MAPSS Pathways

The Department of Anthropology is one of the leading centers of socio-cultural, linguistic, and archaeological research in the United States. Faculty and students pursue knowledge in areas such as archaeology, linguistic anthropology, human rights, indigenous groups, globalization, the politics of race, gender, sexuality, mass media, visual culture, and the study of science and technology. In research seminars, workshops, conferences, and weekly colloquia, MAPSS students interact with senior scholars and anthropology doctoral students in a collaborative and supportive environment. MAPSS students also work with anthropologists and archaeologists in the Divinity School, the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, and the Harris School of Public Policy.

An anthropology pathway does not have additional course or application requirements. An anthropology pathway is not STEM OPT eligible.

If you’d like to see an example curriculum of a student who pursued an anthropology pathway, please check out our Example Curricula.

The Department of History is an intellectually diverse faculty whose interests span continents and historical eras. The department does not have a single methodological or thematic focus, as the faculty’s research and teaching interests vary widely, and include the study of politics, economics, society, ideas, environment, and culture. 

MAPSS students at UChicago are encouraged to integrate fully into the life of the History Department, by enrolling in courses alongside the department's PhD students, participating in student-led workshops, and attending the countless talks, seminars, and conferences hosted by the History Department throughout the year. History graduate courses are generally small and offer the opportunity for substantive conversation and debate, including discussion of the methodological choices researchers make as historians.

MAPSS students also work with UChicago historians in the Divinity School and the Division of the Arts & Humanities.

A history pathway does not have any additional course or application requirements. A history pathway is not STEM OPT eligible.

If you’d like to see an example curriculum of a student who pursued a history pathway and added the Education and Society Certificate, please check out our Example Curricula.

MAPSS students interested in political economy—the study of the relationship between political institutions, economic systems, and public policy—take courses, work with faculty, and become involved in departments, programs, and institutes at the University such as the PhD Program in Political Economy, the Department of Political Science, the Harris School of Public Policy, and the Institute of Politics. However, MAPSS students may take graduate courses in the Department of Economics only with special permission.

A political economy pathway does not have any additional course or application requirements. However, students interested in taking courses offered by the PhD Program in Political Economy should be aware of the highly quantitative nature of their seminars, which typically require previous coursework in calculus. It is recommended that those interested in courses offered by the PhD Program in Political Economy provide GRE scores with a quantitative score of 165 or better. 

A political economy pathway is not STEM OPT eligible.

If you’d like to see an example curriculum of a student who pursued a political economy pathway, please check out our Example Curricula.

Since its founding, the Department of Political Science has been a pioneer in the development of social scientific understandings of government and politics. And throughout this history, faculty, and students have maintained an unabashed intellectualism, disregard for disciplinary and sub-disciplinary boundaries, a commitment to diversity of approach and method, and a pure appreciation of scholarship. The department has made fundamental contributions in all major areas of political science, and its members pride themselves on innovative work that overcomes traditional subfields within political science and meaningfully engages disciplines all throughout the social sciences and humanities.

MAPSS students also work with political scientists in the Harris School of Public Policy as well as other schools, institutes, and programs on campus.

Political Science areas within MAPSS include american Politics, comparative politics, and political theory. We recommend that individuals interested in international relations apply to UChicago’s Committee on International Relations, a one-year MA program.

A political science pathway does not have any additional course or application requirements. A political science pathway is not STEM OPT eligible.

If you’d like to see an example curriculum of a student who pursued a political science pathway, please check out our Example Curricula.

For over a century, the Department of Psychology has been a leading center of scholarship, research and teaching in psychology and related fields. True to the Division’s interdisciplinary nature, its faculty members reflect the contemporary state of the field by serving in more than one of the department’s program areas in cognition, developmental psychology, integrative neuroscience, and social psychology. Additionally, the department maintains close connections with other areas of the university: faculty and students participate in courses, colloquia, workshops, and joint research ventures with scholars in related departments including anthropology, biology, computer science, education, linguistics, and philosophy, and in the University’s professional schools of business, public policy, law, medicine, and social service administration.

MAPSS-Psychology students interested in completing a thesis instead of a capstone may pursue a lab placement, though lab placements are not guaranteed. Gaining lab experience is strongly recommended for students planning to apply to PhD programs. MAPSS-Psychology students will have the opportunity to apply for a placement the summer before matriculation. Alternatively, students may secure a lab placement independently. Only students with lab placements are eligible to work on a thesis supervised by a faculty member in the Department of Psychology. Students without a lab placement can complete a thesis but must secure a primary reader from outside the Department of Psychology. MAPSS-Psychology students without lab placements complete a capstone. Review the difference between a thesis and a capstone on MAPSS’s “General Curriculum” page.

Learn more about MAPSS-Psychology.

The MAPSS-Psychology pathway is STEM OPT eligible and therefore has specific application requirements. GRE scores are recommended for students applying to pursue this pathway. MAPSS-Psychology international students applying for STEM OPT are advised to complete a minimum of four (4) graduate courses listed or cross-listed with the Department of Psychology and complete courses with descriptions matching the requirements of the relevant CIP code. Capstone students are advised to take a minimum of two (2) psychology research methods courses relevant to their interests. Please review the STEM OPT Extension page for additional details on what STEM OPT eligible means.

If you’d like to see an example curriculum of a student who pursued MAPSS-Psychology in addition to the Computational Social Science Certificate, please check out our Example Curricula.

The Quantitative Methods and Social Analysis (QMSA) pathway prepares a new generation of scholars to innovate methodologically and to use the theory of statistical inference to tackle challenging problems in a wide range of research such as poverty, crime, health disparity, public opinions, political participation, human development, cognition and emotions, genes and environment, and knowledge diffusion. The concentration is led by the Committee on Quantitative Methods in Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, a UChicago-wide interdisciplinary group of distinguished scholars who share an intellectual focus on developing innovative methods and incorporating new technology for advancing theory-driven and data informed rigorous research on populations, societies, and behavior. The members include faculty from departments across the university. 

MAPSS-QMSA has specific course, research, and application requirements. Additionally, because of the quantitative focus of this pathway, applicants are expected to enroll with significant quantitative knowledge including, but not limited to, linear algebra. For details on all additional course, research, and application requirements, please review the MAPSS-QMSA page. Review the difference between a thesis and a capstone on MAPSS’s “General Curriculum” page.

Learn more about MAPSS-QMSA.

The MAPSS-QMSA pathway is STEM OPT eligible. Please review the STEM OPT Extension page for details on what this means.

If you’d like to see an example curriculum of a student who pursued the QMSA pathway, please check out our Example Curricula.

Fields shaped by UChicago’s Department of Sociology include urban studies, global studies, race, education, economic sociology, organization, demography, ethnography, survey research, and computational sociology. Faculty and students in the Department today – diverse in their interests, methodologies, theories, and politics – are not only heirs of the earlier Chicago Schools of Sociology, but a vibrant community actively creating the new approaches in the UChicago tradition. Department faculty and students are united in their intensity of intellectual commitment, in their embrace of rigorous inquiry with mutual intellectual respect, and in their goal to deploy sociological frameworks and understanding across a wide array of social phenomena.

MAPSS students also work with sociologists in the Harris School of Public Policy, the Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, and the Committee on Education.

A sociology pathway does not have any additional course or application requirements. A sociology pathway is not STEM OPT eligible.

If you’d like to see an example curriculum of a student who pursued a sociology pathway, please check out our Example Curricula.

Many MAPSS students have intellectual interests that don’t neatly fit into disciplinary boxes. These students choose to take courses in departments across the Division and the wider University, but they typically find a scholarly home in one or more of the many interdisciplinary departments, centers, and committees at UChicago. Examples include the Department of Comparative Human Development, the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity (RDI), the Committee on the Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science, the Committee on Education, the Committee on Environment, Geography, and Urbanization (CEGU), the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, and the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought.

Several of these departments, centers, and committees offer MAPSS students the opportunity to complete a graduate certificate in a specific interdisciplinary area of study, which appears on their transcript upon completion of the program. Please also review our “Optional Graduate Certificates” page.

MAPSS Instructional Professors help each student identify the specific interdisciplinary path that makes the most sense for their interests and goals. Students who pursue an other / interdisciplinary pathway can choose to complete a thesis or a capstone. Review the difference between a thesis and a capstone on MAPSS’s “General Curriculum” page.

An other / interdisciplinary pathway does not have any additional course or application requirements. This pathway is not STEM OPT eligible.

If you’d like to see an example curriculum of a student who pursued an other / interdisciplinary pathway in addition to the Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity Certificate, please check out our Example Curricula.