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Master of Liberal Arts and Science

Master of Liberal Arts and Science
  2. Course Information
  3. Upcoming Roster

Upcoming Roster

Fall 2026

The MLAS Fall 2026 term will run from August 31 through December 10.

MLAS 6400: Seminar in Literature and Creative Writing: French Literary Masterpieces
Prof. Robert Barsky , Department of French and Italian and the Vanderbilt Law School
Thursday evenings, 6:00-8:30 pm 
Course Description: In this course we'll survey great French literary texts from the Middle Ages right up to the present day, translated into English. Along the way, we'll explore a variety of fascinating literary themes, and meet all kinds of amazing authors and characters:
  • Chivalrous knights engaged in Courtly Love (e.g., Lancelot)
  • Smitten characters in the throws of Passion (e.g. Madame Bovary)
  • Magical beings using supernatural powers (e.g. Gargantua)
  • Monsters (e.g. Beauty and the Beast)
  • Enlightenment-driven Revolutionaries (e.g. Marquis de Sade)
  • Extraordinary women (e.g. Nana)
  • Absurd worlds (Godot) and
  • Modern writers akin to mad scientists (Rimbaud).

This is a survey, similar to a buffet that aims to introduce students to delicious morsels in preparation for future feasts (!). Many of the texts have been turned into films that can serve to supplement or stand-in for the excerpts we'll be exploring.
(Literature and Creative Writing, Fine and Creative Arts)

 
MLAS 6600: Seminar in Social Science: Sex & Gender in Everyday Life
Prof. Stacy Simplican , Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies
Monday evenings, 6:00-8:30 pm 
Course Description: Sex & Gender in Everyday Life challenges us to see the world differently. We will discover how gender shapes everything from our computer screens to global supply chains—through the lens of transformative feminist thinkers. We’ll consider hidden patterns in family structures, workplaces, legal systems, medicine, and prisons. Why do certain jobs pay less? How do laws regulate bodies? What makes some spaces feel "natural" and others restrictive? Whether examining gender through a local or transnational lens, we will question and consider critically what we've taken for granted—and imagine what could change.
(Social Science)
 
 
MLAS 6700: Interdisciplinary Methods Seminar: American Journeys
Prof. Mario Rewers , Programs in Culture, Advocacy and Leadership and in Public Policy Studies
Wednesday evenings, 6:00-8:30 pm 
Course Description: From the sixteenth century to the present, using feet, hooves, and wheels, driven by curiosity, fear, and desire, men and women have traveled across North America while documenting their experiences in text, image, music, and film. Discussing Spanish explorers and French philosophers, eighteenth-century scientists and modern-day hoboes, this course examines what accounts of travel and movement reveal about American nature, culture, and politics.
(Core Course, History, Social Science)
 

 

6/2/26