MLA-MLA - Master of Liberal Arts (MLA)
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Program Overview
The Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) program aims to provide a flexible, interdisciplinary program for returning adult students who seek a broad education in the liberal arts. Begun in 1991, the underlying premise of the MLA program is that knowledge gained through an interdisciplinary course of study leads to intellectual independence and satisfaction not always found in discipline-based programs of study. The goals of the MLA program are to develop advanced critical thinking, foster intellectual range and flexibility, and cultivate an individual’s ability to find the connections among different areas of human thought: art, history, literature, music, philosophy, political science, science, and theology.
The program is designed for part-time students: seminars meet in the evening, and students complete the degree in 4-5 years. Members of the Stanford faculty teach all master’s seminars. The seminar size is limited to 20 students.