Liberal Studies

Stemming from the Black Studies programs and departments formed in the late 1960s, Africana Studies is the study of cultures, politics, and histories of peoples of African origin in both Africa and in the African diaspora. 

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American Studies is an inherently interdisciplinary approach to the history and cultures of the United States that draws on diverse perspectives and questions academic and national boundaries.

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Students in the MALS concentration in Modernity consider the differences and similarities between modernity and modernism–and post-modernism as well—as they pursue a rich variety of graduate courses in literature, history, art history, film studies, sociology and other disciplines.

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 The aim of the MALS concentration in the Archaeology of the Classical, Late Antique, and Islamic Worlds is to explore the material culture of these worlds through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing upon the fields of archaeology, history, art history, classics, anthropology and middle eastern studies.

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Childhood and Youth Studies engages the issues, concepts and debates that illuminate the lived experience of children and the wider social, economic, cultural and political factors that condition that lived experience, as well as childhood itself as a social and historical construct.

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Fashion is an economic force, a culture industry and a powerful way to convey identity, politics, status, and personality. This is a groundbreaking area of specialization that offers the chance to study the phenomenon of fashion from a variety of standpoints and in a unique interdisciplinary framework.

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The MALS concentration in Film Studies is devoted to intensive analysis of the development and presence of international and national cinema as a medium and art form, from the silent era to the contemporary state of digital moviemaking.

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This concentration is a vital component of re-envisioning-both theoretically and methodologically-the teaching and the studying of the nation-state as an all-powerful incubator of violence in the context of modern Europe. The concentration aims to decenter Europe, deliberately incorporating a transnational and global approach to better understand phenomena of mass violence in the modern era.

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The Global Early Modern Studies concentration builds on existing strengths of the doctoral certificate program in Renaissance Studies, and the MALS concentration in Western Intellectual Tradition. It is also a vital component of re-envisioning our teaching of the fifteenth through eighteenth centuries.

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The concentration in Individualized Studies empowers students who identify a new area of study for which a MALS concentration does not currently exist to work closely with a MALS faculty member to create an individualized concentration of study within the program.

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The aim of the International Studies MALS concentration is to address critical world issues through a range of critical approaches and debates that best prepare students to pursue further studies relating to their individual interests

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In the concentration in Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies, students will explore the history, politics and culture of the diverse social groups linked to the greater legacy of Latin American societies in the United States. 

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The Law and Society concentration within the MALS program introduces students to the methodologies, issues, and debates that today form the center of the law and society movement. 

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Translation studies, and the practice of literary translation, in particular, have over the past couple of decades moved to the center of humanistic inquiry. This concentration explores these fields and encourages students to engage with the considerable cultural resources New York has to offer as a world-class hub for publishing, television, and film, the fine arts, and other cultural industries.

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This concentration is for students wishing to pursue an interest in the history of New York City and its cultures. Depending on their interests and expertise, students will consider New York City’s past, its populations, and its productions from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.

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The MALS concentration in Public Scholarship draws on the many related centers and initiatives housed at the Graduate Center as well as public-facing academic work that is produced through active collaboration with institutions, individuals, and groups outside the Graduate Center.

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The MALS concentration in Social and Environmental Justice Studies frames these issues ecologically to illuminate pathways and processes for justice.  The goal is to address both the environmental and the social in tandem, as they exist in the world.

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The Urban Education MALS concentration is designed to immerse students in a range of topics and approaches to understanding urban education and equip them, ultimately, to identify and pursue their own interests, scholarly or practical, in urban education.

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The MALS concentration in Western Intellectual Traditions explores bedrock historical, cultural and literary expressions that contribute to shaping a mindset known as “western.” In a world increasingly interested in global ties and world histories, the concentration in classical through enlightenment contributions reinserts the western intellectual tradition, a tradition sometimes exalted, sometimes attacked, sometimes adapted to other societies.

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This concentration features courses on feminist texts and theories, and allows students explore disciplines such as literature, history, psychology, and sociology, as well as in the various interdisciplinary programs for doctoral students.

Concentration details and requirements