Designed to provide background and training in teaching at the college level, the Graduate Certificate in College Teaching program includes course work, workshops and seminars that provide basic information on teaching and learning.

In addition, the program requires a mentored teaching experience and the development of a teaching portfolio. Part of the purpose of the program is to prepare graduate students to teach in a range of institutions such as community colleges, liberal arts colleges, research-intensive universities, etc.

The program is designed to supplement the student’s degree program, and it may be tailored to meet the needs and goals of individual participants. The program provides coherence for the varied teaching experiences TAs gain as part of their careers as graduate students.

This certification program offers teaching assistants a way of documenting their developing expertise as teachers. The materials developed in the teaching portfolio, along with the certificate and designation on the student’s transcript, may assist graduates seeking employment in an increasingly competitive job market.

To be eligible, students must be in a masters or doctoral program in the College of Arts and Letters and have a commitment to developing their teaching competence.

Talking about the digital and the humanities in the same breath is no longer strange or alien. Indeed, much of the humanities are now digital. From the camera to the screen, digital tools and technologies shape how we tell stories, make art, shape experiences, and create interactions.  Research has been similarly transformed by the availability of vast quantities of digital media (text, images, audio, and video). Learning how to work effectively in these digital environments is realm of digital humanists. 

The Digital Humanities Graduate Certificate is a 9-credit sequence and experience that will help graduate students to negotiate the new digital spaces of creativity and research.

The Graduate Specialization in Women and Gender is designed for completion by either Master’s or doctoral students. The graduate specialization in Women and Gender is designed to foster the study of women and gender across disciplines and national borders, provide opportunities for graduate students to obtain a comprehensive, cross/interdisciplinary academic experience in women and gender, and to foster the growth of interdisciplinary research and teaching on women and gender. Emphasis is given to understanding the diversity of women’s lives nationally and globally. The graduate specialization is open to graduate students with adequate undergraduate preparation in women and gender. The specialization should complement advanced, discipline-based degrees by providing an interdisciplinary, feminist component. All students are encouraged to develop competence in the foreign language most relevant to their field of work and area of interest.

View requirements for this specialization (MSU Registrar’s Office).

Please email the GenCen with any questions/concerns at: gencen@msu.edu

The Graduate Specialization in Animal Studies: Social Science and Humanities Perspectives, which is administered by the Department of Sociology, provides graduate students with basic knowledge of relationships between humans and other animals and how they are linked together in a fragile biosphere.

The graduate specialization is available as an elective for students who are enrolled in master’s or doctoral degree programs at Michigan State University. With the approval of the department and college that administers the student’s degree program, the courses that are used to satisfy the specialization may also be used to satisfy the requirements for a master’s or doctoral degree.

Students who plan to complete the requirements for the graduate specialization should consult the graduate advisor for the specialization in the Department of Sociology.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Linda Kalof
Department of Sociology
Michigan State University
6H Berkey Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824
lkalof@msu.edu

The Graduate Certificate in Chican@/Latinx Studies exposes students to methodologies specific to Chicano/Latino Studies, and to debates in the field that reflect larger transformations in United States culture and society. Students interested in research related to Chicanos and Latinos in the United States will find this certificate program of interest.

The Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Studies provides students with coursework and a scholarly community that places intellectual value on Indigenous knowledges, methodologies, and collaborative research. The Certificate in Indigenous Studies underscores the importance of American Indian and Indigenous knowledges, while students critically engage the place of Indigenous peoples and knowledge historically and contemporarily. The Certificate in Indigenous Studies draws on interdisciplinary research, teaching, and community engagement to examine these complex concepts and to respond to them thoughtfully. From a wide range of intellectual perspectives, students in this transdisciplinary program will work with, for, and on issues directly impacting Indigenous communities. While committed to comparative and global histories, knowledges, and sovereignties of Indigenous peoples, the Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Studies focuses primarily on Indigenous issues in the cross-border Great Lakes region, commonly known as Anishinaabewaki or Three Fires (Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi) Territory.

The Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Studies is available as a graduate certificate to students who are enrolled in any graduate degree program at Michigan State University.

The Graduate Certificate in Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities program expands your research and teaching skills in: 

  • Interdisciplinary arts and humanities
  • Creative, critical, and analytical thinking
  • Intercultural understanding
  • International experience
  • Language proficiency
  • Global awareness
  • Experiential learning

To apply:  Download, fill and print this form [PDF file]

Submit to:

Salah D Hassan, Director (hassans3@msu.edu)

Global Studies in the Arts & Humanities Program
B331 Wells Hall, 619 Red Cedar Rd.
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824

Requirements

Students must complete 6 credits and meet the following proficiency and international experiences:

  1. GSAH 850: Seminar on Global Theories and Concepts in the Arts and Humanities (3 credits)
  2. One graduate-level course (of at least 3 credits) offered outside of the student’s home program that addresses global issues or themes.  The course is chosen in consultation with the student’s primary advisor and approved by the Director of the Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities program.
  3. Completion of an international experience through participation in a study abroad program, an approved internship with a global dimension, or research experience. The experience is chosen by the student in consultation with their primary advisor and approved by the Director of the Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities program.
  4. Demonstration of oral proficiency in a language beyond one that is required by the student’s degree program. Demonstrating oral proficiency in a language that only reading proficiency is required by the student’s degree program can also meet this requirement.

Students can meet this requirement by:

  1. a)  Successful completion of an appropriate language course at the 400-level or above, or