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- MSIS / Master of Arts (Women's and Gender Studies)
- MSIS / Master of Arts with a Major in Middle Eastern Studies
- MSIS / Master of Arts in Latin American Studies
- MSIS / Juris Doctor Degree
Master of Science in Information Studies / Master of Arts (Women's and Gender Studies)
The Center for Women's and Gender Studies and the School of Information offer a dual program leading to the Master of Arts with a major in women's and gender studies and the Master of Science in Information Studies. The program combines training in information studies with study of the role that gender plays in shaping society.
Students seeking admission to the dual degree program must apply through the Graduate and International Admissions Center. Students must be accepted by each individual program in order to be admitted to the dual program. Like all other graduate applicants, the student is responsible for submitting any additional information required by the Graduate Studies Committee for each program.
Students must complete at least sixty-one semester hours of coursework, including either a professional report or a thesis supervised by a faculty member from either the School of Information or the Center for Women's and Gender Studies. All students must complete nine core courses:
- Information Studies 180J: Introduction to Information Studies
- Information Studies 382C: Understanding and Serving Users
- Information Studies 384C: Organizing and Providing Access to Information
- Information Studies 387C: Managing Information Services and Organizations
- Information Studies 397C: Introduction to Research in Information Studies
- Women's and Gender Studies 390: Foundations I: Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies
- Women's and Gender Studies 391: Foundations II: Feminist Theories
- Women's and Gender Studies 392: Foundations III: Research Seminar on Women's and Gender Studies
- Information Studies 385T (Topic: Gender, Technology, and Information) OR
Women's and Gender Studies 393 (Gender, Technology, and Information) OR
an equivalent course approved by both programs' graduate advisors.
The student must also complete three or four additional courses related to women, gender, sexuality, or feminism and taught by faculty members affiliated with the Center for Women's and Gender Studies, including faculty members from the School of Information.
Details are available from the graduate advisor of either program.
Master of Science in Information Studies / Master of Arts with a Major in Middle Eastern Studies
The Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the School of Information offer a dual program leading to the Master of Arts with a major in Middle Eastern studies and the Master of Science in Information Studies. The program combines training in information studies and study of the cultures and societies of the Middle East and North Africa.
Students seeking admission to the dual degree program must apply through the Graduate and International Admissions Center. Students must be accepted by each individual program in order to be admitted to the dual program. Like all other graduate applicants, the student is responsible for submitting any additional information required by the Graduate Studies Committee for each program.
Students must complete at least seventy-three semester hours of coursework, including a professional report co-supervised by a faculty member from the School of Information and a faculty member from the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Students must also demonstrate proficiency in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Turkish equal to that shown by completion of two years of coursework; students who are native speakers of one of these languages must demonstrate proficiency in a second Middle Eastern language.
Details are available from the graduate advisor of either program.
Master of Science in Information Studies / Master of Arts in Latin American Studies
Joint degree program leading to the Master of Science in Information Studies (MSIS) and the Master of Arts in Latin American Studies (MA). The degree programs are administered by the School of Information (iSchool) and the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS) at the University of Texas at Austin. Students in the program will be able to complete both degrees in three academic years, which is approximately one year less than it would take to complete the two degrees individually, reducing the credit load from 73 (33 LLILAS + 40 iSchool) to 61 overall. The credits will include 31 credits in the iSchool and 30 credits in the LLILAS program. This joint degree program will culminate with the completion of a Master’s thesis on a topic that combines both Information Studies and Latin American Studies.
Students pursuing the joint degree in Information Studies and Latin American Studies will be required to complete a Master’s thesis on a topic that combines both Information Studies and Latin American Studies. Each student will complete:
- 61 credits composed of the following requirements for each discipline;
- 3 iSchool core courses totaling 9 credits:
- 22 credits of elective coursework in the iSchool;
- 15 credits of Latin American coursework in the major discipline;
- 9 credits of Latin American coursework in the minor discipline;
- and LAS 398A and LAS 398B courses for their thesis hours plus INF 181E - Individual Studies Electronic Portfolio. INF 181E is typically taken during the second semester of thesis hours.
The major and minor disciplines referred to here are concentrations within LAS selected by the student as academic emphases.
Master of Science in Information Studies / Juris Doctor Degree
The University of Texas Schools of Information (iSchool) and Law offer a dual degree program leading to two graduate degrees, the Master of Science in Information Studies degree (MSIS) and the Juris Doctor degree (JD). The dual degree program responds to an increased need for specialists trained in both of these fields who are thus positioned to help address issues arising from the increasingly complex and changing world of legal information use, retrieval, and storage. The program enables students to earn both degrees simultaneously in three academic years, including one summer. While the length of the degree program is streamlined, students will still satisfy all of the existing requirements of both programs.
Admissions
Students must meet the separate admissions criteria of each school and must be separately admitted to both schools before they can be approved for admission to the dual degree program. Applicants applying to both programs at the same time should submit a written statement of interest in the dual degree program as part of the separate application to each program. Students who begin work in one of the schools and then apply for admission to the other program will submit a written statement of interest in the dual degree program as part of their application to the second program; they should submit the same statement of interest to the advisor for the dual degree program in the school in which they are already enrolled.
Graduation Requirements
To complete the MSIS/JD dual degree program, students must meet all of the requirements of the dual degree program. The degrees will be awarded simultaneously when the student has completed all of the dual degree program requirements. These requirements include 34 of iSchool courses (25 hours required including the capstone + 9 of electives) and 68-70 hours of law school courses (36 hours required + 26-28 of electives + 6 of intellectual property courses.) The Professional Experience and Project required in the MSIS degree can be completed by JDs doing the equivalent work in one of the law school’s clinical education programs. Two of the iSchool courses are already crosslisted with the Law School.