In the process of acquiring this more comprehensive knowledge base, students will become cultural and social critics, increasing their ability to recognize and analyze current cultural problems and issues.

The MAIS degree reflects the shifts in graduate education toward more interdisciplinary degrees. David Damrosch wrote in the November, 2000 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education:

"Pressure for substantial change [in graduate education] is mounting . . . fueled by a host of distinct but interconnected factors[including] . . . a rapid increase in interdisciplinary approaches to complex problems that may not be well suited to study from the perspective of a single, departmentally based subfield, which is still the norm for much graduate training.” (David Damrosch, Chronicle, 11/17/00)