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Prospective students

Breadth. Flexibility. Community.

Are you ready to further your academic studies at a graduate level? Our master of arts program is designed for working students to engage with graduate-level discussion and thought through part-time courses online or at Simon Fraser University (SFU)'s Harbour Centre, located in the heart of downtown Vancouver.

Why Liberal Studies?

Graduate Liberal Studies (GLS) is for individuals who wish to expand their intellectual horizons through graduate level study in an atmosphere that is cooperative, respectful and challenging. The program differs from conventional graduate programs in three ways:

Breadth

GLS focuses on breadth of learning, integrating knowledge from many of the traditional disciplines in order to provide an intellectual grounding in ideas and values that have shaped our culture.

Flexibility

GLS is designed for the working adult, the part-time student. Seminars are scheduled during evening and weekend hours at SFU's downtown campus, and the degree can be completed over a period of over three to four years.

Community

The program emphasizes a community of inquiry and discussion in addition to independent research. Our seminars, designed especially for GLS, are taught by faculty members chosen for their enthusiasm for teaching adults.

GLS aims to immerse students in an expansive, multidisciplinary, and multi-perspectival study of the human condition. Students engage with historical and contemporary texts and discuss ideas, positions, and arguments concerning persons, societies, and their inter-relations. They explore tensions inherent in human cultures through various lenses: for example, reason and passion, personal and social goods, human use and abuse of the environment.

 

By participating in a community of learning based on interdisciplinary seminars and on research utilizing various modes of inquiry, they develop an enhanced understanding of themselves and others.

Learn more about what GLS can offer you

What our students say about us

"GLS opened new avenues for me at a time when I was becoming intellectually and professionally restless."

"GLS changed my direction completely. After a PhD and two post-docs I am now a senior research fellow in a field I didn’t know existed before GLS."

Master of arts in liberal studies

Program information

Explore our master's program and see what our curriculum has to offer.

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Fees & funding

Find out more about the tuition and costs associated with completing our master's program. 

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How to apply

Application to our master's program is done online. Find out more below.

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Travel Study

GLS students have many opportunities to participate in full-credit field school courses organized by Simon Fraser University (SFU) or by other universities with GLS programs.

Learn more about travel study

It's time for a rethink. Learn from the masters.

Are you ready to further your studies at a graduate level? Learn more about the Graduate Liberal Studies (GLS) master's program and curriculum.

GLS Master of Arts program

Got a question?

Contact the GLS office at glsp@sfu.ca.