Master of Arts in Human Development
A master's program that you design yourself!
The Master of Arts in Human Development was established by Saint Mary's University of Minnesota in 1972 and is the oldest program of its kind in Minnesota. It is an interdisciplinary graduate program that allows students to combine academic interests, life experience and career goals. Students in the human development program have secured major grants, published both creative and scholarly works, produced commissioned works of art, and received public recognition for their accomplishments.
The human development program's wholly unique combination of scholarship, mentoring, and program flexibility allows individuals to custom design programs that lead to personal and professional enhancement. The program is designed to meet the individualized needs of adult learners. Each student works with a permanently-assigned adviser in the development and evaluation of his or her overall graduate program. The adviser and the program staff work to facilitate the student's learning throughout the program.
Possible fields of study include, but are not limited to, concentrations in adult education, social justice, career counseling, employee assistance counseling, transformational leadership, organizational and individual coaching, writing, urban studies, holistic health/wellness, spiritual studies, music therapy, and ecological studies. Any two or more of these fields may be combined into one 32-credit Human Development program.
Learning Contracts
The contract serves as the basic unit of each student's work and as an agreement between Saint Mary's University, the human development staff and the student. Although the program is flexible enough to accommodate a change of plan or direction, each student should have a fairly clear conception of overall goals from the beginning of his or her program. Credits for each contract are assigned on the basis of the amount and depth of work. Contracts may include learning experiences such as: formal course work at Saint Mary's University or other institutions, professional workshops or seminars, independent study, research, practica, and internships.
Each contract includes:
- General personal and professional goals;
- Objectives, means, evaluation measures, course titles, and credits;
- Student integration statement which contains the ethical component; and
- Advisor evaluation.
The components are described in detail in the Student/Advisor Handbook and the Contracting Manual.
Position Paper and Colloquium
At the culmination of the program of study, the student develops a position paper which serves as the basis for a colloquium. The position paper is an opportunity for the student to take a position on a more substantive area or issue which has been studied in depth during the program. An ethic of social responsibility is addressed specifically in a section in the student's position paper. An ethic of social responsibility recognizes that self identity and solidarity with humankind are required for the formation of a better world. Position papers are generally 20-30 pages in length.
The master's colloquium is the forum and rite of passage in which candidates for the Master of Arts in Human Development integrate the various insights gained during their graduate studies, further substantiate the quality and scope of their work, and share their theoretical and experiential knowledge. The spirit of the word "colloquium" - speaking together - is the spirit in which each colloquium is conducted. Colloquia last 45 minutes and may include lectures, demonstrations, and multimedia presentations. The advisor, second reader, and program director always attend. Other persons of the student's choice may also be invited including peers, colleagues, faculty and family.
Example of a Human Development Program
HD Program Goal: To develop an employee benefit/assistance program that addresses the needs of employees who are facing the issues of caring for elderly parents and family members.
Contract 1
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Contract 2
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Contract 3
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Contract 4
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HD 690 - The Process
of Human Development
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Independent Study -
Research & Analysis of
Existing Employee
Benefit/Assistance Programs
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HD 695 - Children
of Addiction |
Practicum - Combined
Internship at a senior
Day Care Center and
an Employee Assistance
walk-in center
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Independent Study - Survey
of Parental Healthcare Concerns
of Company ABC Employees
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Independent Study -
Weekend seminar in
healthcare public policy,
offered by the
Humphrey Institute
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Independent Study -
Design of the Senior
Life Assist Employee
Benefit Program
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HD 698 - The Process of
Writing a Position Paper
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Independent Study - The Aging
Process, a course at the UofMN
School of Nursing
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HD 671 - Women's Self-
Esteem and Spirituality
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Integration Statement
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Integration Statement
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| Integration Statement |
Integration Statement
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Position Paper &
Colloquium
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Position Paper Abstract
The writer describes the rapidly changing dynamics of the American workplace, demographics of aging, the development of a work problems counseling service within an Employee Assistance Program and the outcome of an employee assistance program that simultaneously meets the needs of employees who are facing the issues of caring for elderly family members and the goal of cost-effectiveness.
What will your program look like?
Program Philosophy
The Saint Mary's University Master of Arts in Human Development program provides learners with a vehicle that supports the development of an integrated philosophy of life as well as with means to reach that integration.
The program encourages the integration of personal and professional experience into the structure of graduate work. Ethics, the hallmark of the graduate curriculum at Saint Mary's University, is translated into the human development program as social responsibility. The ethic of social responsibility invites the student to move beyond enlightened self-interest to make a commitment to a greater connectedness and sharing of talents with the community at large. Moreover, values including integrity, social responsibility, honesty, sensitivity, and wonder are viewed as essential to intellectual, emotional, ethical, interpersonal, creative, and spiritual development, which is human development.
The program is designed to develop competence in understanding one's own experience and growth as well as that of others. Saint Mary's University encourages in-depth explorations of basic human concerns and the application of that knowledge to social problems as a direct demonstration of the ethics of social responsibility. The structure of the program is based on the premise that much growth occurs in the context of self-directed learning and that rigorous, scholarly study can and must be balanced with experience and a deeper confrontation with theory in terms of personal meaning.
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