About the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies at St. Norbert College
The Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MLS) offers a broad range of courses across divisional lines, actively involving all the various disciplines represented that distinguish a St. Norbert College education. The program aims, specifically, at engaging students in a dialogue about critical issues of our times, including issues of diversity, as well as providing them with the analytical and communications skills necessary to better understand and interact with our ever-changing world. In addition, participants in the program will gain an appreciation of the processes that go into academic research. Courses are offered on a part-time basis, with an average completion time of three years. Upon graduation, students will have completed 11 courses and a thesis project.

Why study liberal studies?
The MLS program is a natural extension of the Norbertines in northeastern Wisconsin. For a long time, the Norbertines have played a significant role in education on every level in our area (i.e., elementary, secondary, college). As educational needs were identified, the Norbertines responded by building schools and creating new curricular programs to support people in the community at large. In line with the Norbertine tradition, the MLS program seeks to address a new educational need: the desire of college-educated individuals to enrich and expand their knowledge and skills. Congruent with the goals of St. Norbert as a liberal arts college, an MLS offers the significant and life-changing benefits of a liberal education to those who were more narrowly educated in a specific profession or major. Finally, the MLS program is firmly rooted in the Catholic Intellectual tradition that helped shape the tradition of the liberal arts and has been influenced by it ever since the Middle Ages.