three-person committee (the major professor and two

additional faculty who are members of the graduate faculty) to serve as the student's

graduate committee.  It is this committee that will evaluate the thesis (if the thesis option

applies) or conduct the final examination of the student (if the non-thesis option applies) at

the end of the program.  If the thesis option applies, the committee should be comrpised of

individuals whose expertise is germane to the subject matter of the thesis.  If the non-thesis

option applies, the committee should be comprised of faculty members who are familiar

with the student by virtue of his/her MALA coursework.

 

Financial Aid:

MALA is an inter-disciplinary program, not an academic department.  Hence, MALA itself does

not have a budget for assistantships or financial aid.

 

 

Contact Information:

Professor William A Clark

Director, MALA Program

Department of Political Science

213 Stubbs Hall

Louisiana State University

Baton Rouge, LA  70803-5433

tel:  225-578-2549

fax: 225-578-2540

email: poclark@lsu.edu