MAPSS Program Requirements
Students in the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences are expected to complete nine graduate-level courses, with a minimum grade average of B, and a Master's paper that must be approved by both a faculty sponsor and a MAPSS preceptor.
Coursework
The nine courses must include the core course and meet the methods requirement, as described below. The core course, "Perspectives in Social Science Analysis", provides a critical understanding of the major theoretical approaches used by professional social scientists. It supplies all MAPSS students with a common technical vocabulary and evens out their foundational preparations across the various disciplines. Because "Perspectives" is offered only in the Autumn Quarter, students may not begin the MAPSS program in any other quarter.
Students must also fulfill a social sciences methods requirement. MAPSS offers courses in historical and ethnographic methods. Survey research methods courses are sponsored by the Division of Social Sciences. Dozens of other methods courses -- from statistics and policy methods to interview and case study methods -- are available to fulfill the requirement in any given year. Students may also fulfill the requirement by demonstrating prior methods course work.
Students select courses with the guidance and approval of a MAPSS preceptor and the MAPSS director. The full-time graduate student registers for three courses each quarter, and completes the nine-course requirement in three quarters.
The Master's Paper
Students write the paper under the supervision of a regular faculty member in the University and a preceptor, both of whom provide a written evaluation and a letter grade upon its completion. The Master's paper may be based upon: empirical research testing a social science hypothesis or deploying a specified social science perspective; a theoretical critique of existing social science literature on a selected topic; systematic survey or evaluation research; or any other topic acceptable to the faculty sponsor, the preceptor, and the program director. During the winter quarter, preceptors hold regular thesis proposal writing workshops. Any faculty member from any school, division, or department of the University may serve as the thesis paper sponsor. In any two academic years, as many as 240 individual faculty members supervise MAPSS papers.
"Entering MAPSS was the best career decision I've ever made. The core course teaches disciplined, critical reasoning and the interdisciplinary nature of the program enabled me to identify meaningful new career options, while providing valuable knowledge and a highly regarded degree with which to change course. By the end of the program I had gained the skills and confidence to transition into a job in political consulting that requires working independently in a fast-paced environment, while thinking critically and creatively.
