Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies

Athabasca University's Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies (MA-IS) degree offers students a unique opportunity to engage in a program of study that spans the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

The program is comprehensive in scope but specific in focus, requiring students to choose at least one focus area from among several areas of inquiry. Students are taught to think holistically, critically, and reflectively, and to focus on the articulations and points of overlap between specialized and generalized knowledge. Exposure to a range of disciplines and integrated methods prepares students to envisage and pursue innovative solutions to a variety of problems.

The program teaches students to situate and contextualize knowledge and practices on a broad intellectual continuum that integrates theories, methods, and practices from the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Courses are offered via the Internet either in paced seminar-format (fall, winter, spring) or as individualized study (starting the first of every month). There is no requirement to attend campus.

Housed at Athabasca University, the MA-IS program offers students the option of pursuing graduate studies at their own pace, and in their own home or workplace. The program is comprised of 33 credits of study (11 courses) delivered using a variety of distance education media, including the Internet. In discussion with faculty advisors, candidates will be encouraged to follow their own academic curiosity and identify a sequence of disciplinary and integrated course work.

Students may propose a wholly independent learning path or pursue MA-IS focus areas such as: Adult Education; Canada, the North, and the Globe; Community Studies; Cultural Studies; Educational Studies; Equity Studies; Global Change; Heritage and Social History; Independent Track; Literary Studies; Work, Organization and Leadership; and Writing and New Media;.

Two required core courses—MAIS 601: Making Sense of Theory in the Arts and Social Sciences and MAIS 602: Researching Society and Culture—will prepare students to engage theory, methodology, and knowledge across diverse areas of intellectual inquiry. The interdisciplinary project course, taken at the end of the program, will allow students to apply their learning to the workplace and community.

For more general information on the MA-IS program, visit the program website.