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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