The Interdisciplinary Studies Department strives to demonstrate and encourage dialogue among the disciplines. The IDS major provides an opportunity to cluster courses from different subject areas, and facilitates study in a variety of fields where the University has special strengths. All IDS majors also incorporate a sequence of interdisciplinary core courses which encourage integrative thinking and are designed to enable students to move easily between various specialized disciplines, and to integrate a working knowledge of interdisciplinary perspectives and methods with their concentration.
The general features of the B.A. degree in Interdisciplinary Studies are:
- A series of core courses which give all IDS majors a firm grounding in interdisciplinary perspectives and methods and which link them with the student's study in their concentration. These interdisciplinary core courses are:
- A choice of fifteen major concentrations :
American Studies | Appalachian Studies | Environmental Policy and Planning | Individually-Designed | Asian Studies | East European, Russian and Central Asian Studies | German Studies | Labor Studies | Latin American Studies | Modern European Studies | Third World Studies | Internet Studies | Liberal Studies: Modern | Sustainable Development | Women's Studies
All major concentrations in Interdisciplinary Studies require a minimum of 122 semester hours for the degree. In addition to the University core curriculum, the IDS major core, major concentration requirements, and minor requirements, students must also take electives to meet the minimum number of required hours. In all concentrations, students may select other courses with the consent of an IDS advisor. Courses taken for university core curriculum credit may not also be counted toward the major.
