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Program Description

Everyday uses of words like “culture” and “cultural” can give the impression that “cultures” are coherent and clearly bounded phenomena. A closer look, though, suggests that if “cultures” actually exist at all, the processes that shape the relations between them are at least as important as the properties that seem to make them distinct. The field of Transcultural Studies, grounded in transformative scholarship from multiple humanities and social sciences disciplines, takes as its subject precisely these spaces of contact and connection between cultural formations and the flows of people, things, ideas, and practices across perceived cultural divides.

The Accelerated Master's Degree Program in Transcultural Studies offers current University of Michigan LSA undergraduates the opportunity to earn an interdisciplinary MA degree with just one year of study beyond their Bachelor’s Degree. It encourages students to explore methods for understanding the workings of connectivity, comparison, and translation across cultures with a curriculum that draws on courses in eleven of LSA’s exceptionally strong humanities and social sciences departments (listed here). The program provides its students with a robust framework for thinking critically about transcultural dynamics and for negotiating them with insight and imagination in their own lives and professional careers.

In addition to offering the opportunity to select from a broad array of graduate course offerings, the program encourages experiential learning. Each student is asked to propose, construct and complete a capstone project, based on original research, engagement in a community-oriented project, or involvement in individual or collaborative artistic creation. Preparation for undertaking this project is provided through the program’s core curriculum, designed to introduce students to varied methods and theories used to explore the themes of connectivity, comparison and translation across fields.