Learning Goals for Students Completing the MH or MSS Degree

When students complete either the MH or MSS degree we want them to have the ability to demonstrate the “capacity to integrate knowledge and modes of thinking drawn from two or more disciplines to produce a cognitive advancement…in ways that would have been unlikely through single disciplinary means.”  Fundementally we want students to demonstrate foundational knowledge of critical theories and concepts within the Humanities or Social Sciences depending on degree sought. Student proficiency in either the Humanities or Social Science is demonstrated through writing with the following benchmarks in mind: 

• “Interdisciplinary grounding” -  student selects appropriate disciplines to solve unique problems; concepts are used in accurate but nuanced ways befitting of multiple perspectives
• “Integrative leverage” - student calls attention to a novel concept or problem, interpretation or relationship
• “Critical stance” -  student identifies the significance of the integrated stance and ways to reconcile diverse or conflicting views that emerge from interdisciplinary thinking.
• To critically analyze and synthesize information from different literatures and disciplines
• To demonstrate relevant information pertaining to particular areas of focus
• To write effective, grammatically correct, well-organized, scholarly papers
• To demonstrate the ability to read critically a range of scholarly literature in a range of disciplines
• To demonstrate skills to apply knowledge to particular field of work

Mansilla V. (2005, January /February) Assessing student work at a disciplinary crossroads. Change, 37, 14-21.