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.
Minimum Units in the Program
Minimum University Units
During the Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters following admission to the program, a three quarter foundation course is required of all students, MLA 101A Foundations I, MLA 101B Foundations II: the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and MLA 101C Foundations III: the Enlightenment through Modernism. This course sequence aims to lay the groundwork for the interdisciplinary, intercultural studies the student will shortly undertake. The foundation course introduces students to the broad framework of history, literature, philosophy, political science, and art.
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During the first quarter of the second year, students take the core introductory seminar, MLA 102 An Introduction to Interdisciplinary Graduate Study. This seminar prepares students for interdisciplinary graduate work at Stanford. Students concentrate on writing a critical graduate paper, conducting library research, presenting the results of their research, and productively participating in a collaborative seminar.
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Students must take at least seven graduate seminars of four units each over their second, third, and fourth years in the program. Of the seven required seminars, at least six must be fulfilled by MLA-specific seminars. Within the required MLA seminars, students must also complete at least one seminar in each of the following areas: Humanities; Social Sciences; Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Each MLA course requires a substantial seminar paper. Students are encouraged to use these papers as a way to investigate new fields of interest, as well as a way to develop different perspectives on issues in which they have an ongoing interest. MLA seminar offerings vary yearly, and those listed below may not be available in future years. The 2025-2026 curriculum is included below.
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Students are required to complete a 75-100 page thesis with the guidance of an assigned faculty advisor. While students are working on their theses, they should enroll in MLA398: Thesis in Progress each quarter until their final quarter. Students should enroll in the six-unit MLA399: Thesis Final Quarter in their final quarter.
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