For the Love of Learning

By Margot Dimond • Photography by Tommy LaVergne

Rice’s New Master of Liberal Studies Program

If you think of graduate programs as individuals with budding expertise gathered together to deepen their knowledge of a particular field, the make-up of the small class in room 327 of the Humanities Building might be a little surprising. Among the nine people gathered around the table are a trial lawyer, a high-school music teacher, a biology teacher who also manages a Chambers County ranch, a certified public accountant, and the president of a seismic contracting firm. But despite their varied backgrounds, they seem to find plenty of common ground in this room.

The class—Our Environment: Science and Culture—is one of three core courses in Rice’s new Master of Liberal Studies (MLS) degree program, which began last fall. Offered through the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies, the program is designed specifically for working adults in Houston. Classes are held in the evenings and on some Saturday mornings, and there are three terms during the year instead of the usual two. The total course of study is 33 credit hours, which can be completed in less than four years if a student takes one class every session.

The curriculum begins with three required courses—one each in humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences—followed by seven elective courses and a final capstone course designed to help students integrate their knowledge by writing an extended paper or completing a project to be presented to the class orally.

“This degree will have Rice University rigor,” says John W. Freeman, Rice professor emeritus who recently was named director of the program. “We want our students to write and speak well and to think analytically.”

Although new to Rice, this type of degree is becoming a trend nationwide, with more than 100 universities offering it, according to continuing studies dean Mary McIntire. “This is a groundbreaking program for Rice, which has never had a part-time, interdisciplinary program for adults that is not career-oriented,” she says. “Our MLS courses are about broadening and deepening knowledge in a deliberate fashion—making people better readers of life. Even the science courses are science from a liberal arts perspective.”

Ron Sass, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology, who teaches the natural science course, explains: “What you’re studying is not a discipline but how to use and understand a discipline. If I’m going to learn chemistry, for example, there’s a set of dogma that I have to know and manipulate, but here, we’re teaching what people need to know to make a scientific judgment on what they see and hear.”

MLS students in class.

Thirty-two students enrolled for the first term. They range in age from 20-plus to the mid-60s. “I call them our pioneers,” Freeman says. “It’s a wonderful group. Each comes from an interesting background, and they all are so highly motivated.”

Freeman personally interviewed every applicant for the program. The interview was part of an extensive process, which also required a formal application, transcripts, writing samples, and letters of recommendation. The resulting class is very diverse. “We have lawyers, doctors, teachers, homemakers, and business people,” Freeman says. “There also are a retired submarine captain, a member of the National Guard, and aspiring novelists enrolled in the program.” But they all have one thing in common, Freeman explains: “They love to learn.”

“It’s a program for people who just enjoy learning,” agrees Richard Stoll, professor of political science and chair of the steering committee for the MLS degree program. “It doesn’t have a particular professional purpose. That’s exciting for both the students and the faculty. It fulfills a real need for the Houston community because there are a lot of people who want an academic experience in an area they haven’t studied before.”

Individual courses are more likely to cross multiple disciplines than is usual at Rice, Stoll says. “This could lead to faculty members interacting with people well outside their disciplines and could be a catalyst to get faculty members engaged with one another in ways that they may have wished to but don’t get a chance to normally.”

There are other, less tangible, benefits of teaching an MLS class. Michele Arnold, senior writer in Rice’s Office of Development, applied for the program after seeing the names of the first three professors—“all superstars,” she says. Her first core course was Violence and Human Nature, taught by psychology professor David Schneider.

“It’s usually about 10 pm when I get home, but I can’t wait to get started on the next week’s assignment—not because I feel I have to, but because I’m so excited,” Arnold says. “I would say to any professor who is thinking about teaching in this program: If you want people who hang onto your every word, think you’re a god, and do their homework with joy, this is for you.”

Schneider also looks forward to his classes. “The students are terrific,” he says. “They do the reading. The dog doesn’t eat their term papers. They are well prepared and articulate and have a lot of life experience they can bring to bear. It’s been a real treat.”

Dennis Huston, professor of English, teaches the third core course—The Shaping of Western Thought.

Dennis Huston, professor of English, teaches the third core course—The Shaping of Western Thought—which is a version of an introductory humanities class he regularly teaches. He has taught adults before, but not for a degree program.

“These are obviously people who are deeply serious about doing the work,” he says. “They are very well prepared, have interesting ideas, and are wonderful to teach.” Huston says the participants are not radically different from Rice students except for their age range and life experience. Originally, he agreed to teach the course on a trial basis, but he now plans to continue teaching in the program and is thinking of adding a class on Shakespeare.

Beyond the benefits to students and faculty is the benefit to the Houston community. “In a community this large,” Schneider says, “there’s really a need for this type of outreach program.” He commends McIntire for designing it to accommodate the schedules of working adults, a point that was echoed by a number of students.

Carla Dean, a biology teacher/ranch manager, also is the mother of a teenage daughter. She previously has taken graduate courses at Rice but found it too time-consuming because of all of her other responsibilities. One of her professors at that time was Sass. They had kept in touch, and he contacted her when this program was initiated. “Rice has done an excellent job of formatting the program” Dean says. “I feel honored to be here.”

David Wegner, a seismic firm president, says he likes the fact that, after taking the core classes, “you can custom-tailor the rest of the program to your individual learning desires. It’s the right combination, and Rice is a strong brand.”

Most students state their purpose in pursuing the MLS degree as personal enrichment or broadening their horizons. CPA Bryan Miller says he values being able to study under world-class professors. “I’m a nonscientist,” he says, “but the professor makes it interesting. We talk about science and how it really impacts people’s lives.”

High-school music teacher Sammy Cowan, who already has a master’s degree, expresses much the same feeling. “When you spend life in a single discipline, the idea that you can explore anything you want is freedom,” she explains. “My students think it’s strange that I want to keep studying, but I tell them the fun learning is when you don’t have to do it.”

But Arnold emphasizes that just because the program is enjoyable doesn’t mean it’s easy. “When you begin the course, you realize that this is not like other continuing studies classes,” she says. “I’m working toward a real degree. It’s like a boot camp for your brain.”

Trial lawyer William Little says he used to take noncredit continuing studies courses and really enjoyed them but wanted something more challenging. “It’s proven to be everything I had hoped for,” he says. “You can’t help but come away from here with new ideas and concepts.”

Sass believes that the MLS is “a splendid degree” and is enthusiastic about it. “And so are the students,” he says. “There are times when people stay until 10 pm because they don’t want to leave, and sometimes we even finish a discussion in the parking lot.” He chuckles. “That’s something I’ve never done before.”