Program Requirements

The ISM program plan requires course work over two or three disciplines. A discipline is defined as a single department or program such as biology, ethnic studies or math. The ISM program plan must comply with the following policies:

1. Students must complete a minimum of 42 credits from approved coursework.
2. Students must complete a minimum of 18 upper division (3000 level and above) credit hours with a minimum of 9 upper division level credit hours in Disciplines I and II.
3. Students must earn a minimum grade of C-(1.7) in all major courses taken at CU Denver and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. All graded attempts in required and elective courses are calculated in major GPA. Students cannot complete major or ancillary course requirements as pass/fail.
4. A minimum of 24 credit hours must be completed with CU Denver faculty (at least 9 credits in Disciplines I and II, in addition to ISMA 3100 and ISMA 4900).

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

1. Once the ISM course contract is filed, any changes to coursework must be approved by the student’s Primary Faculty Advisor and resubmitted to the Associate Dean for Diversity, Outreach and Initiatives and to the student’s CLAS Academic Advisor.
2. A minimum of 30 semester hours must be completed in liberal arts and sciences course work.
3. A maximum of one discipline (15 credits) may be outside CLAS.
4. A third optional discipline may be a mixture of course work, excluding courses from the first and second disciplines.
5. An ISM title must be consistent with the academic theme and disciplines in the program plan.
6. Students may petition the Associate Dean for Diversity, Outreach and Initiatives to fulfill their introduction and capstone outside of ISMA 3100 and ISMA 4900.
7. The ISM proposal should be approved before students have taken one-third of the classes listed in their course contracts.

Roles and Responsibilities

Student

• creates the ISM proposal and course contract (in collaboration with faculty advisors)
• meets regularly with ISM Primary Advisor to assess progress through ISM
• fulfills requirements of ISM course contract

Associate Dean for Diversity, Outreach and Initiatives

• approves student proposals for ISM
• signs off on ISM course contracts
• maintains records of ISM applications
• certifies graduation

Primary Faculty Advisor

• approves ISM course contract
• meets with ISM advisees to monitor progress
• oversees advisees’ capstone projects

Other Faculty Advisors

• approve course contract
• help with capstone projects when needed

CLAS Academic Advisor

• reviews overall course contract
• approves exempt core area

ISM Coursework Requirements

Complete the following courses:

ISMA 3100-should be taken early in the academic career (i.e. sophomore year)

ISMA 4900-should be taken toward the end of the academic career (i.e. senior year)

• ISMA 3100 - Learning Across Disciplines (3 credit hours)

•  

  Interdisciplinary Coursework (42-48 credit hours)
  While the ISM requires students to take a minimum of 15 credit hours in each of two disciplines, students can fulfill the remainder of their credit hours by contracting with additional disciplines or by creating a “grab bag”: choosing courses from a variety of disciplines that suit their ISM plan. Up to 15 credit hours for an ISM can come from outside of CLAS.

   

  Sample breakdowns of what ISM coursework might look like:
  Discipline I: 15 hours
  Discipline II: 15 hours
  Discipline III: 9 hours
  Discipline IV: 9 hours
  Total: 48 credit hours

   

  Discipline I: 18 hours
  Discipline II: 15 hours
  “Grab Bag” from four disciplines: 12 hours
  Total: 45 credit hours

   

  Discipline I: 24 hours
  Discipline II: 18 hours
  Total: 42 credit hours

   

• ISMA 4900 - Interdisciplinary Studies Capstone (3 credit hours)

•  

  Examples

   

  Examples of Interdisciplinary Studies Major themes could include:

   

  1. Global Health
  2. Victorian Studies
  3. Gender and Media
  4. Applied Sciences
  5. Urban Studies
  6. Consumers and Consumption
  7. Disability Studies
  8. Health and Sexuality
  9. Human Rights
  10. Human-centered design and innovation
  11. Food Studies
  12. Science, Technology, and Society
  13. Latin American Studies

   

  An example course contract for Global Health could look like:

   

  Discipline I: Anthropology
  ANTH 1000 Anthropology: Past and Present OR ANTH 2102: Culture and the Human Experience
  ANTH 3032 Anthropology of Health Care Policy
  ANTH 3210 Urban Food Systems and Sustainability
  ANTH 4080 Global Health Practice (Travel Study Course)
  ANTH 4300 Migrant Health

   

  Discipline II: Public Health
  PBHL 2001 Introduction to Public Health
  PBHL 3041 Health, Culture, and Society
  PBHL 3070 Perspectives in Global Health
  PBHL 3071 Global Topics in Sexual and Reproductive Health
  PBHL 4020 Global Health: Comparative Public Health Systems

   

  Grab Bag
  COMM 4500 Health Communication
  ECON 4660 Health Economics
  GEOG 3501 Geography of Health
  HIST 4346 Medicine and Society: Ancients to the Present
  SOCY 3440 Medical Sociology

   

  Example of learning objectives for the ISM in Global Health:

   

  Develop knowledge of current global health issues.

   

  14. Identify the theories, methods, and analytical perspectives of anthropology and public health to understand global health systems.
  15. Synthesize the theories, methods, and analytical perspectives of anthropology and public health, with input from other disciplines, to answer interdisciplinary questions.
  16. Communicate ideas effectively in writing and through speaking.
  17. Critically evaluate a variety of textual and statistical evidence.
  18. Demonstrate ethical approaches to studying a variety of cultural perspectives.