Trauma and Violence Transdiciplinary Studies
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Master of Arts

The Master of Arts program provides a strong foundation in both the theoretical and the clinical components of doing work concerned with trauma and violence. The transdisciplinary nature of the program creates a space for critical inquiry and research that gathers together all of the theoretical, critical, and clinical aspects of the analysis and treatment of trauma, violence, and their aftermath that have previously been  dispersed across the disciplines.

The M.A. program consists of the four-course core curriculum and four electives (32 points). The core curriculum exposes students to the entire spectrum of clinical and theoretical work, with an eye toward integrating these different fields through collaborative seminars and colloquia. In addition to these core courses, students take four elective courses in order to deepen their studies in preparation for writing the master’s thesis. Elective courses may be directly or obliquely related to trauma and violence, but must be graduate-level courses approved by the program’s associate director. The student must be able to provide a rationale for their elective courses if they are not directly about trauma and violence. For example, a student interested in domestic violence may elect to take a feminist theory course from the Department of English or a course in intimate violence from the School of Social Work. With special permission, independent study or a practicum may count for one or more of the electives. M.A. students must complete a thesis or special project under faculty supervision in order to be awarded the degree.