Individually-Designed BA and MA Programs
Master of Arts Degree in Education
The Master of Arts in Education provides individualized, interdisciplinary learning and professional training for educators, community service professionals, community activists and leaders, and other adults interested in understanding education as a process and social institution in its relation to personal growth, community development, and broader social change.
Students in this program learn how to do advanced, specialized work in content areas such as those described in the discussion of the PhD program (above). MA students learn concepts, practical skills, and methods of inquiry, so they can engage in competent practice as educators, community leaders, or professionals in related fields.
Master and Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Psychology
These programs help students to learn counseling skills and theories from both traditional and contemporary currents in the field. BA students learn basic concepts of psychology as they apply to one or more of their individual areas of interest. MA students have two options: First, they may pursue individualized, interdisciplinary programs of advanced study in psychology, requiring at least 32 semester units of completed work. Second, they may elect to do at least 48 semester units of graduate work, with an emphasis on marriage and family therapy, combining classroom-based instruction with individualized study in subject matter areas designated by the State of California. This second option takes longer to complete, and it meets the academic requirements for the State of California Marriage and Family Therapy License. That program can also include additional coursework that leads toward the new, LPCC (Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor License) license, as well. For more details on the MFT option, and the additional LPCC option, consult WISR’s “OFFICIAL PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: MASTER OF ARTS IN PSYCHOLOGY, DESIGNED TO LEAD TOWARD THE MFT LICENSE, AND ALSO THE LPCC LICENSE, Revised, July 2011.”
Students pursuing the MA in Psychology, which is not designed to meet the State’s academic requirements for the MFT license, are also prepared for competent professional practice, and they learn to consider some of the community, social, and multiethnic issues surrounding the practice of psychology. Students pursuing the BA in Psychology develop sufficient understanding of a range of psychological theories, issues, and practices that they can go on for graduate study, or can obtain entry-level positions doing work related to psychology. BA students also become familiar with some methods of inquiry in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, and learn how to organize their ideas, find their individual voices, and express themselves through writing.
Master and Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Human Services and Community Development
These individualized, interdisciplinary programs are ideally suited to community service professionals and social activists. WISR students and alumni often use these degrees to advance their work in a community agency or grassroots organization, in combination with study and development of skills such as community needs assessment, program evaluation, networking, problem-definition, constituency-building, and institutional development for community groups. The Master and Bachelor of Arts Programs in Human Services and Community Development provide individualized, interdisciplinary education and professional training for adults interested especially in creating and offering community services and programs that are responsive to community needs and promote constructive social change.
Students pursuing an MA are prepared for competent professional practice and/or community leadership, and they learn how to address immediate tasks and problems as well as the “bigger picture.” Students pursuing a BA develop an understanding of theories and practices so that they can go on for graduate study, work with local community groups, and/or obtain at least entry-level positions in a community service agency. BA students also become familiar with some methods of inquiry in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, and learn how to organize their ideas, find their individual voices, and express themselves through writing.
Master and Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Social Sciences
The MA and BA programs in social sciences are individualized and interdisciplinary, and especially well-suited to studying the connections between everyday life, larger social/political/economic/cultural conditions, and issues of social change from an mutlidisciplinary perspectives. The Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts Programs in Social Science provide individualized, inquiry-oriented education and professional training for working adults interested in the interdisciplinary study of issues that connect those aspects of community services, community education, community development, social policy, and social change that interest them.
Students pursuing the MA are prepared for competent professional practice in fields that require the use of social science knowledge and methods, including jobs in community services, media, social research, community activism, organizational management and organizational consulting. Each student learns one or two specialties and gains a foundational understanding of methods of inquiry in social sciences. BA students are introduced to theories and methods in the social sciences as preparation for graduate study, local community work, or entry-level jobs in social service agencies. BA students also become familiar with methods of inquiry in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences; they learn how to organize their ideas, find their individual voices, and express themselves through writing.