Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies

Get a master’s degree that allows you to study across arts, humanities, and social sciences. Choose your own learning path according to your interests—we offer 12 focus areas, including an independent study track.

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Program details

The Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies (MA-IS) is a 33-credit online graduate program. You must complete at least 18 credits through Athabasca University.

The MA-IS program has 2 core courses and requires at least 1 focus area. You must complete 4 courses in your focus area and 4 elective courses before starting your final project or capstone course.

Your courses will be a combination of paced (scheduled start and end dates and assignment deadlines) and individualized study (monthly available start times and finish any time within a 6-month time frame).

You can choose to complete your final project in a paced study capstone course or through an individualized-study project.

You can finish this program in as little as 2 years of full-time study or work at your own pace to complete your requirements within 6 years. The expected normal completion time is 3–4 years.

Please review the program learning outcomes here.

Course schedule

Courses available for individualized study begin on the first day of every month, on a year-round basis. Registrations for individualized-study courses must be received by the MA-IS Office at least 1 month prior to the course start date. The course-contract period for individualized-study courses is 6 months.

Electives

Closed to online registrations (contact MA-IS office for details)

Closed for registrations

Reading courses

All reading courses are closed to online registrations. Contact the MA-IS office for assistance.

About our reading courses

Online registrations open February 15 for program students and March 1 for non–program students. The deadline for all students is April 10, or earlier, if the course becomes full.

Spring 2025

May 5, 2025 – Aug. 15, 2025

*To meet full–time status, individualized study courses with start dates of September 1, January 1, or May 1, are four–month terms. Those students who need to meet full–time status guidelines are encouraged to register for those start dates.

Courses not open to myAU registrations

Use Alternate Course Registration Form

MDDE electives enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status.

Courses open to myAU registrations until March 1st

For MHST electives, The Faculty of Health Disciplines registration deadlines and course registration fees apply. Enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status. Please note that the focus of the MHST courses listed above is geared toward health care practitioners.

Course offering is contingent on a minimum enrollment of 10 students/course Athabasca University reserves the right to modify the list of available courses at any time.

*This is a tentative list of courses.

Online registrations open June 15 for program students and July 1 for non-program students. The spring grouped-study course registration deadline for all students is August 10 or earlier if the course becomes full.

Fall 2025

Sept. 2, 2025 - Dec. 12, 2025

*To meet full-time status, individualized study courses with start dates of September 1, January 1, or May 1, are four-month terms. Those students who need to meet full-time status guidelines are encouraged to register for those start dates.

Courses not open to myAU registrations

Use Alternate Course Registration Form

MDDE electives enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status.

Courses offered by the Faculty of Health Disciplines open to myAU registrations until July 1 st:

The Faculty of Health Disciplines registration deadlines and course registration fees apply. Enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status. Please note that the focus of the MHST/NURS courses listed above is geared toward health care practitioners.

Course offering is contingent on a minimum enrollment of 10 students/course Athabasca University reserves the right to modify the list of available courses at any time.

*This is a tentative list of courses.

Online registrations open October 15 for program students and November 1 for non-program students. The registration deadline for all students is December 10, or earlier, if the course becomes full.

Winter 2026

Jan. 5, 2026 - April 17, 2026

*To meet full-time status, individualized study courses with start dates of September 1, January 1, or May 1, are four-month terms. Those students who need to meet full-time status guidelines are encouraged to register for those start dates.

Courses not open to myAU registrations

Use Alternate Course Registration Form

MDDE electives enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status.

Please refer to the Faculty of Health Disciplines website for when the following electives are being offered and deadlines

Enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status. Please note that the focus of the MHST/NURS courses listed above is geared toward health care practitioners.

Course offering is contingent on a minimum enrollment of 10 students/course Athabasca University reserves the right to modify the list of available courses at any time.

*This is a tentative list of courses.

Online registrations open February 15 for program students and March 1 for non-program students. The deadline for all students is April 10, or earlier, if the course becomes full.

Spring 2026

May 4, 2026 - Aug. 14, 2026

*To meet full-time status, individualized study courses with start dates of September 1, January 1, or May 1, are four-month terms. Those students who need to meet full-time status guidelines are encouraged to register for those start dates.

Courses not open to myAU registrations

Use Alternate Course Registration Form

MDDE electives enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status.

Please refer to the Faculty of Health Disciplines website for when the following electives are being offered and deadlines

Enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status. Please note that the focus of the MHST/NURS courses listed above is geared toward health care practitioners.

Course offering is contingent on a minimum enrollment of 10 students/course Athabasca University reserves the right to modify the list of available courses at any time.

*This is a tentative list of courses.

Focus areas

Adult Education

The courses in this focus area will allow you to examine the breadth and depth of adult education as a field of practice.

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Community Studies

The Community Studies focus area explores issues of social justice and social change as they relate to community-based organizing, community economic development, education, and social movements.

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Cultural Studies

The Cultural Studies focus area explores the links between the arts and other human activities in complex societies.

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Educational Studies

The Educational Studies focus area provides a critical, integrated understanding of the relationships between instructors, students, educational organization(s), and society.

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Environmental Studies

This focus area explores the cultural, political, and ecological dimensions of today’s environmental challenges. Learn how climate change, Indigenous leadership, and ideas like sustainability and justice shape our shared future.

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Equity Studies

This focus area explores inequalities between and among humans that are based on socially produced categories of geography, religion, race, gender, disability, age, class, and sexuality.

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Global Change

This focus area is an interdisciplinary exploration of claims and realities of economic, political, social, ecological, and cultural aspects of globalization. This focus area pays particular attention to the production and reproduction of inequities.

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Heritage and Social History

This focus area studies social traditions, institutions, and historical patterns with an emphasis (but not an exclusive focus) on Canadian history and heritage.

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Independent Track

The independent track is reserved for highly motivated students who have demonstrated excellence in their previous studies. This track requires permission from the director in the Master of Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies program.

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Literary Studies

The Literary Studies focus area encourages an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to the study of literature.

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Work, Organization, and Leadership

This focus area draws from social sciences, labour studies, gender studies, cultural studies, and the humanities to examine contemporary developments in the world of work, organizations, and leadership.

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Writing and New Media

This focus area explores the ways in which the new media of publication and communication (the Internet, the World Wide Web) provide new forms and genres of writing and communication.

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