About the Major
The Interdisciplinary Studies major provides a broad-based arts and sciences education for students seeking intellectual growth and personal change. Interdisciplinary Studies facilitates collaboration between and among intellectual disciplines and exposes students to a variety of subjects designed to establish a basis for lifelong learning and attainment of professional and personal goals. The major emphasizes creative, critical, and independent thinking so that students can make informed decisions in their professional and personal lives.
In Interdisciplinary Studies courses, students learn communication and critical thinking skills. Students also learn to interpret human experience through studies of aesthetic, historical, ethical, scientific, and cultural foundations. Students have great flexibility in designing and customizing their degree by choosing courses in areas of emphasis and minors, and completing internship hours directed to employment or continuing education.
Course Sampling
Graphic Novel as Literature – Students study the history and relationship between text and image from illuminated manuscripts through contemporary award-winning graphic novels
Human Evolution and Prehistory (Physical Anthropology) – Students combine archaeology and human physiology to demystify forensic and evolutionary issues
Stained Glass – Students develop, apply, and advance their skills to create original wonders of light and design
Field Botany – Introduces the natural living world with emphasis on field identification of plants, exposes the student to the different groups of plants and their ecological associations
Entomology – Introduces the natural living world with emphasis on insect identification, ecology and evolution, exposes the student to the different groups of insects and the kinds of interactions that exist among them and other organisms
Plants and People – This course focuses on food plants, medicinal plants, trade, and policy through the lenses of history and science
Gender in United States History – This course explores the concept of gender through an investigation of the relationships between men and women in American society, the laws regulating such relationships, and the representation of gender roles in literature and film
Revolutions – This course examines the causes and consequences of the American and French Revolution while exploring eighteenth-century Atlantic world culture
About the Field
Employers increasingly desire the skills of Interdisciplinary graduates, including creativity, flexibility, the ability to synthesize ideas and see from multiple perspectives, writing, research, and artistic abilities.
Potential Careers
Beacon Students: Life After Graduation
- Graduate Studies
- Public Relations
- Journalism
- Sales/Marketing
- Tourism
- Mass Communications
- K-6 Education
- Book Publishing
- Insurance Industry
- Fine Arts
- Fashion Industry
- Human Resources
- Business Management
- Advertising
- Research
- Self-Employment
- Bankers
- Museum Workers
- Construction Management
- Retail Management
- Sales Marketing
