About Us
The Changing Face of Graduate Education
The University of Chicago's Masters Program in the Humanities was established to address the needs and interests of tremendously diverse people who stand to benefit from a year of intensive, rigorous humanistic inquiry.
The needs and interests of those served by serious post-graduate education have changed dramatically over the past decade. Once the sole province of young scholars given a rare opportunity to continue research in a well-defined field of specialization, graduate programs are becoming at once more competitive and more diverse.
Some nonacademic professionals want to experiment in a challenging intellectual setting. Others, working in highly specialized fields, find that much of their day-to-day work is conceptual and want finely honed critical tools to match their technical expertise. Still others have been developing creative projects on the side and are ready to bring them to fruition. All of these people have a clear sense of direction—a direction at odds with traditional doctoral work. Many others want to make a transition in graduate school. Some want new careers. Some emerged from their undergraduate programs uncertain about what to do next. Perhaps they developed new interests late in their college days and are considering changing disciplines for doctoral work. Perhaps they want to explore their options carefully before undertaking doctoral work. Perhaps they are determined to pursue a PhD in their undergraduate major field, but want time to prepare for doctoral programs.
The University of Chicago's Masters Program in the Humanities (MAPH) was established in 1996 to address the needs and interests of the tremendously diverse group of people who stand to benefit from a year of intensive, rigorous humanistic inquiry.
