Liberal Arts and Sciences

Graduate Information

Graduate Information

OFFICE: Arts and Letters 226
TELEPHONE: 619-594-1516 / FAX: 619-594-4998
E-MAIL: kwaltman@sdsu.edu, bnericci@sdsu.edu
WEBSITE: http://www.malas.sdsu.edu

Faculty

Director: William A. Nericcio, Professor of English and Comparative Literature (Ph.D.)

Program Coordinator: Katie Waltman

Graduate Adviser: William A. Nericcio, Professor of English and Comparative Literature (Ph.D.)

Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty:

Stuart C. Aitken, Albert W. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Geography, The June Burnett Chair in Children’s and Family Geographies (Ph.D.)

Edward J. Blum, Professor of History (Ph.D.)

Susan E. Cayleff, Professor of Women’s Studies [Senate Distinguished Professor] (Ph.D.)

Clarissa Clò, Professor of Italian (Ph.D.)

Sarah S. Elkind, Professor of History (Ph.D.)

Huma Ahmed Ghosh, Professor of Women’s Studies (Ph.D.)

Donald J. Hopkins, Professor of Theatre, Television, and Film (Ph.D.)

Risa Levitt, Professor of Religious Studies, Chair of Classics and Humanities and Religious Studies (Ph.D.)

Seth W. Mallios, Professor of Anthropology (Ph.D.)

Angel D. Nieves, Professor of History (Ph.D.)

Michael J. Roberts, Professor of Sociology (Ph.D.)

Katherine E. Swanson, Professor of Geography (Ph.D.)

Sthaneshwar Timalsina, Professor of Religious Studies (Ph.D.)

Sandra A. Wawrytko, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Asian Studies (Ph.D.)

Steven L. Barbone, Associate Professor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Jung Min Choi, Associate Professor of Sociology (Ph.D.)

David P. Cline, Associate Professor of History (Ph.D.)

Roberto D. Hernández, Associate Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies (Ph.D.)

Yetta Howard, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature (Ph.D.)

David M. Kamper, Associate Professor of American Indian Studies (Ph.D.)

Amy Schmitz Weiss, Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies (Ph.D.)

Joseph A. Smith, Associate Professor of Classics (Ph.D.)

Delroi E. Whitaker, Jr., Assistant Professor of Religious Studies (Ph.D.)

Emeritus Faculty:

Doreen Mattingly, Ph.D. 1995-2020, Professor of Women’s Studies

John and Jane Adams Endowment

John R. Adams was an esteemed faculty member of San Diego State University from 1928 until his retirement in 1968, whereupon he accepted the position of University Archivist. Dr. Adams was a professor of English and chair of the Division of Humanities. He and Jane Adams were generous benefactors to SDSU throughout their lives and they established a Charitable Living Trust to be used to promote liberal education. Today some of those funds are used in the MALAS program to support graduate assistantships and to help pay for graduate student presentations at conferences, both domestic and abroad.

General Information

The College of Arts and Letters offers a flexible multidisciplinary master’s degree in the liberal arts and sciences (MALAS). An alternative approach to traditional graduate education, this always-evolving program consists of coursework that crosses disciplinary boundaries as graduate students master artistic, diverse, innovative, intellectual, and/or scientific goals through individualized courses. MALAS is an M.A. program for all kinds of thinkers- while it caters to the intellectual desires of ambitious, new B.A. and B.S. recipients seeking full-time graduate study, it also serves the needs of national and international professionals and adult learners who seek to attend graduate school on a part-time basis. From explorations of the human condition to the social impacts of technology, from social justice interventions to next-generation transformational arts, the program focuses on issues central to the meaning and quality of our lives and the creation of sustainable, just, communities. In existence since 1987, MALAS is equally well suited to students who recently achieved the bachelor’s degree, students preparing for the Ph.D., professionals for whom the master’s degree may mean promotion or career advancement, and lifelong learners in search of personal enrichment and intellectual community. We welcome and encourage applications from K-12 teachers, community activists, and policy makers.

MALAS draws upon SDSU faculty who are trained in individual fields but whose teaching and scholarship makes connections across disciplines. Interplays among the humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences, and the arts are taken up in four required courses. These seminars seek to engage with contemporary life and construct positive futures but they also push the level of discourse to foundational questions of epistemology and philosophy. Particular attention is given to understanding the psychological, economic, and environmental consequences of globalization, and to the ways that human values are embodied in and transformed by modes of consumption, labor, and material culture. The four core courses act to ground and center five elective courses, selected by each student to customize a program that captures his or her interests.

Admission to Graduate Study

In addition to satisfying the requirements for admission to the university with classified graduate standing as described in Admission and Registration , the student seeking admission must: (1) have a grade point average of 3.0 or better on work completed during the last 60 units for the baccalaureate degree, (2) have an acceptable score on the GRE General Test (combined verbal and quantitative), (3) complete a statement of purpose essay, and (4) submit two letters of recommendation.

Students applying for admission should electronically submit the university application available at http://www.calstate.edu/apply along with the application fee.

All applicants must submit admissions materials separately to SDSU Graduate Admissions and to Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Graduate Admissions

The following materials should be submitted as a complete package directly to:

Graduate Admissions
Enrollment Services
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7416

Official transcripts (in sealed envelopes) from all postsecondary institutions attended;

NOTE:
- Students who attended SDSU need only submit transcripts for work completed since last attendance.
- Students with international coursework must submit both the official transcript and proof of degree. If documents are in a language other than English, they must be accompanied by a certified English translation.
GRE scores (http://www.ets.org SDSU institution code 4682);
English language score, if medium of instruction was in a language other than English (http://www.ets.org SDSU institution code 4682).

Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences

The following materials should be submitted by November 1 (October 1 for international students) for admission for the spring semester and May1 for the fall semester to:

Master of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences

San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-8137

A statement of purpose essay (minimum of 500 words) outlining research interests and strongest talents. Highly ranked statements include references to how the MALAS program would fit into your future;
Two letters of recommendation (one, at least, should be from a university professor familiar with your research, writing, or creative work). Letters of recommendation come directly to MALAS from the individuals writing the letter. Please ask your recommenders to use official letterhead when possible and to sign across the outside seal of their envelopes. Last minute applicants may arrange to have their letters of recommendation emailed directly to bnericci@sdsu.edu;
A two-page essay describing the best class and/or professor you had as an undergraduate or graduate student.

Programs

Liberal Arts and Sciences, M.A.