Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts

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Graduate education for a renewed generation of scholars.

The Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts is committed to the recovery and renewal of the Western heritage of liberal arts and the Christian intellectual tradition. Each area of study is informed by a unique sense of paiedeia, the education of the soul, which attends to the person as a whole.
The Braniff Graduate School confers doctorates, master’s degrees and certificates in academic, artistic and professional disciplines.

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Student Resources

Degrees

Doctoral Program

The University of Dallas grants all doctoral degrees through the Institute of Philosophic Studies (IPS). The IPS offers a single PhD degree with three possible concentrations: literature, philosophy or politics. No other university offers an interdisciplinary PhD with a core curriculum in which students of different fields participate as a community.

Fine Art

Characterized by a deep dedication to the creative process, graduate programs in art at the University of Dallas pair the study of visual art with disciplined studio practice. UD offers both the intermediate MA and the terminal MFA in art. Students concentrate in ceramics, painting, printmaking or sculpture.

Master of Arts

Along with programs in the traditional humanities, the University of Dallas offers master’s degrees in psychology, education and ministry.

Graduate Certificates

The University of Dallas offers several 18-credit hour certificate programs in ministry and education. Though certificate programs are designed to accommodate working professionals seeking to improve as ministers or teachers, students may also work toward most certificates full time.

Doctoral Program

The University of Dallas grants all PhDs through the Institute of Philosophic Studies. The IPS awards one PhD with three possible concentrations: literature, philosophy and politics.
In addition to their concentration coursework, all PhD students complete a common core curriculum, an interdisciplinary selection of great books chosen for their power to explore the human soul on its deepest moral plane. No other university offers an interdisciplinary PhD in which students from the different fields of the humanities learn as a community.

Literature Philosophy Politics

Art

Students may specialize in ceramics, painting, printmaking or sculpture.The graduate programs in studio art seek to provide the self-motivated student with the tools needed to meet the demands required of the professional working artist. UD’s curriculum pairs the study of visual art with disciplined studio practice to define a clear understanding of the work and its evolution.

Graduate Art

Master’s Programs

From clinics to classrooms, the liberal foundation of the Braniff Graduate School prepares master’s students for meaningful work in a breadth of fields.

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Graduate Certificates

The University of Dallas offers short certificate programs for working professionals seeking to improve as ministers or educators.

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Alumni Success

William Stigall, MD, MA ’09 | Chief Research Officer, Cook Children’s Medical Center

“Philosophy is absolutely essential to the practice of medicine. I don't know how those without a background in philosophy do it.”

Philosophy

Michelle Cortez-Gonzales, MFA ’20 | National Endowment for the Arts Grant Recipient

“The faculty at UD are deeply passionate about their work and the work their students are doing.”

Visual Art

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, MTS ’00 | Author, Evangelist

“UD changed the way I thought about my faith, about the Mass; it changed the way I thought about my diaconal ministry; it really laid a very strong foundation in my life for everything that I’m doing today.”

Ministry

Jameson Taylor, PhD ’07, Politics | Coauthor, Mississippi Gestational Age Act

“I wouldn’t have been as effective in this work had I not gone to UD. It was at UD where I learned how to dialogue with people who have different thoughts and beliefs.”

Politics

Rebekah Shaffer, MH ’23 | School Head, Covenant School

“The program strengthened my faith as well as my love for learning. … What UD offers is truly exceptional.”

Classical Education

Matthew Mehan, PhD ’14 | Associate Dean, Van Andel School of Government, Hillsdale College

“The University of Dallas is the finest continuation of the Catholic tradition of university education in the West.”

Literature

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