From Our Director
Welcome to Vanderbilt’s Master of Liberal Arts and Science Program! We are a longstanding, premier, part-time master’s degree program for working professionals and lifelong learners. We offer evening classes on the Vanderbilt campus in the fall, spring, and summer terms. Our students are enthusiastic, highly engaged individuals of diverse backgrounds, professions, and ages, who thrive in the academic and collaborative community that MLAS offers.
Our program’s focus is inherently interdisciplinary, with broad-ranging courses on rotating topics taught by Vanderbilt’s esteemed, dedicated liberal arts and sciences faculty from the College of Arts and Science, and occasionally from the Blair School of Music. Students may elect to pursue an area concentration in select fields, including the fine and creative arts, history, literature and creative writing, and social science. The degree concludes with a capstone project of the student’s own design that builds upon previously completed coursework and suits the student’s own interests, whether this is a documentary film, a screenplay, a novel, a photographic essay, or other similar academic or creative endeavor.
Whether your goal is career advancement or personal enrichment (or both!), we welcome you to the MLAS program, where you will find an especially enthusiastic group of adult learners who are eager to learn, broaden their horizons, and support one another.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Sheri F. Shaneyfelt, Ph.D.
Director of the Master of Liberal Arts and Science program
Associate Professor of the Practice of History of Art and Architecture
Mission
MLAS is Nashville’s premiere graduate liberal studies program, providing challenging and engaging courses in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The MLAS program provides stimulating graduate-level courses to the community and encourages informed thought, open-mindedness, and active engagement. The program is committed to a diverse, civil, collegial, small-class environment that educates the whole person. The Vanderbilt faculty is active in teaching, service, and research and is deeply committed to the development of the student, enhancing a natural curiosity through critical thinking, deep reading, and effective communication.
History
The MLAS degree program was founded in 1992 by Russell McIntire, associate dean of the College of Arts and Science. During Dean McIntire's time as director, the program grew in the number of courses offered each semester and enrolled students, with more than 70 graduates.
In 2006, Martin Rapisarda, associate dean for post-baccalaureate programs, started directing the program. Under Dean Rapisarda's leadership, the MLAS program evolved into the enhanced program it is today. After Dean Rapisarda's retirement in 2016, the program was directed by College of Arts and Science deans Alan Itkin, Andrea Hearn, and Carrie Russell. It is currently directed by Sheri Shaneyfelt.
Recruiting some of Vanderbilt's most distinguished professors, the MLAS program has become one of the most desirable master’s programs for adult learners in Middle Tennessee, resulting in hundreds of graduates having marched across the commencement stage over the past 30 years.