Reports on Periodic Review of Academic Programs
Institution:
Towson University
Academic unit:
College of Liberal Arts
Program(s) reviewed:
MA, Humanities
Year in which the review process was Completed and Names(s) of External Reviewer(s):
Spring 2010, Patricia Johnston,
Penn State Harrisburg
Enrollments and Degrees Awarded for Each of the Past Five Years in This Program:
Fall Enrollment
Degrees Awarded
2004-05
12
1
2005-06
17
2
2006-07
16
4
2007-08
12
2
2008-09
16
3
Summary of Internal and External Review
The external review commended Towson University’s M.A. in Humanities. Her recommendations
support the findings of the internal self-study.
Strengths of the program include:
1) Carefully planned curricular structure that eschews selection of random courses for a plan
that requires both close advising of individual students on course choices and four common
historical periods in each seminar; stud of texts of the classical, medieval, Renaissance, and
modern eras. To strengthen each seminar yet more, the Humanities Board has reduced the
seminal texts from eight to six enabling deeper and longer examination each text.
2) The reviewer lauds the breadth of research opportunity within this four-era structure.
Merging individual interests and professional accommodation, for example, a student with
interest in art history might research the relationship between newspaper photos and the
novels of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39 or a student interested in medical history could
research the treatment of wounds in The Iliad or the social effect of epidemic depicted in
Defoe’s Journal or Camus’ The Plague.
3) Dr. Johnson praises the 12-member ceiling for each seminar because it allows longer
analysis by each member and more careful judgment by the professor of each member’s
ability. It also allows for closer and longer advising of the 25-page research paper required
in every seminar. And, she says, the 12-member limit encourages greater communal
scholarship among members themselves, a quality often lost in larger graduate programs
with higher enrollment seminars. From her separate meetings with students and faculty,
Dr. Johnson concluded that “the 12-student seminar [is] the lynchpin of the program’s
strengths.”
4) Dr. Johnson notes that the small program always meets it enrollment goals of attracting "a
particularly well-qualified and highly-committed group of students.” She recommends that
the program continue to maintain this size for two reasons: It allows enrollment of the very
best students, and it reduces requests for more professors from the home departments’
which are already hard-pressed to addressing staffing issues.
5) The reviewer is also happy with “the program’s quality in its improvement of student
writing,” a quality she sees cumulatively in both the required anthology of six revised papers
with it introductory chapter as well as in the thesis.
6) The reviewer also praised the program’s leadership.
The reviewer identified several areas for improvement/future consideration.
1) Greater monetary resources should be made available for student travel to conferences.
2) The program may want to explore creating a concentration outside of the Western
Humanities focus.
3) Compared to other similar graduate programs, students have limited teaching opportunities
for its talented graduate students.
4) The program director provides most of the leadership and academic support for the
program. Other faculty affiliated with the program should play an increased role to ensure
continuity as faculty retire, and to build new leadership opportunities for all faculty
affiliated with the program.
Plan for Improvement
A. Additional Support and Resources for Students
1. a. Objective: Find funds for designated students to read papers at scholarly conferences.
b. Strategy: Work with the Graduate School/Graduate Student Association to provide
funds at least to cover registration at a conference at which a student’s paper has been
accepted for presentation.
Advantages
(1) By calling these funds “grants” students would have, justly, a creditable line on
their c.v.s. Even grants of $25 would both congratulate such students and allow
them deservedly to claim a grant won.
(2) More students may be encouraged to submit their papers to conferences.
(3) Towson University would gain greater recognition because of the success of its
students.
2. a. Objective: To give students the chance to teach at the college level.
b. Strategy:
(1) Request that the University allow highly qualified M.A. students to teach in
cooperation with and under supervision of fulltime faculty in lower division courses.
We would define “highly qualified” as a student having completed eighteen credits
at Towson (not transferred credits) with an average no less than A-.
(2) Negotiate with the home departments—English, Foreign Languages, History and
Philosophy—for cooperative teaching positions for highly qualified M.A. candidates.
Two students who hold the M.A. in Humanities degree will teach ENGL 102 in the fall
term.
(3) Partner with some community colleges to use our students as instructors in
Lower division courses.
Advantages:
(1) The Program would be more attractive in recruiting students.
(2) With supervision and oversight, these students would have parity with similar
M.A. students who teach lower-division courses at universities elsewhere.
(3) These students would be better qualified to move into Ph.D. programs and
also would acquire teaching experience to prepare them for the profession.
B. Exclusive Focus on Western Humanities
The program has decided to respectfully disagree with the external consultant on the
recommendation to add a new focus on non-Western Humanities. Here Professor Johnson did not
realize that from the start the Program was purposely centered on the Western Humanities. It is in
that form that the Program was approved and with which it is concerned. Not only is Towson
singular in being the only graduate program having that curriculum, but also because its professors
are trained specialists in this tradition. The program does not wise to develop a new concentration
at this time. However, the programs will look at expanding including different traditions within its
existing offerings to facilitate comparison with the existing program focus.
1. Objective: Provide additional opportunities for non-western focus in existing classes.
2. Strategy: Work with faculty to include different perspectives and non-western texts in
the existing seminars.
C. Support for Leadership Roles
1. Objective: To prepare others professors to lead the Program
2. Strategy:
a. A new director is readying to lead the Program in August.
b. More of the Program’s work will be shared by members of the Humanities
Board—especially in advising, scheduling, and assessing.
The Humanities Board will be responsible for following-up and assessing the progress on each
strategy beginning in Fall 2010.
Submitted by: George
Hahn
Date of submission: August

26, 2010