Master of Arts in
Intercultural Studies
Master of Arts in
Intercultural Studies (MAIS)
36 units
AVAILABLE ON CAMPUS & 100% ONLINE
The Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies (MAIS) offers students a 36-unit graduate-level program of study that includes a core curriculum of biblical studies and interdisciplinary skills along with a targeted intercultural field study that includes an ethnography project. This highly specialized program requires students to complete a minimum of eight months of the program from a crosscultural field of study of the student’s choosing. By taking a full-time load of 9 units each trimester, the program can be completed in two years. Course availability, student load, adherence to student advisement, and other factors may extend or shorten the anticipated completion timeline.
PURPOSE
The MAIS degree is primarily designed to prepare students for:
• Cross-cultural Christian ministry including international missions and/or other leadership
roles that would find the student in a context not otherwise native to the student;
• Field work among a targeted foreign-language and/or people group.
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of the Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies program students will be able to:
1. Interpret the content of the Old and New Testaments utilizing a literal-grammatical-
historical hermeneutic;
2. Demonstrate a graduate-level proficiency in research and writing on a targeted cross-cultural people group of the student’s choosing;
3. Express essential Christian doctrines in a cross-cultural and missional context; and
4. Apply biblical knowledge for effective international missions work.
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Each candidate for the MAIS degree must meet the general graduation requirements and complete 36 units (or 12 three-unit courses) of graduate-level courses and:
1. Complete 36 units of graduate level courses as indicated below.
2. Complete at least 30 units at SCS.
3. Complete the program curriculum with not less than a 2.0 GPA.
4. Successfully complete the Intercultural Field Study (1 & 2) and the Ethnography Project.
5. Submit a petition to graduate to the Registrar by the deadline in the Academic Calendar.
6. Settle all financial obligations to SCS.
7. Be recommended by the faculty based on demonstrated moral integrity.
Degrees that get you where you want to go
Southern California Seminary is more than just another Bible seminary, offering generic degrees in Ministry and Theology. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of biblical study and truth. Our distinctives cumulatively make our institution unique among biblical seminaries in a day and age where the Word of God is not taken at face value, and core doctrines are being diluted.
You have goals. Southern California Seminary can help you achieve them. Do you need a bachelor’s degree to help fulfill God’s call on your life? Do you need a master’s or doctoral degree to take the next step in your ministry or career? SCS has a program—either Online or On-Campus—designed to renew your mind and deepen your faith in Jesus Christ.
SCS is seeking students with a hunger for learning about God and a desire to dig deeper into the Bible. From your first visit until your graduation, we will strive to support you in your spiritual growth, and prepare you to minister in the 21st century.
MA Intercultural Studies
Core Curriculum
BIBLICAL STUDIES – 9 UNITS
- BH-501 HERMENEUTICS
- BH-505 METHODS OF INDUCTIVE STUDY
- NT-601 ANALYSIS OF ROMANS
INTERDISCIPLINARY SKILLS – 12 UNITS
- RS-501 GRADUATE RESEARCH & WRITING
- PH-507 CHRISTIAN ETHICS AND LEADERSHIP
- TH-501 SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
- TH-508 COMPARATIVE SYSTEMS OF THEOLOGY
INTERCULTURAL STUDIES – 15 UNITS
- BC-515 CONFLICT RESOLUTION
- MI-503 CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
- MI-507 THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF MISSIONS
- MI-611 INTERCULTURAL FIELD STUDY 1 (TRIMESTER)*
- MI-612 INTERCULTURAL FIELD STUDY 2 (TRIMESTER)*
- MI-651 ETHNOGRAPHY PROJECT 1 (TRIMESTER)
- MI-652 ETHNOGRAPHY PROJECT 2 (TRIMESTER)
* Must be completed from a cross-cultural field of study of the student’s choosing
Our Distinctives
Southern California Seminary is more than just another Bible seminary — more than just another Christian College or Christian University. We hold ourselves to the highest standards of biblical study and truth. Our distinctives cumulatively make our institution unique among biblical seminaries in a day and age where the Word of God is not taken at face value, and core doctrines are being diluted.
Our Mission
Southern California Seminary’s mission is to bring glory to God by assisting local churches to equip believers of various cultures and languages to live and minister biblically based on the inerrant Word of God. This equipping includes building biblical knowledge, Christian character, and ministry skills—all at modest tuition.
Our Purpose
Southern California Seminary is a private institution of higher education dedicated to teaching from the inerrant Word of God. Here you will learn about God from His book – the Bible. As a ministry of Shadow Mountain Community Church, under the leadership of Dr. David Jeremiah, SCS offers the highest quality of biblical education with a tuition that is refreshingly affordable.