DISCIPLINARY M.A.'s

The Human Sciences Program strongly emphasizes disciplinary grounding for interdisciplinary work. Most students either enter the program after receiving an M.A., or obtain a disciplinary M.A. in the course of their studies.

Students entering the Human Sciences Ph.D. program without an M.A. in a field directly related to the Human Sciences curriculum or in the student's proposed field of concentration, generally take 16-20 courses (including independent studies) before moving on to their dissertation credits. Of these, most students divide their course work between 1) meeting their core interdisciplinary requirements and preparing for their core comp exam, and 2) specializing in a discipline including preparation for a field exam in that discipline.

Information on M.A.s in American Studies, Anthropology, Art, English, History, and Women's Studies can be obtained from Human Sciences faculty in those departments. Generally, they are similar to the M.A.s described for those departments in The George Washington University Graduate School Bulletin.

M.A.s in Philosophy and Religion are available only to students pursuing the Ph.D. in Human Sciences, and are structured as follows:

M.A. in Philosophy in Conjunction with the Human Sciences Program

Master of Arts in the field of Philosophy - Available only to students pursuing the Ph.D. in the Human Sciences Program. Prerequisite: A Bachelor's degree. A major in Philosophy is preferred but not mandatory. The degree requires 30 credits of graduate course work and satisfactory completion of a Master's Comprehensive Examination in Philosophy. A maximum of two undergraduate courses may be taken for graduate credit. No more than two consortium courses may be taken to fulfill these requirements and approval for consortium courses must be received in advance. No more than two Human Sciences core courses may count also toward the M.A. Pre-approved courses taken as independent studies can also be used towards the M.A. degree.

Six of the required courses must be in the following three areas: 1. History of Philosophy (two courses), 2. Ethics, Politics, and Values (two courses), 3. Methodology, Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Language (two courses). Two other philosophy courses must be taken as electives. Two final courses pertinent to the degree are required and must be approved by a member of the Philosophy department who serves on the Human Sciences Executive Committee (Professors Caws or Weiss).

Field I: History of Philosophy (two courses)

This area is well-covered at GW and also in the consortium. Students may take Peter Caws' "The Idea of the Human Sciences" and so fulfill one of the two required courses with Human Sciences 201. The other course can be either one of our three advanced undergraduate courses in the history of philosophy that are offered every year (Phil 113, 192, and 193), a graduate independent study with a member of the GW Philosophy department, or a graduate consortium course.

Field II: Ethics, Politics, and Values (two courses)

The GW Philosophy department is very strong in Field II and a variety of graduate courses are regularly offered each semester. Virtually every member of the department is interested in ethics and several members (Griffith, Churchill) specialize in policy, an area that lies at the intersection of ethics, politics and values. At least two graduate courses that fulfill this requirement are offered by the GW Philosophy department every semester. The M.A. degree in Philosophy and Social Policy (conferred through GW's Public Policy program) is oriented toward political and ethical issues.

Field III: Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Science, and Methodology (two courses)

The GW philosophy department has many graduate offerings thanks, in large part, to the regular courses taught by University Professor of Medical Humanities, Kenneth Schaffner. The department also has a new professor in the Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science, who begins teaching at GW in the fall of 2001. There are several faculty in the department who teach courses in methodology and have interests in the Philosophy of Language (Caws, Weiss,
De Grazia). As with Fields I and II, there are also several consortium courses offered on a regular basis that could be chosen to help fulfill this requirement.

M. A. in Religion in Conjunction with the Human Sciences Program

Master of Arts in the field of Religion - Available only to students pursuing the Ph.D. in the Human Sciences Program. Prerequisite: A Bachelor's degree. A major in Religion is preferred but not mandatory. Candidates must meet the general requirements of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. The degree requires 30 credit hours of graduate work, demonstration of a reading knowledge of one foreign language, and satisfactory completion of a Masters Comprehensive Examination. Students prepare for the Masters Comprehensive Exam by taking courses in three of four fields. Students must take four courses in History and Comparative Religions (field 1) and two courses in Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion (field 2). The third Comprehensive Exam may be in either of the two other fields: Religion, Culture, and Society, or Interpretation of Texts. In either case, two courses are required. The two other courses must be approved as pertinent to the degree by a member of the Religion Department who serves on the Human Sciences Executive Committee (Duff, Hiltebeitel). A maximum of two undergraduate and three consortium courses is allowed. No more than two Human Sciences core courses may count also toward the M.A.

Field I. History and Comparison of Religions

In this field, the cumulative nature of the offerings is especially pertinent. Students would be advised but not required to take one comparative course. The M.A. does not require the student to specialize in one religion, or limit the number of comparative courses within the four required. Numerous courses are available.

Field II. Theory and Method in the Study of Religions

For this field, GW Religion 101 Theories and Methods in Religious Studies, given every fall, would be a consistent and advisable option, as would GW Phil 238/HS 205 Feminist Ethics and CU Religion 701, a graduate course. Any two of these three would be regularly available. GW Rel 249/HS 203 Myth, Ritual, and Language will be offered every other year. Other courses would be options that could meet a student's particular interest.

Field III. Religion, Culture, and Society

GW graduate-level offerings are quite ample and varied in the field. Courses with a feminist orientation include GW Rel 181/WSTU 181 Women and Religion; GW Anth 121/WSTU 121 Anthropology of Gender; GU InAf 438 (a graduate course), and GU Theo 191 (selected for its two fine scholars, Fran Cho and Diane Yeager). Other options include GW HS 204 National Mythologies; GW Rel 271 and 273 American Religion to/from 1830; GW Rel 721 Current Issues in Bioethics; GW Rel 775 Man and the Environment.

Field IV. Interpretation of Texts

CU Rel 704 Hermeneutics in Religion is a placeholder here. GW Rel 257/HS 206 India's Great Epics can be advised, as can GW Rel 111 Myth, Epic, and Novel and GU Theo 277 Religion as Writing/Writing as Religion, as undergraduate courses that treat hermeneutics, narrative theory, and/or theories of orality and writing. A student would be advised to balance one of these theory courses with another, perhaps a Directed Readings course, on a specific body of religious literature.