MLS Curriculum
A lively exploration of the world’s greatest works, ideas, and thinkers
The 48 credit hour Master of Liberal Studies program offers personal enrichment and professional advancement, helping you develop intellectual awareness and key competencies through studying the great ideas of civilization. Faculty foster a sense of community within each cohort as you update and curate your worldview through analysis of everything from art and philosophy to psychology and yourself. Above all, the skills you’ll develop in critical thinking, communication, and adaptability are irreplaceable by technology and priceless in today’s economy.
Program Structure
Students complete a three-year program of study. In some cases, eligible students may complete the program on a two-year track.
- 5
core courses
- 6 or 12
6 electives or 12 masterworks
- 1
thesis
Program Courses
- Core Courses
MLS 602 The Human Order
MLS 603 Religion and Western Culture
MLS 604 Origins of Modernity
MLS 605 Milestones of Modern Science
MLS 606 Masterpieces of Modern Literature - Sample Electives
MLS 505 Aesthetics and Politics of Art
MLS 506 Medieval Times
MLS 515 Justice, Freedom, Democracy
MLS 515 21st-Century Storytelling
MLS 542 Manet’s “Olympia”
MLS 574 Spirit of the Counter-Reformation in Art and Music
MLS 576 Existential and Humanistic Psychology
MLS 579 Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
MLS 580 Psychology of Religious Experience
MLS 581 The Designer as Social Critic: Activism and the Arts and Crafts Movement
MLS 587 Picturing War
MLS 588 The Art of Landscape Design: From Renaissance Garden to Green City
MLS 590 American Civil Liberties
MLS 592 Rococo to Revolution: Gender, Race, and Power in 18th-Century French Art
MLS 680 Independent Study
MLS 682 Independent Study Abroad
PLEASE NOTE: Electives are full-semester four-credit courses - Masterworks
MLS 551M Teaching and Learning Humanities
MLS 553M The Great Gatsby
MLS 556M Conceptions of Justice
MLS 580M Middle East and North African Religions and Cultures
MLS 582M Art History of African Fashion
MLS 591M The What, Why, and How of Art
MLS 597M Psychology Gets Religion
MLS 599M Italy in the High Middle Ages
PLEASE NOTE: Masterworks courses are half-semester two-credit courses - Thesis
Your thesis may be a research project or a creative work supported by a critical or theoretical essay.
Six-Semester Track
Rollins’ MLS program allows students to start in either fall or spring. The sequence below assumes a fall start.
| Semester | |
|---|---|
| Fall | MLS 602 The Human Order (4) MLS Elective (4) or 2 Masterworks (4) |
| Spring | MLS 603 Religion & Western Culture (4) MLS Elective (4) or 2 Masterworks (4) |
| Fall | MLS 604 Origins of Modernity (4) MLS Elective (4) or 2 Masterworks (4) |
| Spring | MLS 605 Milestones of Modern Science (4) MLS Elective (4) or 2 Masterworks (4) |
| Fall | MLS 606 Masterpieces of Modern Literature (4) MLS Elective (4) or 2 Masterworks (4) |
| Spring | MLS 690 Thesis (4) MLS Elective (4) or 2 Masterworks (4) |
Five-Semester Track
Rollins’ MLS program allows students to start in either fall or spring. The sequence below assumes a fall start.
| Semester | |
|---|---|
| Fall | MLS 602 The Human Order (4) MLS Elective (4) MLS Masterworks (2) |
| Spring | MLS 603 Religion & Western Culture (4) MLS Elective (4) MLS Masterworks (2) |
| Fall | MLS 604 Origins of Modernity (4) MLS Elective (4) MLS Masterworks (2) |
| Spring | MLS 605 Milestones of Modern Science (4) MLS Elective (4) MLS Masterworks (2) |
| Fall | MLS 606 Masterpieces of Modern Literature (4) MLS 690 Thesis (4) |
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