MALAS is the Master of
Arts in Liberal Arts & Sciences, an
interdiscplinary/cultural
studies graduate program in the College
of Arts
and Letters @ San Diego State University | home hive: Adams Humanities, room
4231 | phone: (619) 594.4826. | fax: (619) 594.1325 | mail: 5500
Campanile Drive, mailcode: 4423, San Diego, CA 92182-4423 |
Director: William
A.
Nericcio | Coordinator: David
"McHank"
McHenry Cultural Studies
Interdisciplinary Studies Frankfurt School Walter Benjamin American
Studies Feminist Theory Queer Theory Post-colonial Studies Semiotics
the Avant Garde
The Master
of
Arts
in
Liberal
Arts and Sciences (MALAS) is an ever-evolving, interdisciplinary, cultural studies graduate program based in the College
of Arts and Letters at San Diego State University.
Our dynamic Master of Arts degree provides an extraordinary
intellectual
experience
in the sensational city of San Diego, California--a buzzing West Coast
international border community known for its various bio-medical enclaves (The Salk Institute, Scripps, etc.) and a burgeoning borderland mecca
for
cutting-edge transborder
experimental arts, next-generation sustainability research, and Pacific Rim-based multidisciplinary studies. (And yes, also known for tourism and our rad surf community). MALAS offers what
we
like to call "an M.A. in Curiosity."
Our
graduate students master
diverse and innovative intellectual/artistic/scientific goals through
individually-tailored
course-clusters in one of the most flexible graduate
Liberal Arts programs on the planet. MALAS
is the MA program for all kinds of
thinkers--while it caters to the intellectual desires of
ambitious, new
BA and BS recipients seeking
full-time graduate study, it also serves the
needs
of
Southern
California professionals and adult-learners pursuing graduate study on a
part-time
basis. Whether you are looking to achieve a degree that will
allow you to teach in community colleges, looking for a stepping-stone
MA to a top-shelf Ph.D. program, or just miss being at university, MALAS is
the program for you. We
are often asked here at MALAS headquarters, "what does a prospective
MALAS student look like?" or "where do they come from?" Our response: what don't they
look like and where don't they
come from. Unlike other M.A. and Ph.D. programs that expect a
specific
undergraduate emphasis (some will even make you do additional
undergraduate coursework before
starting your graduate curriculum), MALAS values your undergraduate
degrees and expects you to use our program to explore brave new
worlds, broad uncharted intellectual waters.
Whether you are a
cardiovascular surgeon who now wishes to ponder the mysteries of the
heart in Shakespeare or
García Márquez, a documentary
filmmaker now curious about sustainability and theenvironment,
a literature major wishing to
explore the
connections
between literature and dance or cinema or photography or painting etc,
or even, maybe,
a brilliant, curious soul trapped in a cubicle in corporate America
(your imagination somewhat stifled by the styrofoam-laced banality of
the world
around you and ready to leap into a groovy collaborative team inspired
by minds like Spivak, Hall, Harraway, McLuhan, Freud, Foucault, Sontag,
Said, Derrida, Irigaray and others), then our SDSU MALAS is
the program for you.
Our
M.A. (Magister
Artium,
as it was originally conceived) features a series of cutting-edge
seminars. These classes (always already in metamorphosis) compose
a core
interdisciplinary curriculum with
these areas of concentration:
A. Cultural Studies
B. Science and
Society/Environmental Studies
C. Globalization,
Technology, & Future Studies
D. Media Studies, Fine
Arts, & the Transformative Arts
Our
students select the rest of their courses from across the curriculum at
SDSU--present students take courses from the excellent graduate
programs in the College of Arts & Letters as well as from the
other
seven
colleges
on the SDSU campus. This Spring, our MALAS graduate students are
pursuing coursework in Women's
Studies,
Anthropology, Geography, Educational Technology, Art, Religious
Studies, Philosophy, and many other fields/disciplines/departments).
The MALAS
program
at
SDSU
is
a
member
of
the
Association of
Graduate Liberal Studies Programs. To learn more about
university requirements, consult the Graduate Bulletin;
and
to
learn
about
applying
to
the
program,
consult
the
SDSU
Graduate
Admissions
page. NOTE: officially, MALAS is known as the M.A. in Liberal Arts and Sciences
in
the SDSU Graduate Catalogue or Bulletin.
You can download a
.pdf of the most recent MALAS specifications from the official SDSU
Graduate Division Bulletin here
or
hit
the
.pdf page
facimile to your right.
If
you are on the fence about applying to our
unique graduate program, don't hesistate to call the program director
and graduate advisor, Professor Bill Nericcio, at 619.594.1524 or email him at bnericci@mail.sdsu.edu.
Comprehensive
Exam
Option
click the image below for the info-page
Who
Applies to MALAS?
As
was suggested above, who does
not? If you are a talented undergraduate or graduate student with an interest in the arts
and sciences, humanities, cultural studies, ethnic studies, film,
global politics and policies, world trade, the environment, social
justice, comparative literature, area studies (Women's Studies; Ethnic
Studies; American Studies, etc), sustainability, or social justice you will find a
dynamic, challenging home away home from with the Master of Arts in Liberal
Arts and Sciences at San Diego State University. MALAS students
come from all walks of life--documentary filmmakers, cloning
researchers, surgeons, elementary school teachers, business majors, and
philosophers alike have all joined MALAS in recent years. Whether you
are looking to spend a couple of years on the West Coast in preparation
for a doctoral degree program or if you are a retired or working
professional living in San Diego but yearning for the classic, unique
challenges of a university classroom, MALAS is there for you.
Admissions
Information
Fall 2013 admissions!!!
Before
you do ANYTHING, click the image opposite (the LAUNCH! button) and
follow the instructions there. Our SDSU MALAS Central Office will not
see any of your materials unless you
follow these
directionsto
the
letter--we emphasize this here as many cool students have
run aground in the past by not following SDSU Graduate Division
rather strict protocols.
satisfy the basic requirements
for the Master's Degree described in the Graduate
Bulletin;
possess an acceptable
baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution;
have earned a minimum grade point
average of 3.0 in the last 60 units of study;
have an acceptable Graduate
Record Examination (GRE) combined general test score (quantitative and
verbal sections).
Open University
Persons who are not matriculated as
students at SDSU may enroll for MALAS courses on a space-available
basis with approval of the
instructor. Please consult the Extended
Studies
Schedule.
GRE
You may take the GRE at the Test Office here at
SDSU--there is a hefty fee. GRE fee waivers are available. Consult the GRE Bulletin for more
information.
When taking the GRE, fill in the
SDSU institution code (R4682) so that your GRE scores will be sent
directly from your testing site to SDSU admissions.
If you have taken the GRE within the
last 5 years, you may request your scores be sent to SDSU using the
institution code. Please also send an unofficial copy of your score (if
available) along with the rest of your admission materials.
Waiving the GRE
The GRE may be waived for holders of
accredited advanced degrees. International students should contact the International Student
Center and the Graduate Bulletin
for additional university requirements and information. For more
information, vist the Graduate
Admissions website.
Submit your materials via snail mail so
that they REACH US before April 1!
Materials include:
1. Two
letters of
recommendation (one, at least, should be from a university professor
familiar with your research, writing, or creative work). As with all
applications to research university graduate programs, it is best that
the letters of recommendation come directly to us at MALAS from the
individuals writing the letter. Please ask your recommenders to
use official stationary when possible and to sign across the outside
seal of their envelopes.
2. A
"Statement of Purpose" essay (minimum
of 500 words) that
gives a sense of both your research interests and your strongest
talents--highly ranked statements usually include references to how the
MALAS program fits into your future.
3. A
two-page essay describing the best class/professor you had as an
undergraduate or graduate student.
Mail these materials directly to:
Dr. William A. Nericcio
Admissions/MALAS
program
c/o David
McHenry
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
San Diego
State University |
MC 4423
5500
Campanile Drive
San
Diego,
CA
92182-4423
{click this image for instantransport to our groovy grad student bio page}
We are always in the process of updating our current graduate student bio
page and soon we will add both a faculty and alumni
biography page; If
you can, please email
us:
a short biography (maximum of 300 words)
attach a photo of yourself with the MALAS logo
somewhere in the picture (if you can!)
in the email's subject line, indicate
"Student Bio"
Study Abroad
The MALAS program offers opportunities
to
earn credit towards the master's degree through several exchange
programs:
For
nominee guidelines to San Diego State University's international
student exchange and more general information about studying abroad,
please visit SDSU's International
Student
Center.
Specific Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in Liberal Arts and
Sciences
(Major Code: 49017) (SIMS Code: 114501)
During the course of your time doing cultural studies/interdisciplinary
work in the M.A.L.A.S. program, graduate students will complete a
graduate program of 30 units, basically 9 classes {27 units} + the MA
Thesis/Project {3 units}.
Of these 9 classes or 27 units of coursework, 5 courses or 15 units
must be 600- and 700-level courses. Note also that up to 15 units
of coursework can be taken at the 500-level, though it is best to pick
from the best of the 600-level graduate courses and 700-level graduate
seminars, before filling out the balance of your work with 500-level
classes. Do please note that 500-level classes are open to
undergraduates at SDSU {nota bene:
this
is
NOT a dig at SDSU
undergraduates!} .
A typical MALAS POS (plan of study) then includes:
1. MALAS601(3).
2. MALAS 600A, 600B, 600C, or 600D in any combination (9 units). Each
course may be repeated once with new content and, in excess of nine
units, can be used for elective credit.
3. MALAS 799A (3): Thesis or Project.
4. 15 units of electives selected with approval of
the MALAS director.
All programs of study must be
approved by the MALAS director in consultation with the Graduate
Liberal Arts and Sciences Committee.
GRADUATE COURSES
MALAS 600. Interdisciplinary Study in Liberal Arts and Sciences
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
MALAS seminars are divided into four general areas with content that
varies semester to semester. Each course may be repeated once with new
content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six
units for each of the following courses:
MALAS 600A, 600B, 600C, 600D
A. Cultural Studies
B. Science and Society, Environmental Studies
C. Globalization, Technology, Future Studies
D. Media Studies, Fine Arts, Transformative Arts
MALAS 601. Seminar in Interdisciplinary Thinking (3)
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Nature of interdisciplinary thinking. Ways of knowing and schools of
thought in multiple disciplines. Interdisciplinary methods to analyze
social issues. See Class Schedule for specific content.
MALAS 798. Special Study (3) Cr/NC/RP
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
Individual study on a given topic through interdisciplinary
perspectives.
MALAS 799A. Thesis or Project (3) Cr/NC/RP
Prerequisites: An officially appointed thesis committee and advancement
to candidacy.
Preparation of a project or thesis for Master of Arts degree in Liberal
Arts and Sciences.
MALAS 799B. Thesis or Project Extension (0) Cr/NC
Prerequisite: Prior registration in Thesis or Project 799A with an
assigned grade symbol of RP.
Registration required in any semester or term following assignment of
RP in MALAS 799A in which the student expects to use the facilities and
resources of the university; also student must be registered in the
course when the completed thesis or project is granted final approval.
M.A.L.A.S. The
Master
of Arts in Liberal Arts & Sciences c/o
David
McHenry, aka "McHank"
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
San Diego State University | MC 4423
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-4423 MALAS Program Director/Graduate Advisor
Thanks to Dr. Mary Kelly who
directed MALAS during
the Fall 2010 semester!
Mary
L. Kelly, Director, Fall 2010 Lecturer, Ph.D., Vanderbilt
University (1993) American religious diversity,
women and religion, feminist ethics and theology. Office: AL-672, Phone:
619-594-2723, Email: mkelly@mail.sdsu.edu
MALAS Co-Sponsors Cherrie Moraga/SDSU Lecture/Workshop!!!
It
brings MALAS tons of pleasure to share the wonderful news that Chicana
writer extraordinaire Cherríe Moraga has accepted our invitation
to present a lecture about "Decolonization, Gender, and Chicana
Studies" on February 18, 2010. (Her biography can be found below.) This
lecture will be part of SDSU Women's Studies' 40th year anniversary
year-long colloquia, titled "Feminist Crossroads: Bearing Witness and
Building Social Change." The Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies
is also celebrating its 40th anniversary and Adelaida del Castillo will
be involved by briefly presenting on the topic in the context of SDSU.
As part of Cherrie Moraga's time here in San Diego (2/19 to 2/20), she
will also be signing books, presenting a keynote and workshop for the
AChA (Association of Chicana Activists) high school conference, and
conducting a poetry or play reading in a
community venue.
Cherrie Moraga biography:
Cherrie Moraga is
playwright, poet, and essayist whose plays and publications have received national
recognition, including a TCG Theatre Artist Residency Grant in 1996, the NEA's
Theatre Playwrights' Fellowship in 1993, and two Fund for New American Plays
Awards. In 2007, she was awarded the United States Artist Rockefeller
Fellowship for Literature, and in 2008, a Yaddo Artist Residency Fellowship.
She is the co-editor of
This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, which won the
Before Columbus American Book Award in 1986. She is the author of the now
classic Loving in the War Years: Lo Que Nunca Pasó Por Sus Labios (1983/2003) and
The Last Generation (1993), published by South End Press of Cambridge,
MA. In 1997, she published a memoir on motherhood entitled Waiting in the
Wings (Firebrand Books) and is completing a memoir on the subject of Mexican
American cultural amnesia entitled Send Them Flying Home: A Geography of
Remembrance. This year Moraga also completed a new collection of writings- A
Xicana Codex of Changing Consciousness: A Decade of Discourse-to be published
by Duke University Press in 2010.
Moraga has also published
three volumes of drama through West End Press of Albuquerque, NM.
They include: Heroes and Saints and Other Plays (1994), Watsonville/Circle in the
Dirt (2002), and The Hungry Woman (2001). In 2010, WEP will publish a volume
of Moraga's children's plays, entitled Warriors of the Spirit. A San
Francisco Bay Area playwright, Moraga has premiered her work at Theatre Artaud, Theatre
Rhinoceros, the Eureka Theatre, and Brava Theater Center. Brava's
production of "Heroes and Saints" in 1992 received numerous awards for best original
script, including the Drama-logue and Critic Circles Awards and the Pen West
Award. Her plays have been presented throughout the Southwest, as well as in
Chicago, Seattle and New York. In 1995, "Heart of the Earth," Moraga's
adaptation of the Popol Vuh, the Maya creation myth, opened at the Public Theatre and
INTAR Theatre in New York City. Currently, Moraga is completing a new play,
"Mathematics of Love" to premiere at City of Angels Theater in the 2010-11
season. Her most recent performance work, "La Semilla Caminante" developed in
collaboration with Alleluia Panis and Celia Herrera Rodriguez, is scheduled to
open in a workshop production with Campo Santo Theater of San Francisco
in March 2010.
For over ten years, she
has served as an Artist in Residence in the Department of Drama at Stanford
University and currently also shares a joint appointment with Comparative Studies
in Race & Ethnicity. She teaches Creative Writing, Chicano/Latino literature,
Xicana-Indigenous Performance, Indigenous Identity in Diaspora in the Arts
and Playwriting. She is proud to be a founding member of La Red Xicana
Indígena, a network of Xicanas organizing in the area of social change through
international exchange, indigenous political education, spiritual practice, and grass roots
organizing.
(These courses are not offered ALL semesters, but they do give you an
idea of the cool researchers and coursework you can do if you join our
program).
FALL 2012 MALAS SCHEDULE NOW LIVE Fall 2012 | EXTERNAL,
PRE-APPROVED MALAS CLASSES & SEMINARS (Click the friendly red robot to be
teleported to our delightful page of
tasty grad classes)
MALAS 600 D
Monday nights from 7 to 9:40pm HIP HOP
AESTHETICS: MUSIC, CULTURES, SPIRIT, MIND ...with
the
one
and
only ROY
WHITAKER
running
the
show...
Hip-Hop
is one of the most important and misunderstood cultural expressions of
the past 40 years. For instance, this movement has been widely
appropriated by urban and suburban youth; however, it’s been
viewed as a pseudo-art form with little relevance for academic
reflection. This course examines this core problem and many other
criticisms leveled against Hip-Hop – e.g. use of the N-word,
homophobia, misogyny, materialism, and hedonism. To be sure, Hip-Hop is
a panoply of sorted issues that concerns critical thinkers in
post-modernity like democracy, empire, capitalism, feminism, hegemony,
and internationalism. Topics covered in this class will include:
commercialization of Hip-Hop; Hip-Hop movies; Hip-Hop and women; rap,
politics, and resistance; Hip-Hop Chicano/a; global dimensions of
Hip-Hop; Hip-Hop as mediated narrative; Hip-Hop and graffiti; just to
name a few.The course’s title –
“Hip-Hop Aesthetics” – indicates the larger concern
that frames the class discourse: the nature of artistic expression in
an inhumane world. “Hip-Hop Aesthetics” pushes the boundary
of what is considered “great works” and what is not.
Furthermore, since Hip-Hop is a global phenomenon, this class utilizes
and encourages a multidisciplinary approach to this subject matter
– e.g. sociology, politics, economics, communications theory,
American studies, musicology, cultural studies, and film studies.
Spring
2010 MALAS-approved courses (in other departments)
ENGL 563.2 Drugs,
Sex,
Rock
&
Roll
with MALAS Director, Bill Nericcio, in Hepner
Hall 210, aka 'the HOUSE of Love' from 9:30am to 10:45 Tuesdays and
Thursdays
Do
please consider making English 563: Drugs, Sex, & Rock'nRoll:
Seductive Hallucinations of Film, Photography, Art, Music, and
Literature part of your Spring repertoire each Tuesday and Thursday
from 9:30am to 10:45am. Though designed for lit and film junkys, the
class is open to all majors! In particular, cinema, art, theatre,
music, and television addicts are strongly encouraged to add this
vice-focused class to your menu of dynamic courses from SDSU! Texts
will include CONFESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH OPIUM-EATER by Thomas De
Quincey, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM by Darren Aronofsky, A BIGGER BANG by The
Rolling Stones, JUNKY by William Burroughs, art by Tara McPherson
(work, opposite), Banksy, Magritte, & Remedios Varo. List of works
tentative--more to come.
History 680 Genocide in
the Twentieth Century
with Professor Lawrence Baron
Mondays 1800 2040 AL 566
The
perpetration of genocide by states intent on eradicating ethnic,
indigenous, racial, religious, or socio-economic groups that
purportedly pose a threat to their colonial control, national security,
political unity, or racial homogeneity has increased in both efficiency
and frequency during the course of the 20th Century. This seminar
will examine a variety of disciplinary explanatory models for why
genocide occurs and test their validity by applying them to genocides
against indigenous peoples, the Armenian genocide, the
Holodomor famines in the Ukraine, the ìRape of Nanking,î
Nazi euthanasia, the Jewish Holocaust, the Gypsy Porajmos, the
Cambodian genocide, the Mayan genocide in Guatemala, ethnic
cleansing in Bosnia, the Rwandan genocide, and the current crisis in
Darfur. It also traces the development of modern international
law to punish genocide, treaties to prevent it, and reconciliation
commissions to provide political closure to post-genocidal
societies.
ENGL 528
Investigating
Shel Silverstein
with Professor Joseph Thomas
New
seminar investigating the life & work of Shel Silverstein offered
this Spring, 2010: ENGL 528. Perfect for MALAS students, this course
engages Silverstein's diverse artistic output: his short plays, screen
writing, comic strips, cartoons, picture books, poetry, music, fiction,
travel writing (for Playboy magazine, no less), & of course, his
lifetime project of living the life of the unrepentant, iconoclastic
wag, Shel Silverstein. The professor, SDSU English professor
Joseph
Thomas, author of the award-winning book Poetry's Playground: The
Culture of Contemporary American Children's Poetry, is currently
working on a book-length study of Silverstein, tentatively titled The
Devil's Favorite Pet: Shel Silverstein, American Iconoclast. Join him
in investgating one of the U.S's most inventive & popular artistic
& literary figures.
GEOG 575 GEOGRAPHY
OF
RECREATIONAL
LAND
USE
with
Professor Diana Gauss Richardson
Geography
of Recreational Land Use examines the importance of location and
environment in the use, management, and quality of recreation
areas. The significance of recreation in the human psyche is
reviewed through a historical context and carried through to current
trends. Socioeconomic variations among regions and populations
are considered in the analysis of established and proposed recreational
land uses. Land use policies and political influences are
included in the examination of the establishment of areas set aside or
used for recreation. Field trips are required, and consist of
local (San Diego) trips to city/county/regional, state and federal
recreational areas, as well as a 4-day trip to Yosemite National Park.
Intoxicatingly
disturbing and visionary novels! Mesmerizingly evocative cinema!
That's what's on the menu in this peculiar seminar where, among other
things, we will explore the notion of a perfect society: a Utopia. Good
old Webster's reassures us with its notion of the term: "Utopia n.
[NL., fr. Gr. utopia not + a place.] 1. An imaginary island,
represented by Sir Thomas More, in Utopia, enjoying the greatest
perfection in politics, laws, and the like; hence, any place or state
of ideal perfection." But literary history and world cinema is awash in
what may be thought of as Utopia's "other"--books and films, that is,
bearing the distinct aroma of Utopia's nemesis: Dystopia. From January
to May 2010, we will hang out in both Utopias and Dystopias.
The
tentative list of texts include Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Daniel
Clowes's Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron, George Orwell's 1984, Terry
Gilliam's Brazil, Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, Phillip K.
Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and Orson Welles's
Touch of Evil--we will also delve into my own deathless prose tome
Tex[t]-Mex in the last part of the semester as we turn to the verge,
the US/MEXICO, that MOST dystopic of geocultural enigmas, rich in
tradition, conflict, etc. The class is open to all MALAS and English/
Comparative Literature students, but all other interested parties from
history, philosophy, political science and the like are welcome to tag
along as well.
RS581
Sex and the Sacred with Dr. Mary Kelly
Depts. of Religious Studies and Women’s Studies
Spring Semester 2010 Tuesday 4-6:40 AH3130
A
course exploring how religions and sexualities are interrelated
Students from any department or program welcome! Ever wonder: Why there
are so many religious rules regarding sex? Does God have a sex?
Does God have a gender? Is there sex in heaven? Is heterosexual
monogamy the norm in all religions? How and why do people alter their
bodies for religious purposes? Why are monks and nuns celibate? Why are
so many religions led by men? How do religions regard same-sex
sexuality? How are transgendered people treated in various
religions and cultures?
ENGL 700:
Seminar: Virginia Woolf
with Professor Bonnie Kime Scott on Mondays 3:30-6:10, CSQ 208
Contact: bkscott@mail.sdsu.edu
This
course approaches the major novels and essays of Virginia Woolf from
selected literary and cultural angles. These include
Woolf’s association with modernist authors and their experimental
work, her contributions to the emergence of feminist writing and
theory, her reflections on the politics of imperialism and war, her
expressions of sexuality, and ways that she performs today as a
cultural icon and a staple of the literary canon. We will
accompany the primary works with art, media, and scholarship
allowing students to develop various analytical approaches.
Students will have a substantial role in planning these readings and
the accompanying discussion. Texts include the novels The Voyage
Out, Jacob’s Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, The Waves,
and Between the Acts, as well as selected essays and her germinal study
of women writers, A Room of One’s Own.
Chicana/o Studies 596.
The U.S.-Mexican Border Region: Development,
Environment, & Sustainability
4 to 6:40 on Mondays with Paul Ganster, Ph.D. at the helm!
This
course examines the historical development of the U.S.-Mexican border
region and the interaction of human and natural systems. It discusses
the environmental effects of this economic development and analyzes the
long term sustainability of the region.
Fall 2011 MALAS Seminars! Summer is ending and the bad news is hitting the
streets--sadly, it's freaking out CSU graduate students from Carlsbad
to Rosarito! Our delicious
assortment of
interdisciplinary, cultural studies offerings
for Fall 2011 are almost out of seats for prospective LOVERS of the
sciences and the liberal arts! Holy Foucault, Batman! Sweet mother of
god, Wonder Woman! Be sure toRegisternow!
The
statements found on
this page/site are for informational purposes only. While every effort
is made to ensure that this information is up-to-date and accurate,
official information can be found in the university publications. That
said, most of the info here is pretty reliable; however, we do
sometimes make mistakes as we are all too human. Find a problem?
Drop us a line and we will fix it right away.
Stop reading this boilerplate legal disclaimer already and take
one of
our classes.
MALAS. is the Master of
Arts in Liberal Arts & Sciences, an
interdiscpilinary/cultural
studies graduate program in the College
of Arts
and Letters @ San Diego State University | homebase: Adams Humanities, room
4231 | phone: (619) 594.4826. | fax: (619) 594.1325 | mail: 5500
Campanile Drive, mailcode: 4423, San Diego, CA 92182-4423 |
Director: William
A.
Nericcio | Coordinator: David
"McHank"
McHenry Cultural Studies
Interdisciplinary Studies Frankfurt School Walter Benjamin American
Studies Feminist Theory Queer Theory Post-colonial Studies Semiotics
the Avant Garde
Yale
Strom, a noted musician and pedagogue recently touted in Time Magazine, brings RELIGION AND
MUSIC to MALAS this Spring 2011--click the image, opposite, to hear the
good tunes...
The Master
of
Arts
in
Liberal
Arts and Sciences (MALAS) is an ever-evolving, interdisciplinary, cultural studies graduate program based in the College
of Arts and Letters at San Diego State University.
Our dynamic Master of Arts degree provides an extraordinary
intellectual
experience
in the sensational city of San Diego, California--a buzzing West Coast
international border community known for its various bio-medical enclaves (The Salk Institute, Scripps, etc.) and a burgeoning borderland mecca
for
cutting-edge transborder
experimental arts, next-generation sustainability research, and Pacific Rim-based multidisciplinary studies. (And yes, also known for tourism and our rad surf community). MALAS offers what
we
like to call "an M.A. in Curiosity." 
Our
graduate students master
diverse and innovative intellectual/artistic/scientific goals through
individually-tailored
course-clusters in one of the most flexible graduate
Liberal Arts programs on the planet. MALAS
is the MA program for all kinds of
thinkers--while it caters to the intellectual desires of
ambitious, new
BA and BS recipients seeking
full-time graduate study, it also serves the
needs
of
Southern
California professionals and adult-learners pursuing graduate study on a
part-time
basis. 
Whether you are looking to achieve a degree that will
allow you to teach in community colleges, looking for a stepping-stone
MA to a top-shelf Ph.D. program, or just miss being at university, MALAS is
the program for you. We
are often asked here at MALAS headquarters, "what does a prospective
MALAS student look like?" or "where do they come from?" Our response: what don't they
look like and where don't they
come from. Unlike other M.A. and Ph.D. programs that expect a
specific
undergraduate emphasis (some will even make you do additional
undergraduate coursework before
starting your graduate curriculum), MALAS values your undergraduate
degrees and expects you to use our program to explore brave new
worlds, broad uncharted intellectual waters. 
Whether you are a
cardiovascular surgeon who now wishes to ponder the mysteries of the
heart in Shakespeare or
García Márquez, a documentary
filmmaker now curious about sustainability and theenvironment,
a literature major wishing to
explore the
connections
between literature and dance or cinema or photography or painting etc,
or even, maybe,
a brilliant, curious soul trapped in a cubicle in corporate America
(your imagination somewhat stifled by the styrofoam-laced banality of
the world
around you and ready to leap into a groovy collaborative team inspired
by minds like Spivak, Hall, Harraway, McLuhan, Freud, Foucault, Sontag,
Said, Derrida, Irigaray and others), then our SDSU MALAS is
the program for you.
Our
M.A. (Magister
Artium,
as it was originally conceived) features a series of cutting-edge
seminars. These classes (always already in metamorphosis) compose
a core
interdisciplinary curriculum with
these areas of concentration: 
The MALAS
program
at
SDSU
is
a
member
of
the
Association of
Graduate Liberal Studies Programs. To learn more about
university requirements, consult the Graduate Bulletin;
and
to
learn
about
applying
to
the
program,
consult
the
SDSU
Graduate
Admissions
page. NOTE: officially, MALAS is known as the M.A. in Liberal Arts and Sciences
in
the SDSU Graduate Catalogue or Bulletin.
You can download a
.pdf of the most recent MALAS specifications from the official SDSU
Graduate Division Bulletin here
or
hit
the
.pdf page
facimile to your right. 
To view pdf files you
may need to download Adobe
Reader.
OTHER
LINKS
Mail these materials directly to:
We are always in the process of updating our 
Mailing Address:
MALAS Program Coordinator
Hip-Hop
is one of the most important and misunderstood cultural expressions of
the past 40 years. For instance, this movement has been widely
appropriated by urban and suburban youth; however, it’s been
viewed as a pseudo-art form with little relevance for academic
reflection. This course examines this core problem and many other
criticisms leveled against Hip-Hop – e.g. use of the N-word,
homophobia, misogyny, materialism, and hedonism. To be sure, Hip-Hop is
a panoply of sorted issues that concerns critical thinkers in
post-modernity like democracy, empire, capitalism, feminism, hegemony,
and internationalism. Topics covered in this class will include:
commercialization of Hip-Hop; Hip-Hop movies; Hip-Hop and women; rap,
politics, and resistance; Hip-Hop Chicano/a; global dimensions of
Hip-Hop; Hip-Hop as mediated narrative; Hip-Hop and graffiti; just to
name a few.The course’s title –
“Hip-Hop Aesthetics” – indicates the larger concern
that frames the class discourse: the nature of artistic expression in
an inhumane world. “Hip-Hop Aesthetics” pushes the boundary
of what is considered “great works” and what is not.
Furthermore, since Hip-Hop is a global phenomenon, this class utilizes
and encourages a multidisciplinary approach to this subject matter
– e.g. sociology, politics, economics, communications theory,
American studies, musicology, cultural studies, and film studies.
Geography
of Recreational Land Use examines the importance of location and
environment in the use, management, and quality of recreation
areas. The significance of recreation in the human psyche is
reviewed through a historical context and carried through to current
trends. Socioeconomic variations among regions and populations
are considered in the analysis of established and proposed recreational
land uses. Land use policies and political influences are
included in the examination of the establishment of areas set aside or
used for recreation. Field trips are required, and consist of
local (San Diego) trips to city/county/regional, state and federal
recreational areas, as well as a 4-day trip to Yosemite National Park.
Intoxicatingly
disturbing and visionary novels! Mesmerizingly evocative cinema!
That's what's on the menu in this peculiar seminar where, among other
things, we will explore the notion of a perfect society: a Utopia. Good
old Webster's reassures us with its notion of the term: "Utopia n.
[NL., fr. Gr. utopia not + a place.] 1. An imaginary island,
represented by Sir Thomas More, in Utopia, enjoying the greatest
perfection in politics, laws, and the like; hence, any place or state
of ideal perfection." But literary history and world cinema is awash in
what may be thought of as Utopia's "other"--books and films, that is,
bearing the distinct aroma of Utopia's nemesis: Dystopia. From January
to May 2010, we will hang out in both Utopias and Dystopias. 
ENGL 700: 
