Students in the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program design individualized, interdisciplinary graduate study programs in the arts, humanities, natural and social sciences. Working with Skidmore faculty and the MALS Director, students create curriculum and choose courses that facilitate in-depth exploration of their proposed research topic and fields of concentration. After finishing their coursework and passing successfully through the Academic Plan review, students complete an interdisciplinary Final Project that serves as the culmination of their program of study. Typically, students compose a 60-75 page Master’s thesis incorporating multiple disciplinary perspectives. Students may also include creative work in their final project, provided that a significant part of the work entails a theoretical discussion. (Note: the program closed in February, 2020.)
Theses from 2009
Environmentally Sensitive Worldviews: What Are They, Why Are They Necessary, and How Can They Be Fostered?, Nichole North Hester
Reducing Exposures to Mercury, Sharon P. McLelland
Theater Study and the Power of Possibility, Jill Rafferty-Weinisch
Emergence, Peter A. Sturtevant Jr.
John Muir: A Rugged, Religious, Sensitive Mountain Man, Bradley B. Ward
Theses from 2008
Misinformed Consent: Non-Medical Bases for American Birth Recommendations as a Human-Rights Issue, Lisa Chalidze
Native American Pottery: Ancient and Evolving Traditions in the American Southwest, Megan R. Conner
Microcredit in Uganda: A 'Bottom Up' Response, Mary Catherine Dreher
Benefits of Partnership Teaching, Sandy Petronella George
The Emergence of Bebop: Charlie Parker and His Historical Recordings 1944-1948, Anthony Richard Geraci
Putting the Pieces Together: The Puzzle of Conflict Transformation, Janice Marie Johnson
Sustaining the Olympic Ideal, James King III
Metamorphosis of Rubbish: Eduardo Paolozzi's General Dynamic F.U.N., Michelle L. Paquette
Ilya Repin and the Zaporozhe Cossacks, Kristina Pavlov-Leiching
Mistakes and Fatal Miscalculations in Cicero's Political Career, Alicia S. Silver
From the Top: A Practical Approach to Ethical Decision Making, Bonnie J. Stofer
Theses from 2007
Differentiating Art Curriculum for Students With Learning and Emotional Disabilities, Susan Ackerman
The Effects of the Arts Curriculum on the At-Risk Student Population: An Examination of Music and Drama with Regard to Specific Risk Factors, Christy D' Ambrosio
The Process of Listening to Music: How it Modulates Nervous System Activity and Affects Emotion, MaryAnn H. Gulyas
Walter Lippmann, John Dewey, and American Political Democracy, Jesse B. Markay
Expressive Writing and Divorce, Leonard J. Prazych
Defining the Spiritual Aspects in the Pure Dance of Bharata Natyam, Bevin Stark
Theses from 2006
Where are the Moderate American Muslims? Struggling to Be Seen and Heard on Cable News/Entertainment Programs, Carole A. Chouinard