Masters Degrees

Master of Arts in Psychological and Cultural Studies

Program Details

Credits: 44 semester hours
Program Length: 6-8 semesters (full or part-time study available)
Start: Summer, fall, or spring
No licensure is available through this program
View current program of study in the course catalog
Program Director: Mary Clare, Ph.D., clare@lclark.edu

This Master of Arts degree is an opportunity to pursue graduate studies in psychology while drawing from a broad array of scholarly traditions and professional practices. This degree is designed for students who do not wish to pursue professional licensure as a counselor or therapist at the master’s level.

For this 44 semester hour degree, the department faculty have identified 10 courses in our curriculum to require as fundamental to understanding the philosophy, history and systems of contemporary psychology, mental health, and counseling. The remaining 16 credits are electives and may be drawn from curricula across the graduate and law schools or used for particular independent directed studies.

Within the Department of Counseling Psychology, several course sequences complement required PCS courses and lead toward specialization.  These include, for example, gender and sexuality, ecopsychology, and eating disorders.  Most of the courses in these sequences may be taken as electives.  Beyond these specialization areas, the options for specialized studies are limited only by imagination.  Past students have designed degrees leading to specializations in community art and mental health, geriatrics, action research, and non-profit administration.

Master of Science Option

Program Details

Credits: Minimum of 44 semester hours
No direct admission is available for this program (see below)
Thesis project required
View program of study in current course catalog

There is also a Master of Science option available for the Psychological and Cultural Studies program. The M.S. curriculum is for students who have interest and potential in psychological research. Students must first be accepted into the M.A. concentration. Admission to the M.S. concentration requires that the student be active, successfully complete CPSY 530 Research Methods and Statistics I with a grade of B or better, be enrolled in CPSY 531 Research Methods and Statistics II, present a preliminary research proposal, secure the commitment of a faculty adviser to chair a thesis committee, have a defined timeline for completion of the project, and have formally applied to the M.S. program. Full admission is granted when the faculty approves a proposal that meets these criteria.