Fifteen credit hours of graduate-level courses are required. The following courses comprise the “core” of the Master of Arts in Humanities with Classical Education Concentration. Each course is three credit hours. 

• HUM 6340 Trivium
• HUM 6344 Quadrivium
• HUM 6348 Classical Pedagogy, Ancient and Modern
• PHI 5326 Philosophy of Education
• One course from the “Great Works” series:
  • HUM 6325 Great Works of the Ancient World

  • HUM 6326 Great Works of the Middle Ages

  • HUM 6331Great Works of the Renaissance and Baroque
  • HUM 6333 Great Works of the Modern World

15 to 21 credit hours of graduate-level elective courses from across the disciplines may be chosen. Students electing for and accepted into the thesis track take 15 hours of electives; those not completing a thesis take 21. These include, but are not limited to, the following courses. Most courses are three credit hours, but sometimes one- and two-credit courses are offered. In addition, the program regularly offers one-credit pass/fail seminars on targeted practical questions in education. Students may take this seminar up to three times.

Courses crafted specifically for our program in classical education, such as Master Teachers in the Western Tradition, History of Liberal Arts Education, Ancient Epics, Plato and Socratic Conversation, Augustine the Teacher, Aquinas on the Virtues, Tolkien as Teacher, The Inklings, Teaching Great American Speeches, Writing as Imitation, Teaching Classical Children’s Literature, Argumentation, Writing as Imitation, Roman Empire and Western Culture, etc.

With the graduate director’s approval, students may complete pertinent graduate-level courses from a variety of fields, including art, classics, drama, economics, education, English and other European literary traditions (French, German, Italian, or Spanish), history, politics, psychology, philosophy, and theology.

• Practicum (apprenticeship) courses: Among their elective credit hours, students may choose to complete up to nine practicum hours; students may complete one such one-to-three-credit practicum course per semester at a local classical school for a combined total of at most nine credit hours.

The MA thesis is optional. Students accepted into the thesis track register for a six-credit thesis course instead of six additional elective credits. Well before registering for the course (at least one semester, but preferably two or more), the student must consult with an academic advisor to determine a suitable thesis topic and appropriate criteria, and then begin the research process in earnest. While the six-credit thesis course is completed in one semester, it is expected that the student will do a significant amount of preparatory work on the thesis long before taking this course. For more information, contact your academic advisor.

The language requirement is for thesis-track students only. Before beginning the M.A. thesis, the candidate must demonstrate reading competency in either ancient Greek or Latin or modern Italian, French, or German. For any of these languages, the requirement may be met by completing an upper level language course (approved by the graduate director) with a grade of B or above, or by passing an examination in translation. For modern languages, students may fulfill this requirement by passing the two-course, graduate-level “Reading Knowledge” sequence for the language (e.g., Italian for Reading Knowledge I, Italian for Reading Knowledge II).

Every student must successfully pass a comprehensive exam.

Twenty-four credit hours of graduate-level courses are required.  Students participate in University of Dallas graduate courses, as well as special courses and seminars designed for the Jewish Classical Education track and taught by Tikvah professors. The following courses comprise the “core” of the Master of Arts in Humanities with Jewish Classical Education Concentration. Each course is three credit hours. 

• HUM 6340 Trivium
• HUM 6344 Quadrivium
• HUM 6348 Classical Pedagogy, Ancient and Modern
• PHI 5326 Philosophy of Education
• All four courses from the “Great Works” series:
  • HUM 6325 Great Works of the Ancient World
  • HUM 6326 Great Works of the Middle Ages
  • HUM 6331Great Works of the Renaissance and Baroque
  • HUM 6333 Great Works of the Modern World

6 to 12 credit hours of graduate-level elective courses from across the disciplines may be chosen. Students electing for and accepted into the thesis track take 6 hours of electives; those not completing a thesis take 12. These include, but are not limited to, the following courses. Most courses are three credit hours, but sometimes one- and two-credit courses are offered. In addition, the program regularly offers one-credit pass/fail seminars on targeted practical questions in education. Students may take this seminar up to three times.

Possible electives that can be taken from the University of Dallas and from Tikvah include: Elementary and Middle School Education Through a Jewish Lens, Tanakh and the Formation of Western Civilization, Teaching Midrash and Talmud with Western Civilization in Mind, Athens and Jerusalem: Affinities and Clashes, Hebrew Immersion for Elementary School Students, Plato and Socratic Conversation, Teaching Great American Speeches, Teaching Classical Children’s Literature, Classical Pedagogy in the Science Classroom, A World Destroyed and Rebuilt: Jewish Education after the Holocaust, etc.

• Practicum (apprenticeship) courses: Among their elective credit hours, students may complete one such one-to-three-credit practicum course per semester at a local classical school for a combined total of at most nine credit hours.

The MA thesis is optional. Students accepted into the thesis track register for a six-credit thesis course instead of six additional elective credits. Well before registering for the course (at least one semester, but preferably two or more), the student must consult with an academic advisor to determine a suitable thesis topic and appropriate criteria, and then begin the research process in earnest. While the six-credit thesis course is completed in one semester, it is expected that the student will do a significant amount of preparatory work on the thesis long before taking this course. For more information, contact your academic advisor.

The language requirement is for all Jewish Classical Education Concentration students.  Before beginning the M.A. thesis, the candidate must demonstrate reading competency in either Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, German, or Italian.  Determination of the satisfaction of this requirement will be made by Tikvah representatives.  It may be possible to waive this requirement in extraordinary circumstances.

Every student must successfully pass a comprehensive exam.

Students will participate in intensive in-person summer courses with Tikvah in the New York City area or another chosen location.  These courses will provide an opportunity for learning focused on the foundational ideas of Jewish classical education with peers from across the country.  Students will also design and deliver model lessons in a workshop setting with their peers and teachers, preparing them for the classroom in practical ways.

Determination of the satisfaction of requirements will be made by Tikvah representatives.  For more information on the Classical Education Department's partnership with Tikvah, and more details about Tikvah, please see their website at https://www.jewishclassicaleducation.org/.