Georgetown’s new Doctor of Liberal Studies program, a PhD degree, will accept the first 10 students ever to pursue such a degree in North America beginning in fall 2005. It is the first graduate degree approved by Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies and is the product of a development process begun in 1997 by Liberal Studies Program Director Phyllis O’Callaghan. The degree is intended to provide professional adults with the opportunity to pursue more advanced interdisciplinary research.
The Doctorate will be a four year, part-time program requiring 36 hours of course work, comprehensive oral and written examinations and presentation and defense of a dissertation. Prerequisites to admission include a strong academic record, a Masters degree and a directed academic focus, which students intend to pursue over the course of the program.
The degree is not intended as preparation for academic or professional careers, but rather designed for working adults who aspire to broaden their academic exposure.
“All of our students have jobs and careers already,” O’Callaghan said. “These students are just intellectually curious. This is education for education’s sake.”
O’Callaghan anticipates that the doctorate program will be a welcome addition to Georgetown’s Liberal Studies program.
“The doctorate degree will give students an opportunity to go beyond the Masters degree and do more focused research,” she said.
