Thank you for visiting the home page of UNC Asheville’s
interdisciplinary Master of Liberal Arts Program. As the only graduate degree
offered by UNC Asheville, the State of North Carolina’s designated public
liberal arts university, the MLA Program builds on a strong tradition of
interdisciplinary scholarship and creative activity.
The MLA Program attracts students from a wide range of
professional backgrounds and life experiences. Some are recent college
graduates, others are mid-career professionals, while still others have
concluded their working careers but wish to advance their formal education. Many
of our students face considerable professional, social and family
responsibilities, yet their passion for engaging the world of ideas in the
company of equally talented and dedicated peers motivates them to pursue this
truly unique graduate degree. All of our students share a deep desire to explore
the human condition through seminars in the Humanities, Social Sciences and
Natural Sciences. There is no “typical” MLA student, only eager students who
address common themes and problems from multiple perspectives.
MLA is designed as a part-time program with seminars
offered in the evenings (usually 6:00 - 8:30) on the UNC Asheville campus. Since its founding in 1988, the MLA Program has graduated more than 100
students. They have completed capstone projects in areas as varied as creative
writing, community service, social theory, history, mass communications, and
environmental sustainability. The MLA Program allows students to develop their
intellectual passion within a community of thoughtful peers and under the
direction of faculty members who champion of the value of liberal learning.
I hope that you will take time to explore the entire
website, where you can access admissions criteria and degree requirements,
MLA-related forms, descriptions of upcoming courses, student news and profiles,
and faculty web links. If you have additional questions about the MLA Program
at UNC Asheville, please contact me via phone or email.
Sincerely,
Peg Downes
Director, Master of Liberal Arts
Program and
Professor of
Literature
University of North Carolina at
Asheville
129 Carmichael Hall
Asheville, NC 28804
(828) 251-6577
downes@unca.edu
