Harrison Middleton University

Hello All,

I am new to degreeinfo, having just been a lurker for the past few weeks. I am contemplating doing an MA in Humanities at HMU. They allow up to 18ch to transfer, and I have well over that in grad credits that would be applicable to the program.

My question is for those of you who have been in the program. What are your opinions of it? How is your degree received? It seems like an awesome program. I think the main thing that is holding me back is that it is NA.

Looking forward to your responses!

 

I think that in general HMU enjoys a good rep on this board although I don't think there are many of our members who have attended. We seem to talk of it mainly in terms of it's DA program which is rather unique. I think that you may be right in wondering about it's accreditation but whether it would serve you well may depend entirely on how you hope to use that Masters degree. If you could say something on that topic we may be able to give you a better answer (or suggest alternatives).

 

Thanks for your reply.

Basically, I don't need the MA. I am about to complete a Masters in a professional area. My main goal is to take all the OTHER grad credit I have (37ch covering history, literature, education, and religion) and turn it into a degree. It would be more for personal reasons than professional need, being able to list an MA in lieu of "Additional Graduate Study at X X and X universities."

I wonder if it wouldn't be better to just do more courses toward a degree, say at Western New Mexico in their MAIS program, to open up the potential to teach at a CC at night. I have prior experience as a TA, so that background would agument my chances. I work at an RA and understand how snarky faculty and staff can be about degrees.

 

I occasionally visit HMU and contemplate signing up for a Master's. The Great Books approach has always interested me. But I have just one nagging doubt...why does the school have no foreign language requirement? The idea is to study the orginal texts that shape Western Civilization. Well, no one could master all of the languages that would require (except maybe a Swiss fifth-grader) but surely a stab could be made at reading one or two, especially since the school offers a Doctor of Arts.

 

Traditional B&M PhD programs commonly have language requirements, especially in humanities and history. Just google "PhD language requirement". For example, the Harvard History Dept. says:

It's less common in sciences, although some programs will ask PhD candidates to prepare an English translation of a scientific paper in their field of interest, with the use of dictionaries and no time limit. Language requirements are even rarer (maybe non-existent?) in engineering programs.

 

That is true, though my local school, New Mexico State University, DOES have a language requirement for all B.A. degrees and most other UG programs.

There is nothing like learning another language to reasonable competence (not necessarily fluency) to teach you the limits of translation. Even if you undertake just ONE additional language, the process will equip you to be suspicious of translations in general and that, I think, is an appropriate attitude to take in scholarship.

 

Well, I had replied about my plans, but I'm not sure where that post went :bigeyes:

The long and the short of it is that the MA is a way for me to a) explore some cool ideas and b) act as a avenue for me to turn in my other random 37 grad chs into a degree that I could list on my resume in lieu of "additional grad study at X X & X."

I am about to finish a professional Masters degree and would not use the HMU degree for my profession. It would really just be a way for me to exploit my past credits and learn things that are personally interesting to me.

I am curious to know what the experiences of others in the program have been like.

Hope this post goes through!

 

Hi BooksandWoods,

This link will explain where your post went. Welcome aboard!

 

Keep in mind that many DETC-acccredited universities are small, "shoestring" operations. For example, HMU started its Master's programs in 2003; as of Dec. 31, 2012, they had issued a grand total of 18 Master's degrees (including 6 in Humanities), with 10 students still enrolled (including 3 in Humanities). So there may not be a lot of HMU students and graduates out there to respond to your questions.

You may find some useful info in this previous degreeinfo thread.

 

I'll chime in

I'm currently in the HMU Philosophy/Religion Master's program, with two courses and the thesis remaining. I can tell you that they are not like Excelsior or one of the other more "generous" colleges in accepting almost any course for transfer. They go over every course transfer request with a fine-tooth comb and if the course(s) do not help achieve the goals of your self-designed curriculum, it/they won't be accepted for transfer. The one advantage I've seen over most other distance learning colleges is we have ten years to complete our degrees.

And to answer the others' questions about foreign language requirements, the primary sources in the graduate programs are the Great Books of the Western World; all foreign language material from the originals was translated into English.