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| Vol. 18, No. 17 | Jan. 21, 1999 |
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| Vol. 18, No. 17 | Jan. 21, 1999 |
Raymond Callahan, associate dean, arts and science and director, Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program, has just become president of the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs, the national group that includes 122 colleges and universities offering MALS-type programs.
"The fact that someone from the University was chosen as president of the national association shows how successful Delaware's program is, and how significant the growth of the program has been over the last 10 years," Callahan said.
"The concept of MALS programs was born 35 years ago," Callahan said. "It was born out of the notion that a large number of people who are well into their careers will reach a point in their lives when they have both the time and the resources to come back to a campus in pursuit of personal growth. The steady increase in MALS programs nationwide is indicative of this trend toward life-long learning," Callahan added.
According to Callahan, the two-year term as president involves coordinating the activities, meetings and workshops of the association as well as overseeing the publication of its journal. One of the most important duties is overseeing the development of associate members into full membership, which includes site visits and assessments of the viability of particular MALS programs, he explained.
"In this assessment process," Callahan said, "the association wants to ensure a program is stable and that the faculty and the administration are committed to it. We look for a body of core courses that are offered year after year, and that these courses offer multidisciplinary perspectives. A program can remain an associate member for three years prior to being evaluated for full membership."
Callahan has been a national Graduate Liberal Studies Association member since 1988 and has served on its board since 1993.
The 10-year-old University of Delaware MALS program is strong, according to Callahan, not only because the faculty teaching the classes are capable and committed, but also because the administration and academic departments are extremely supportive.
"The faculty teaching in the MALS program are mostly tenured, full professors who teach these classes because they like working within the exciting and intelligent atmosphere produced by the nontraditional students in the program," Callahan said, adding, "department chairs and successive deans have supported a quality, non-traditional program."
The typical MALS student is between 35 and 60 years of age, with the oldest graduate being 84. "Often these students already have a master's or doctoral degree," Callahan said. "They all are highly interested in the liberal arts, and they want to work seriously on a subject simply for the sake of learning, not to further their careers."
Currently, there are 120 students enrolled in the MALS program at UD, and there are 85 alumni.
A military historian, Callahan is a fellow of The Royal Historical Society, as well as a member of the U.S. Army History Advisory Committee. He has been a visiting professor at the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., as well as at the U.S. Marine Staff College in Quantico, Va.
Callahan, whose original appointment at the University was in the history department, won the UD excellence-in-teaching award in 1991. He will teach the course "Force, Conflict and Change," a MALS seminar explaining how and why society changes, in the spring semester.
-Gail E. Walford
