Exploring liberal arts at a highly integrated level is not always possible in a career-focused undergraduate curriculum. As with MLS, the DLS program is tailored toward working adults, retirees and other non-traditional university students who wish to broaden their knowledge in fields they may not have studied in their earlier education. Courses are taught by distinguished Rice faculty and invited visiting faculty who maintain the high academic standards of Rice University.

Designed primarily for those who have completed the MLS degree – or other similar graduate liberal studies – the DLS option allows these graduates to maximize and enhance their academic investment.

The DLS program also welcomes non-MLS students on a case-by-case basis that considers academic background and future goals. Well-prepared applicants who are accepted into the program can deepen their interdisciplinary knowledge while honing research and writing skills. This combination lays the foundation for potentially richer contributions to their community in the form of critical publications, community service, doctoral studies or career work.

The DLS program allows students to build on the multidisciplinary foundation of their graduate liberal studies degrees (or similar educational background) while also deepening their knowledge in three ways:

1. Add to their broad, multidisciplinary perspective by building depth in two chosen “focus disciplines,” taking three courses in each discipline in the DLS program
2. Learn more about how to synthesize materials in these two disciplines, by means of an emphasis on genuinely interdisciplinary research
3. Combine these two accomplishments, greater knowledge in two focus disciplines and greater ability to interdisciplinary research to complete a Diploma project or Diploma thesis in the final two terms of their DLS work.

This interdisciplinary research, involving knowledge drawn from their two focus disciplines, and allowing students to arrive at new knowledge by synthesizing material from the two disciplines, would allow students to use their new knowledge and skills to produce a work of which they can be proud.