Interdisciplinary Studies
Coordinator
James Colbert
Objectives for the Program in Interdisciplinary Studies
The bachelor of science and bachelor of arts in Interdisciplinary Studies degrees provide for individually designed, interdisciplinary majors, which allow students to work with faculty advisors to develop a course of study that responds to individual educational and professional goals. Additional objectives are:
- To enable students to explore multidisciplinary areas and to integrate them in a coherent and meaningful way through the creation of a senior capsone project
- To provide the opportunity for majors that combine the broadly-based Liberal Arts and Sciences courses with professional courses that are individually chosen to create a minor and two areas of concentration
- To provide the opportunity, for a part-time, individually paced education, which allows students to build their academic confidence and integrate their studies more easily into their lives
Description of the Major in Interdisciplinary Studies
There are many possible combinations of course work available through this major, limited only by the breadth of courses offered through the day and evening divisions of the college. When creating a plan of study, a student must have a rationale for a thematic approach to their program.
Criteria for Admissions
There is a formal application procedure for students who choose to major in Interdisciplinary Studies. The purpose of the application is to:
- Set forth the student's academic and professional goals and demonstrate why they are best achieved through the Interdisciplinary Studies program
- Require students to outline their proposed program
- Stipulate any required independent exercise or internship
Requirements for the Major in Interdisciplinary Studies
The Interdisciplinary Studies degree is normally awarded as a bachelor of science. A bachelor of arts is awarded if the student includes foreign language study through the second year of college-level work and concentrates their field of studies in the Liberal Arts and Sciences fields. Other requirements include:
- A rationale and a thematic organizing principle for each program
- A minimum of 36 semester hours of coursework for the major with a college-approved minor within one of the three fields
- A minimum of nine semester hours in each of the other two fields
- A common core of three Liberal Arts and Sciences interdisciplinary courses:
IDIS 1800 Global Issues
MUSC 2000 Commonwealth of the Arts or
MUSC 2100 Commonwealth of the Ancient Arts
PHIL 1100 Logic or
PHIL 2600 Philosophy of Human Nature or
PHIL 3340 Contemporary Philosophy or
PHIL 4430 Marxism
- A senior-year Capstone course intended to help students to integrate the various fields of study. This may take the form of an independent study or an internship (3-15 semester hours)
- A minimum 30 semester hours of course work completed after the program of study is approved and filed with the registrar
- Students must be admitted to the major prior to their senior year
Students' programs must meet the approval of their Interdisciplinary Studies advisor.
Interdisciplinary Studies Major for Early Childhood, Elementary
Students in Early Childhood, Elementary, and Special Education are required to select Interdisciplinary Studies as their Liberal Arts and Sciences major.
Required
IDIS 1800 Global Issues
IDIS 4000 Capstone with Seminar
MUSC 2000 Commonwealth of the Arts or
MUSC 2100 Ancient Arts
PHIL 1100 Logic or
PHIL 2600 Philosophy of Human Nature
Choose three Areas:
Students are required to have 1 minor and two concentrations from four curriculum areas in bold approved deemed appropriate by the advisor minor. This plan shows the English minor.
English (Minor—18 credits)
ENGL 2000 American Literature I: Exploration to Civil War or
ENGL 2001 American Literature II: Civil War to Present
ENGL 2200 English Literature I: Beowulf to Milton or
ENGL 2210 English Literature II: Pepys to Shelly or
ENGL 2220 English Literature III: Bronte to Rushdie
ENGL 2400 World Literature I or
ENGL 2500 World Literature II or
Literature with "C" designation
ENGL 2900 Children's Literature or elective
ENGL 3000+ Literature elective
two Literature electives at 3000 or above
History/Social Science (12 credits)
HIST 1000 World Civilization I or
HIST 1100 World Civilization II
HIST 1400 US History I and
HIST 1500 US History II
ECON 1250 Introduction to Economics for Non-majors or
POLS 1000 US Government
Math (nine credits)
MATH 1250 Functions
MATH 1400 Math Across the Curriculum
MATH 1700 Applied Statistics
MATH 2000 Informal Geometry
PHIL 1100 Logic
Science (nine-ten credits)
GEOG 1000 Intro to Geography
Choose 2 of the following:
BIOL 1000 Life Science I or
BIOL 1100 Life Science II
BIOL 1200 Anatomy and Physiology I
GEOG 1300 Earth, Sea, and Air
PHYS 1100 Physical Science I or
PHYS 1200 Physical Science II
Interdisciplinary Studies Major for Special Education Majors
Students in Special Education are required to select Interdisciplinary Studies as their Liberal Arts and Sciences major.
Required
IDIS 1800 Global Issues
IDIS 4000 Capstone with Seminar
MUSC 2000 Commonwealth of the Arts, or
MUSC 2100 Commonwealth of the Ancient Arts
PHIL 1100 Logic
Choose three Areas:
Students are required to have one minor and two concentrations from four curriculum areas in bold below approved deemed appropriate by the advisor minor. This plan shows the English minor.
English (Minor-18 credits)
ENGL 2900 Children's Literature
ENGL 2300 Literature and Disability
ENGL 2000 American Literature I: Exploration to Civil War or
ENGL 2100 American Literature II: Civil War to Present
ENGL 2200 English Literature I: Beowulf to Milton or
ENGL 2210 English Literature II: Pepys to Shelly or
ENGL 2220 English Literature III: Bronte to Rushdie
One Literature elective at the 3000 level
One Literature elective at the 4000 level
Area I: Physical Sciences (9-10 credits)
GEOG 1000 Intro to Geography
Choose 2 of the following:
BIOL 1000 Life Science I or
BIOL 1100 Life Science II
BIOL 1200 Anatomy and Physiology I
GEOG 1100 Intro to Geography
GEOG 1300 Earth, Sea, and Air
PHYS 1100 Physical Science I or
PHYS 1200 Physical Science II
Area II: Math (9 credits)
MATH 1250 Intro to Functions
MATH 1400 Math Across the Curriculum
MATH 1700 Applied Statistics
MATH 2000 Informal Geometry
PHIL 1100 Logic
Area III: History/Social Science (9 credits)
ECON 1250 Introduction to Economics for Non-majors
Choose 1 of the following:
HIST 1400 US History I
HIST 1500 US History II
POLS 1000 US Government
Choose 1 of the following:
HIST 1000 World Civilization I
HIST 1100 World Civilization II
HIST 1150 World Civilization III
Interdisciplinary Studies Major for Middle School Education Majors
Students in Middle School Education elect Interdisciplinary Studies as their second major and select two areas among English, Social Sciences, Mathematics or General Science (to include Biology, Geo-Physical Science, and Chemistry) as defined by the Massachusetts Department of Education. Students will select the areas with the guidance of their advisor in Interdisciplinary Studies in order to remain in compliance with the Massachusetts Department of Education licensure requirements for a middle school teacher.
Students will complete their capstone during student teaching. They will develop an Integrated Unit, which incorporates the 2 areas of study. The capstone will be approved by the Interdisciplinary Studies Chair and supervised by the faculty of the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Middle School Education Department and the cooperating teacher from the school where the student is student teaching.
Required
IDIS 1800 Global Issues
IDIS 4000 Capstone with Seminar
MUSC 2000 Commonwealth of the Arts, or
MUSC 2100 Commonwealth of the Ancient Arts
PHIL 1100 Logic or
PHIL 2600 Philosophy of Human Nature
Students are required to have a college approved minor (18 semester hours) in Math, History, or English Literature and a minimum of 9 semester hours in each of 2 clusters in one other area. Students will select courses in each cluster with the guidance of their advisor in Interdisciplinary Studies to ensure they meet course prerequisite requirements and licensure content competencies. Additional semester hours within one of the areas may be needed to fulfill current content competencies and licensure requirements.
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