Dick Slade

"I wondered if my mind still had the ability to deal with abstracts, to debate great books or great music with knowledgeable peers, to think about the liberal arts as real-and not material for the attic."

What led you to studying liberal studies on the graduate level?
As I got older, I increasingly regretted having  taken so many narrowly focused courses as a college undergraduate (like Russian Economic History) and missed those classes that identified the intertwining of education and the broader survey class (History of Western Thought) or even Music 101. I saw an advertisement for the MALS program and was intrigued enough to get the materials: there I found the wonders of class offerings that actually sounded both intellectual and accessible. So I jumped in.

What was your experience in Hamline's MALS program?
There were a number of wonderful course offerings taught by professors of different disciplines. These were subjects that might have been dreamed up during a coffee break (“How a French 

Historian looks at American Advertising”), but were cunningly prepared and  provided an unusual challenge to the mental approach of the students. I marveled  at the ease with which the paired faculty could conduct their class down two streets at the same time. It took me five years to finish the program, since I could never manage two courses at the same time, but that extended the academic aura in my life.

How has the program impacted your life since you graduated? 
I had always enjoyed writing for my own amusement and for some professional opportunities. Every class in the MALS program required a  certain amount of writing, which I enjoyed. I had never, however, thought of  myself as a "writer" until some of the MALS faculty (not the writers) suggested that I might enjoy and benefit from a little more concentration on the skills of  writing. So I wrote a thesis on iron mining, the North Shore of Lake Superior  and company towns that somehow held together and allowed me to graduate—and it  was a lot of fun. So when I had graduated, I wrote a long essay on walking the 190 miles of the Superior Hiking Trail—which no oneread. Then I wrote a book  on the closely related histories of the First Bank System and Norwest  Bancorporation and it was not only published, but numbers of people actually read  it. Never would have happened.

Read A letter from Dick Slade

Want to try a GLS course?
Sample a course and earn credit that may later be applied to your degree. Current Course Sampling Opportunities>

Want to apply?
Go to the Admission webpage for admission requirements, application information or to request information.