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Create a custom curriculum in Penn’s Master of Philosophy in Liberal Arts
The foundation of a liberal arts degree is interdisciplinarity: learning the lexicon and mastering the methods of different academic fields can equip you to think expansively. In Penn’s Master of Philosophy in Liberal Arts (MPhil), students who have already completed a master’s degree can choose courses from more than 50 academic disciplines across the University, juxtaposing different topics or perspectives to expand the depth and breadth of your knowledge. This advanced degree culminates in an independent study and a thesis of your own design, and the five courses you choose along the way will shape how you approach and frame this project.
At Penn, MPhil students work closely with an academic advisor and faculty mentors to create a personalized curriculum. No two students will follow the same path—but these pairings offer an example of how a new MPhil student could get started this summer or fall.
Interested in race, place, and space?
Pair MLA 5020: Making Race and Ethnicity in the Americas with ENGL 9015: What Takes Place: Writing, Dwelling, Possibility
Studying race and ethnicity is an inherently interdisciplinary project, and Making Race and Ethnicity in the Americas draws on history, sociology, and even law to understand the social structures that defined and maintained racial distinctions over time—focusing on North and South America, where the distinct colonial economic and political regimes that emerged in different regions produced different experiences of race.
As you expand on your geographical, historical, and sociological knowledge of ethnic identity, you can explore how poets and writers construct and deconstruct a sense of place in writing. What Takes Place: Writing, Dwelling, Possibility is a creative writing workshop that augments reading and discussion with writing exercises and peer feedback. Whether your MPhil thesis is a creative project, a research paper, or a combination of the two, these summer 2023 courses lay the groundwork for a deeper, more complicated understanding of place and identity.
Want to try on material culture for size?
Pair GSWS 5850: Fashioning Gender with ARTH 5050: Building the Myth of Venice: Art, Architecture and Venezianità in the Renaissance
If you want to study a single object that represents the interweaving forces of gender, class, global commerce, and environmental impact, start with the clothes on your own back. The fall 2023 course Fashioning Gender traces how American clothing consumption has ballooned from a few expensive but durable outfits at the turn of the 20th century to today’s virtually disposable but environmentally devastating closet. If fashion studies appeal to your creative and academic interests, you may also enjoy a deep dive into the aesthetic culture of Renaissance Venice. In Building the Myth of Venice: Art, Architecture, and Venezianità in the Renaissance this fall, you’ll learn to read Venetian art—and the shape of this storied city itself—as artifacts of a political project: forging a unified cultural identity for a city on the border of east and west, land and sea. From the broad-ranging perspective and contemporary relevance of fashion to the focused, detailed study of unique time and place, material culture can provide a rich foundation for historical, political, and artistic study.
Design a degree at the intersection of your interests
Course offerings vary from term to term. The above pairings represent a fraction of what’s available to MPhil students in the upcoming summer and fall terms—and offer a sampling of the interdisciplinary coursework that characterizes Penn’s Master of Philosophy in Liberal Arts. Available on a full- or part-time basis, with evening and online courses to suit your schedule, this advanced graduate degree opens doors across the University.
Contact our program director, Dr. Christopher Pastore, to schedule an appointment to review your current research and explore your options for pursuing a Master of Philosophy in Liberal Arts at Penn.
(215) 898-7326
lps@sas.upenn.edu
www.upenn.edu/mla-mphil
