The Formation of Knowledge MAPSS certificate requires students to take 1 core seminar Ways of Knowing (which also counts towards the MAPSS Methods requirement), two additional seminars, and to work closely with at least one faculty supervisor at or affiliated with the Institute on the Formation of Knowledge who will oversee and approve a MA thesis. 

In addition to the core and two elective seminars, MAPSS students will be required to produce an MA thesis (30–40 pages in length) that explores a foundational question in the formation of knowledge. During this process students will benefit from active support by faculty and instructors. The Formation of Knowledge certificate challenges students to creatively employ the tools they have acquired in their core MAPSS Perspectives on Social Science course as well as the core and elective seminars they have taken at IFK, in order to refine and reshape the intellectual framework of their research questions and theses. 

Click here to learn more about the MAPSS Formation of Knowledge Certificate 

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As a new graduate student I was seeking a supportive interdisciplinary academic community with a shared dedication to inquiry. I found exactly that at IFK, and have really thrived here because of it. Any opportunity for graduate students to take interdisciplinary courses is going to prepare us to do the research of the future- research that is not stuck in the fraught silos of traditional disciplines. The courses that I have taken with IFK instructors have fundamentally shaped my intellectual development and career trajectory and my instructors have supported both my course work and my thesis.

  • Graduate student, Sociology and IFK Certificate