Former Students on MALS

"The MALS program encourages an environment that fosters growth, understanding, and creativity. Throughout my two years of being a MALS student I was given the amazing opportunity to work with intelligent and compassionate professors who taught the value of obtaining a comprehensive and liberal education. The MALS program enlightens the minds of its students by offering an educational background that is richly diverse and unique. I am proud to say that I am a graduate of the MALS program for it has shaped my education and outlook on life in an extremely positive and informed manner. The staff and professors are to be commended for their immense knowledge and guidance."

Stefanie Wielkopolan

"From the very beginning of my graduate studies at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, I realized benefits of the MALS program. I became familiar with contemporary methods of research and with the seminal works in several disciplines. Most importantly, I learned to write! Writing well placed me about a year ahead of my classmates in the Ph.D. program.

The MALS classes were small enough for my classmates and me to get to know and learn from one another. The classes were formal enough for the professors to spend individual pedagogical time working with each student’s strengths and weaknesses over extended periods, even after the completion of semesters.

The program is broad enough to cover the basics of many academic disciplines.

I highly recommend the MALS program to anyone, in social sciences, interested in a terminal degree in graduate studies."

John Arnold
Ph.D., Professor of Broadcast Journalism, John H. Johnson School of Communications, Howard University

"In my first class on my first day in the MALS program the professor announced the goal of this program is to graduate well-read and well-spoken individuals who can think through an unfamiliar situation. I believe that this program has accomplished that goal. I found my experience at the University of Michigan-Dearborn to be academically challenging and personally fulfilling. I have recommended this program to many people, who work full time, but want to pursue graduate degree. The instructors were gifted teachers who really cared about their subject material and students. Today these qualities seem to be rare in the academic setting. I miss the open-forum discussions of class and the challenging and probing questions by the instructors. I applaud UM-D for creating the MALS program because it is a beacon of light and hope for non-traditional students to be successful in graduate school."

Susan Erhardt
Education Director, The Greening of Detroit

"The MALS Program was the perfect master's degree for me. As a high school math teacher I wanted a chance to explore all the courses I could not fit into my undergrad program. I wanted to become interdisciplinary and be able to relate mathematics to other subjects. The MALS program surpassed my expectations.

The professors were wonderful models for how to teach. I enjoyed the discussions, the variety of readings and critical thinking. I have added more discussions to my classes. I have a greater appreciation for history and my students are becoming quite the history of math experts.

I have added a literature requirement to my AP classes. I encourage the students to read books like The Double Helix from Science and Literature Studies, Changes in the Land, from New World History and Discourse and Method from the Colloquium. My freshmen read a play about imaginary numbers. Literature comes in many forms and should be part of every course, not just language arts.

It can be a struggle, but my students are beginning to look at problems in more than one way. They realize that how they solved the problem and why they chose the method they did is as important as the right answer. Making links between subjects and relating topics to the real world is an outcome of every course. The MALS program is the reason I feel confident enough to make connections."

Karen Pikula
Mathematics Teacher, Dearborn Center for Math, Science & Technology, Dearborn Public Schools