Master of Arts in Professional Studies

at Shorelight Group - Towson University USA

The interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary graduate program in Women’s and Gender Studies provides students with a solid academic foundation to pursue their unique goals. As the only applied master’s program in Women’s and Gender Studies in Maryland and the only Women’s and Gender Studies master’s program in Baltimore, the program emphasizes applied research methods and skills, preparing students for careers in a variety of public and private organizations both national and international, for-profit and nonprofit. It also prepares students to enter doctoral programs in a variety of fields.

To meet university, college and Maryland State Department of Education certification requirements in Core Curriculum and professional education courses, students must complete a unit program for graduation. 

Early Childhood Education majors must confer with assigned adviser from the department each term to ensure that their planned program of study meets college, university and state requirements. This is particularly important if students are pursuing minors or if they are planning for additional certifications. Students also need to check with their departmental adviser prior to taking a course on a Pass grading option as courses in the major and courses required for certification cannot be taken using the Pass/Fail grading option.

The Health Care Management curriculum is designed to provide students with a comprehension of U.S. health care organizations, a public health orientation including epidemiological concepts and tools, and the math, language and computer competencies for research development, organizational management and/or program evaluation. Depending on a student’s interest, graduate training in health administration is recommended after completing this course of study and after the student has worked in the field for 1–2 years. Students interested in long-term care have the option of completing a track.

Students who major and minor in Health Care Management will adhere to the American College of Healthcare Executives Code of Conduct.

The Towson University's Master of Fine Arts in Theatre is a two-year, cohort program. 

The MFA cultivates the self-generative artist through an interdisciplinary, process-oriented, collaborative experience. The program is dedicated to educating and invigorating world citizens of theatre who engage deeply in our local and global communities, and who wish to combine the life of an artist with the skills and sensibilities of entrepreneurs, educators and activists. It is for artists who cannot be content working in a single discipline or occupying a single "role" in the creative process.

The program emphasizes practice and community. Over the 24-month program students are constantly creating work which grows out of class exploration. Sometimes these are ensemble projects, but even on individual or solo projects, students work together to support each other. Learning and cultural exchange happens between students as fully as it does between students and faculty or guest artists.  

Every student will engage with a diverse range of practical approaches and theoretical perspectives in order to help develop an individual aesthetic that is expressed through the creation of new work. In support of this, students also pursue serious scholarship and develop a firm grounding in the history of experimental performance in the United States and internationally.

Students are encouraged to explore interests and techniques which reach beyond the curriculum, through self-directed research, independent study with faculty, or through off-campus experiences such as workshops or apprenticeships. Past student explorations have included: Bunraku puppetry; translation of contemporary European drama; object theatre; integration of video with live performance; experiments in autobiographical performance; and community art projects.

Majors must complete 54 units. The program is divided into four parts, and writing skills are emphasized throughout.

• First, students must complete two introductory courses, one each in political science and economics, which acquaint students with the nature of law and its role in American society.
• Second, students will take four required courses: one at the lower-division, two at the upper-division level and an advanced writing course. These courses further situate students in American culture, politics, judicial policymaking and logical thinking.
• Third, students will have several options in choosing electives, which will be offered by several departments: Accounting, Mass Communication and Communication Studies, English, History, Philosophy and Religious Studies, and Political Science.
• Fourth and finally, students will undertake a 6-unit capstone experience of their choice and, if possible, design. Advanced students may wish to undertake a project in the workplace and then write an evaluative essay on that experience as it fits into the overall program. Other students will participate in a senior seminar, in which they will write a research paper on some aspect of the law or develop a thesis supervised by the program director.

Information technology involves the selection, application, integration and administration of computing and communication technologies to meet the informational needs of individuals, organizations and society at large. The IT program prepares students to enter the workplace as IT professionals and grow into leadership positions or pursue graduate studies in the field.

Towson University’s Master of Arts in Professional Studies, Art History Concentration, is designed to prepare graduates for careers in the profession by looking at the history of art, in addition to the philosophy, role, operation and multiple functions of museums and visual arts institutions in American society. Topics include museum management, care and handling of objects, museum education, development and grant writing, marketing and public relations for cultural institutions, history and theory of exhibition design, and curatorial vision. A wide range of specialized art history courses are available as well, including the art and architecture of the ancient Mediterranean world, the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque, US art and architecture, non-western and modern and contemporary art and theory. Students with degrees from other related areas of study beyond art history are also encouraged to apply; related areas of study include history, philosophy, anthropology, English, studio art and art education.

The major in Elementary Education leads to certification to teach grades 1 through 6. The program provides classroom as well as field/clinical experiences that prepare students for beginning teaching in elementary schools. Candidates who desire a middle school placement must pass the Middle School Praxis subject matter.

The Mass Communication major consists of three tracks: Advertising, Journalism, and Strategic Public Relations. Students must complete one of the three tracks. Many students complete two of the three tracks and some complete all three.

Students who complete the Mass Communication major will have many career options, especially in the broadly defined fields of print, broadcast and online journalism, advertising, and strategic public relations. Majors are expected to learn how the various fields in mass communication are structured and function.