Most of the individual departments represented in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences have numerous links with other disciplines; consequently, many faculty members encourage students to take courses in related disciplines. Students will often find opportunities to explore relationships among different disciplines while studying within traditional disciplines.

The college also has several established interdisciplinary programs leading to full undergraduate degrees, minors, certificates and graduate degrees. A brief description of each program follows, with a link to its respective program section.

Undergraduate

• The MINOR IN CHINESE STUDIES  combines studies in language, literature and social sciences for students wishing to explore the interwoven perpectives of Chinese culture.

• The EDUCATIONAL STUDIES MINOR AND K-12 TEACHER LICENSURE PROGRAMS , in collaboration with the School of Education & Human Development, enable students to add educational training to their liberal arts and sciences discipline studies.

• The ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES MINOR  allows students to choose courses from the social sciences, physical sciences, engineering, humanities and statistics to create a unique program of study.

• The ETHNIC STUDIES MINOR  provides students the opportunity, through academic investigation, to develop a greater understanding of the cultural pluralism of the present day United States and to acquire skills needed in professional and social service fields.

• The INDIVIDUALLY STRUCTURED MAJOR (ISM)  provides liberal arts and sciences students the freedom to create their own interdisciplinary major centered around an academic or career theme.

• The INTERNATIONAL STUDIES MAJOR  affords students the opportunity to learn about diverse cultures as they acquire the methodological tools to analyze the world from different academic disciplines. Study abroad experiences are strongly encouraged in this major.

• The LAW STUDIES MINOR  introduces the study of law in relation to social and political discourse, and provides preparation for students contemplating application to law school.

• The PUBLIC HEALTH MAJOR  enables students to get either a BA or BS degree in public health, depending on their focus. They may choose from over 100 electives in 14 academic departments, in addition to specific public health core courses.

• The MINOR IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES  gives students a grounding in religious traditions through such interrelated disciplines as anthropology, literature, philosophy and psychology.

• The MINOR IN SOCIAL JUSTICE  invites students to consider social justice as a goal of every healthy society and the best guarantee for sustaining peace. Two components of social justice are civic engagement and critical consumption, around which students create an interdisciplinary course of study.

• Students in the MINOR IN SUSTAINABILITY  are encouraged to integrate approaches from different disciplines to problems related to sustainability, including sustainable ecology, environmental ethics, sustainable food production, critical consumerism and environmental policymaking.

• The WOMEN’S AND GENDER STUDIES MINOR  focuses on the ways in which gender and sexuality help us to understand our past and present worlds, combining course work from humanities and social sciences disciplines.

Graduate

• The MS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE  combines environmental courses from the social sciences, physical sciences, engineering, humanities and statistics. A graduate certificate is also available.

•  PhD IN HEALTH AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES  students integrate social, cultural and biomedical perspectives to understand the underpinnings of health and the conditions essential for its creation and maintenance.

• Students interested in synthesizing curricula in the arts, communication, history, literature, philosophy and theatre at the graduate level may be interested in the MASTER OF HUMANITIES (MH)  degree.

• The MASTER OF INTEGRATED SCIENCES (MIS)  degree enables students to combine course work and independent research within the disciplines of computer science, math, chemistry, biology, physics or geology.

• Students in the MASTER OF SOCIAL SCIENCE (MSS)  degree program develop their own interdisciplinary curriculum in the social sciences (anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology and sociology), as well as related disciplines (such as English, philosophy, education, public affairs and architecture).

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