Course Structure
Eminent faculty from across all four divisions of UChicago teach MLA courses in a Socratic seminar format. Students come to class having carefully read the assigned material and then engage in rich discussions, confronting fundamental questions and respectfully debating complex ideas. In this program, you’ll sharpen your critical, analytical, and writing skills as you examine topics from fresh perspectives that enrich your personal and professional life.
Classes meet once a week via Zoom with sessions scheduled on evenings or Saturdays to fit into a full-time work schedule. You also have the option to participate in our week-long, immersive residential seminars on the UChicago campus, which are offered twice a year in the Spring and Autumn Quarters.
You will not take many exams in this program. Instead, MLA faculty primarily evaluate students based on their participation in discussions and their performance on writing assignments. In both verbal and written communication, you’ll be expected to analyze complicated issues, make persuasive arguments, and synthesize information from multiple sources.
The Master of Liberal Arts brings the University of Chicago’s extraordinary intellectual assets together. You have the opportunity to engage deeply with professors from every division of our University in small, Socratic classrooms. Big ideas, eminent faculty, extraordinary peers—it’s a transformative combination.
Seth GreenDean of the University of Chicago Graham School
Core Courses
Through four core courses, you’ll gain an interdisciplinary framework to break down complex topics into their basic components and answer challenging questions with methodological approaches from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Each class will require you to think critically, write thoughtfully, respond to your peers, and address problems.
To meet the core requirement, you’ll take one course in each of the following disciplines:
Electives
To meet the elective requirement, you may either take three general electives in any discipline or choose a concentration and take all three courses in one area of study. The available concentrations are:
- Literary Studies
- Ethics and Leadership
- Tech and Society
See our concentrations page for more information.
In addition, you must take one elective focused on a non-Western culture. Examples of these courses include:
- Africa and the World: Ancient to Early Modern Times
- India in Film: Imaginations of a Decolonial Nation
- The Normal and the Pathological: Sickness, Care, and Wellbeing Across Cultures
- Tsars, Soviets, and Putin: Modern Russia, 1860-present
Course List
Course offerings differ by quarter. Current course offerings include:
Summer
Technology, Science, and Self
Theories about technology and its relationship to society and self are everywhere, even if we don’t always recognize them or articulate them.
Russia and the West
There are few problems as enduring and central to Russian history as the question of the West—Russia’s most passionate romance and most bitter letdown. In this course we will read and think about Russia from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries through the lens of this obsession.
Residential Seminar
An Odyssey with Homer
In this week-long Residential Seminar, we will read and probe some of Homer’s epics’ most famous episodes in various English translations from the Renaissance to today. We will also explore some of the vast array of responses to and transformations of Homer’s strange and wondrous tales in painting, cinema, and other arts.
Autumn
Ethnographic Traditions
This class will introduce students to the practice of ethnographic field work, or participant observation research.
Foundations of Humanistic Inquiry
This course offers an introduction to advanced study in the Humanities across a range of fields, including poetry, philosophy, fiction, and film.
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Poet?
Sad, but true. Many folks who enjoy reading fiction, drama, and memoirs feel considerably less comfortable with poetry.
Liberal Arts for Business Leaders
This course provides key perspectives on how the Liberal Arts can bring value to business in several classic areas: Leadership development, Organizational Behavior and Management, Advertising and Marketing, and Strategy.
Science, Technology, and Moby Dick
We often think about Moby Dick as a description of American society as told through the microcosm of a whaleship. But Moby Dick is also a book about what knowledge is, what is knowable in the world, how humans relate to nature, and how scientific knowledge impacts society.
I have always had a passion for learning and a desire to challenge myself. The MLA program presented a way to enhance my skills—not only as an individual but also as a participant and leader in our society. The MLA attests to the fact that there is inherent value associated with studying the humanities and in developing a background and comfort with the diverse topics that comprise the liberal arts.
Andrew F. ShorrDivision Head, Pulmonary, Critical Care, & Respiratory Services, Medstar Washington Hospital Center; and Professor of Medicine, Georgetown University
Thesis or Special Project Requirement
A faculty advisor will support you in selecting a thesis or project that aligns with your interests. MLA students have the flexibility to choose projects that hold value and meaning for them personally or that can be applied to their careers.
Examples of past MLA thesis topics include:
- A Comparative Analysis of the American & Chilean Revolutions
- Economic Survival of Small Chicago Area Farmers During COVID-19: Leadership Skills that Enabled Success in the Pandemic
- Using Poetry as Leadership Training: Fostering a More Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive College
The format of special projects is flexible. Past examples include a piece of visual art and a book of poetry.
Once your thesis topic or project is approved, you will be paired with a faculty advisor, who will remain heavily engaged throughout the process. The advisor serves as a vital resource by pointing you toward scholarship and other sources of information that can guide your work. You will remain in contact as your project evolves, receiving meaningful feedback on drafts.
In most cases, it takes two quarters for students to complete a thesis or special project.
Students with questions about the degree requirements should contact MLA Program Director Tim Murphy.