Director's Welcome
Back in 1999, the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) program had only 13 students and offered two courses. Now, we are one of the largest graduate programs at UNCW and are offering in Fall 2011, including internship and directed independent study, nine courses at UNCW and two more (both online) at UNCW's Onslow County Extension Program (at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville). Also, we offer one of only several post-Master’s certificate options in the U.S. and the only post-Master's certificate option among the currently existing seven graduate liberal studies programs in the state of North Carolina. Although we aim to serve primarily the local community, we have drawn many out-of-state and several foreign students. To this point the program has graduated 231 MALS students and awarded 6 post-Master's certificates in liberal studies. Representative final project titles from Spring 2011 include: "Roadside Religion: Salvation from the Seat of Your Car," "Paradise Found--and Lost Again: Melville and Twain on Western Colonization in the South Pacific," "Bang Your Head to the Beat of Non-Conformity," "The Plastic Ocean Project: An Exploration of Plastic Pollution in the Ocean's Subtropical Gyres and the Consequences," "Social Facebooking and the Elderly: A Computer-Based Society Contributing to Various Health Benefits for the Aged," "Departing Neverland," "They Came from Across the Water: Gullah Influence in Modern Culture," and "An Adventure for a Lifetime: A Website for Young Men."
This list of final projects highlights what is for me one of the most gratifying aspects of the program this year and every year: the graduation of students who, in spite of daunting professional, social, family, and service responsibilities, have, through their perseverance, determination, and academic commitment, completed degree and certificate requirements.
A recent development was the receipt of a named and endowed scholarship for GLS: The Loretta Schwartz-Noble Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Fellowship.Together with the teaching assistantships, scholarships, and awards, this fellowship will, when funds are available, help us fund (a few) deserving GLS students.
The coming year promises to be exciting. Mika and Herb, the previous director, have put together what we feel will be an exciting, diverse, and thought-provoking line-up of courses for this academic year. Further, the GLS program has now expanded to include the capability of completing the MALS degree in a fully online mode. In Fall 2011, for the first time, students defended their projects from distance sites on Skype -- Alaska, California and Italy!
Finally, then, welcome to the GLS web-page, in regard to which I would like to credit Perry Campbell, GLS program assistant and web-master. Thanks to Perry's assiduous vigilance, the GLS web-page provides a thorough and comprehensive overview of the GLS program at UNCW whereby you can conveniently access everything from admissions and degree requirements, Graduate School and GLS-related forms, descriptions of upcoming courses, student news and profiles, faculty web links, and a link to various campus event calendars. So I’d encourage you to browse through the web-page for further detailed information about the GLS program at UNCW and if you have any comments or suggestions feel free to contact Perry at campbell AT uncw DOT edu. I also invite and welcome any inquiries about the GLS program, the special quality of which is matched by the commitment, enthusiasm, and intellectual engagement of the students it enrolls.
Cordially,
Patricia Turrisi
GLS Program Director
Bear 105 B
Tel: 910.962.3299
Fax: 910.962.3542
turrisip AT uncw DOT edu
Last Update:September 12, 2011
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