Starting in the fall of 2018, Milligan College will be offering a Master of Arts degree (M.A.) in Humanities.
This 30-hour program will be directed by Heather Hoover, professor of humanities and English. Along with being the director, Hoover will also be teaching an environmental studies class come next fall.
The program will have three main tracks, or concentrations, that students can choose from. One such track is cultural studies in which students will come to understand various cultures and see how cultures are created and interact with other cultures in other parts of the world.
Michael Blouin, assistant professor of English and humanities, and Todd Edmondson, assistant professor of composition and humanities, will also be teaching classes for the M.A. in humanities. Blouin will teach a cultural studies class and Edmondson will teach a methodologies course on interdisciplinary studies.
Another track students can choose is faith, arts and community. Hoover said this track will be a “way of looking at all of the things that we typically study — literature, art, history, philosophy — and particularly how those things are engaged by the church and faith communities.”
The last track will be a global studies concentration where students will examine how different parts of the world interact and shape us.
Hoover is already hearing interest from people, and her hope is that the program grows to where more professors will be called on to teach classes. She also encourages students to come talk to her if they want to know more about it so that they can find the best fit.