Be Flexible, Save a Year

The new dual degree English and Liberal Studies.

Areas of study in the combined B.A./M.A. in English and Liberal Studies are flexible and open, and cut across disciplinary boundaries.

ALBANY, N.Y. (October 20, 2016) — A new degree program will appeal to students looking for a little flexibility in their college studies.

Exceptional juniors who are pursuing the Bachelor of Arts in English will now have the opportunity to obtain a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Liberal Studies, and complete both degrees up to a year earlier than by pursuing separate degrees. The combined B.A./M.A. in English and Liberal Studies requires 140 credits to be completed, 30 of which must be graduate credits.

"This new and exciting program not only allows students to complete the BA degree and the MA in Liberal Studies in a somewhat reduced timeframe, but the interdisciplinary nature of the Liberal Studies program means that they get a multi-perspectival view of whatever research challenges they decide to pursue," said Glyne Griffith, English department chair.

UAlbany’s Department of English focuses on the power of language as it explores the role of literature in culture. Faculty in the department represent a wide range of research interests—literary theory, literary and cultural criticism, rhetoric and poetics — and offer a comparably wide variety of courses: on British, U.S., and post-colonial literatures; on cultural studies, cinema and electronic media; and on writing of all kinds, from the analytical to the creative.

Graduates from the English program regularly enter careers in teaching, publishing, and advertising. They also pursue advanced degrees in such fields as law and business, where critical thinking, careful reading and skilled writing are very much in demand.

The Master of Arts in Liberal Studies is a multidisciplinary program primarily supported by faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy. The program supports the diverse interests of students pursuing graduate study in a variety of areas across the arts, humanities and social sciences. The program focuses on issues in contemporary cultural theory in a global context.

The program is hospitable to international students who intend to pursue an American doctoral degree but who want to advance their knowledge and academic credentials before applying to Ph.D. programs.

The areas of study are flexible and open, and designed especially for students who are interested in issues of pressing concern that cut across disciplinary boundaries: postcolonial studies; globalization; new media; race, gender and ethnicity; human rights; literary and cultural theory; feminist theory; politics, law and culture; and similar areas of work — all of which are reconfiguring the boundaries of contemporary liberal education.

Students in the program pursue an individualized course of study, focused on a particular problem or area of intellectual interest to be defined in consultation with the director of the Liberal Studies program and participating faculty.

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