Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Online Master of Liberal Arts

The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) offers an online Master of Liberal Arts (MLA). The program is extremely flexible, offering students a wide variety of interdisciplinary courses and three capstone pathways. Course subject areas may include world cultures, bioethics, literature, music, sociology, history, film, psychology, ecology, art, politics, and archeology.

Applicants to the MLA program typically seek to broaden their understanding of the world, examine the human experience across time, explore cultural influences on society, and expand their knowledge of intellectual history. The program promotes analytical and critical thinking, communication, and understanding.

Various professionals pursue the MLA degree, including elementary and secondary school teachers, education administrators, guidance and career counselors, and post-secondary teachers in history, philosophy, cultural studies, English language, literature, sociology, and religion, as well as community service managers, project management specialists, financial analysts, marketing research analysts, mediators, and sociologists.

The Master of Liberal Arts program requires no campus visits. Students who choose the MLA Capstone: Internship pathway complete a local internship. The program comprises 30 credits and can be completed part-time in 18 to 24 months. Start dates land in the fall, spring, and summer, and courses last 8 weeks.

JHU delivers courses through Blackboard. Classes are asynchronous, however, some synchronous activities may be included for students to engage with each other and faculty. Live sessions are recorded for later viewing and online graduate students will have other opportunities to engage online. Course materials are clearly outlined and faculty and staff participate in online discussion boards, email, and chat sessions.

MLA students choose one core course from the following: Interdisciplinary Graduate Research Methods; Critical Theory; What Is History; Why Read the Classics; and Ways Of Knowing: Historical And Epistemological Foundations of the Liberal Arts. The culminating experience is scheduled for the final semester, however, students must choose their pathway at the beginning of the program. Pathways include MLA Capstone: Portfolio, MLA Capstone: Graduate Project, and MLA Capstone: Internship.

Elective courses cover a wide variety of disciplines and may include courses such as Art Since 1960; Through a Glass, Darkly: American Film Noir; Ethics for a Multicultural World; Renaissance Women: Portraits, Patrons, and Painters; 1900: The Birth of Modernism in Vienna, Paris, and London; Twice-Told Tales: Classic Texts and their Contemporary Retellings; British Victorian Women; and Gender and Media.

Johns Hopkins University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).