Findlay, Ohio, Oct. 22, 2001 —The University of Findlay has received provisional approval from the Ohio Board of Regents to offer the master of arts in liberal studies program. Formal approval is expected on Nov. 15.

This degree is the University’s seventh master’s degree program. Others are the master of arts in TESOL and bilingual education, master of arts in education, master of business administration, master of science in environmental, safety and health management, master of occupational therapy and master of physical therapy.

The master of arts in liberal studies program is designed to provide lifelong learners with personal enrichment and professional enhancement through a flexible and interdisciplinary program of study in the humanities, fine arts and social sciences. Goals include allowing students to enhance their knowledge of culture, arts and the humanities by interacting, discussing, researching, presenting and experiencing relationships as emphasized and identified in each interdisciplinary seminar.

Students receive first-hand experience in the appreciation of culture and the arts by building an understanding through a variety of integrated field experiences. Students gain an in-depth knowledge of one major strength of liberal studies through the creation of a thesis or a final project.

The master of arts in liberal studies degree includes a total of 33 semester hours of coursework, which include three core requirement courses, five elective courses and the thesis or culminating project.

The director of the program is Marie Louden-Hanes, Ph.D., associate professor of art at UF since 1986. She earned her doctorate degree from Bowling Green State University in 1994, her master of arts degree in art history from BGSU in 1984 and her bachelor of fine arts degree in art education from BGSU in 1981. She also has an associate’s degree in fine arts from Sullins College in Bristol, Va.

Louden-Hanes has taught various courses in art history and art appreciation as well as courses in women’s studies. She has also taught several graduate seminar courses at UF.

In 1997, Louden-Hanes was a visiting scholar at Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts, Kake Educational Institution, in Okayama, Japan. She has traveled extensively, including visits to Greece, Turkey, Crete, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and Portugal, and has presented numerous lectures at professional conferences in the United States and Canada. She is a member of the Toledo Museum of Art.

In 2001, Louden-Hanes was honored by the Tau Omega Pi Scholastic Honorary Fraternity at The University of Findlay. She was awarded the Founders’ Academic Excellence Award for Faculty at UF in 2000.

For more information about the master of arts in liberal studies program, contact Louden-Hanes at 419-434-4504 or louden-hanes@findlay.edu.