Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies - Resources
Useful resources that are used to aid in the completion of the Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies program.
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.
What you need to know from the application to completion
Browse resources and links to this program
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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 grouped 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.
The courses in this focus area will allow you to examine the breadth and depth of adult education as a field of practice.
This focus area addresses issues having to do with 'the North' as a unique socio-political and natural region of our planet. It covers Canada as well as tensions specific to it within the global context.
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.
The Cultural Studies focus area explores the links between the arts and other human activities in complex societies.
The Educational Studies focus area provides a critical, integrated understanding of the relationships between instructors, students, educational organization(s), and society.
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.
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.
This focus area studies social traditions, institutions, and historical patterns with an emphasis (but not an exclusive focus) on Canadian history and heritage.
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.
The Literary Studies focus area encourages an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to the study of literature.
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.
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.
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.
All reading courses are closed to online registrations. Contact the MA-IS office for assistance.
Online registrations open Feb. 14 for program students and March 1 for non–program students. The spring grouped-study course registration deadline for all students is April 1 or earlier if the course becomes full.
May 1, 2023 - August 11, 2023
Use Alternate Course Registration Form
MDDE electives enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status.
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.
September 5, 2023 – December 15, 2023
*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. Further information can be found in the Graduate Calendar.
Use Alternate Course Registration Form
MDDE electives enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status.
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 October 14 for program students and November 1 for non-program students. The winter grouped-study course registration deadline for all students is December 10 or earlier if the course becomes full.
January 8, 2024 - April 19, 2024
*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.
Use Alternate Course Registration Form
MDDE electives enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status.
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 February 14 for program students and March 1 for non-program students. The spring grouped-study course registration deadline for all students is April 10 or earlier if the course becomes full.
May 6, 2024 - August 16, 2024
*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.
Use Alternate Course Registration Form
MDDE electives enrollment may be limited. Students may be prioritized according to status.
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.
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Useful resources that are used to aid in the completion of the Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies program.
Learn more about the learning outcomes for this particular program.
Read about the mission statement of the Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies program.
A list of frequently asked questions for the Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies.
The master list of all MA-IS core courses and electives.
This Graduate Student Handbook is designed to help guide you through the MA-IS program.
Official policies of the Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies program.
Application process and procedures for the Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies studies program.
MA-IS program students may choose between two course formats for completion of their MA-IS degree: the MAIS 700 Capstone Course or the MAIS 701 Final Project.
As part of the application process into the MA-IS Program, all applicants must complete an Academic Writing Assessment and comply with the results.
Detailed information about taking the MA-IS 700 Capstone course option for completing your MA-IS degree.
Detailed information about taking the MA-IS 701 Final Project course option for completing your MA-IS degree.
A list of awards that may be of interest to our masters level students.
At you interested in seeking BC-TQS certification. Check this page for information how AU's MA-IS program can help you meet their qualification assessment criteria.
Writing a good assignment requires careful, focused research of the issues.
Student finance funding criteria
Graduate forms for the Master of Arts – Interdisciplinary Studies and Heritage and Resource Management programs.
Grading system for MA-IS program courses.
Information for students studying outside of Canada and the United States.
Information for students wishing to enrol as a non-program student.
Intended for only those students who are not able to use the automatic online registration and credit card payment form accessed via the general myAU page.
Are you interested in earning a graduate diploma in Legislative Drafting as well as a MA-IS degree? Check out things you should be aware of for it to count.
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Associate Professor, Women's and Gender Studies
Academic Coordinator
Associate Professor, Creative Writing
Associate Professor
Associate Professor and Program Director for the Masters of Education in Open, Digital and Distance Education
Acting Academic Coordinator and Tutor
Assistant Professor
Contract instructor
Assistant Professor
Professor
Associate Professor, Labour Studies
Associate Professor
Coordinator, Graduate Student Services
Associate Professor
Academic Coordinator
Assistant Professor in Sociology and MAIS
Assistant Professor
Associate Professor and Chair of the Centre for Social Sciences
Academic coordinator, graduate instructor, tutor
Associate Professor, Environmental Studies
Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor, English and Comparative Literature
Graduate Program Administrator
Professor of Literary Studies
Professor
Associate Professor
Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies
Tutor/instructor
Associate Professor, Equity Studies, MAIS
Associate Professor of English
Assistant Professor
Associate professor Interdisciplinary Studies
Professor, Women's and Gender Studies
Administrative Assistant
Associate Dean, Strategic Initiatives, Associate Professor and Director, Heritage Resources Management Program and Historical Resources Intern Program
Assistant Professor
Academic Coordinator, Tutor
Assistant Professor
MA-IS Program Director
There currently is no student work available for this program.