Graduate Courses

Graduate courses are offered in the evenings and during the summer. These courses frequently are interdisciplinary in nature and are offered by faculty members from a wide variety of departments. Normally there are three half-unit evening courses each fall and spring semester, and one full-unit course, along with an additional half-unit course, in the summer term. With the exception of the accelerated summer term, graduate courses meet one and one-half hours once a week for 13 weeks over the course of the 15-week semester. The graduate curriculum is planned on a two-year cycle. Course offerings and faculty members change each year, reflecting the diversity of interests and fields addressed by the program.

Liberal Studies Core Classes
Generally, at least one MALS course each term is designated as a liberal studies core course (LBST). These courses are explicitly interdisciplinary and writing intensive. We now require new students to take at least one liberal studies core course within the first year of the MALS program before applying for formal candidacy (see Graduate Admission). Liberal studies core courses scheduled for 2024-2025 include the following:

Summer 2024: Ancient Greek Philosophy
Fall 2024: The Law and Its Uses in Europe and Its Empires, c. 1300–c. 1750
Spring 2025: The Cultural Heritage of the Nuclear Age
Summer 2025: Islamic Art, Architecture, and Visual Culture