Military Studies, MAMS (AHE)

Program Description

The Master of Arts in Military Studies at Columbia College is a graduate degree program that provides a liberal arts education with a practical flair. It emphasizes the study of military affairs from the perspectives of traditional disciplines such as history, philosophy, and political science. It accentuates instruction on military leadership and biography, military organizations and civilian relations, peacekeeping, geopolitics, historiography, and applicable methodologies of the liberal arts.

The Military Studies (MAMS) courses constitute a set of learning experiences that best suit the professional aspirations and academic interests of the individual. They are designed primarily to facilitate career advancement for personnel in the U.S. armed services. The learning process culminates with the completion of a thesis in an area of concentration approved in consultation with a faculty board. The breadth in the disciplinary coverage ensures that prospective graduate students will study the broad scope of military affairs.

Program Requirements

Assessment

The achievement of proficiency will be assessed in the culminating experience, which will result in the completion of a master’s thesis in consultation with a faculty board. The thesis will be completed and defended during the final session. Based upon primary and secondary sources of information, the expected length is at least 50 pages. As demonstrated by the completed thesis, graduates of the program will be able to:

• Analyze information and concepts pertinent to multiple disciplinary methodologies that are relevant to military affairs;
• Examine leadership issues and styles relevant to the U.S. armed services in the past;
• Evaluate competing theories about the justifications for warfare by making comparisons and contrasts;
• Define, classify, and articulate the major trends, events, and people influencing national defense policy;
• Synthesize different perspectives into a coherent and comprehensive approach to military affairs in the contemporary world;
• Develop a research project on military affairs in which information and concepts can be discussed through expository writing;
• Appraise different and available information and concepts in order to propose a specific methodology for a research project on military affairs;
• Create a publication quality thesis for reporting on the state of the art in military affairs.