Interdisciplinary Studies Major, BA

Credit hours: 120

Full-time, part-time

On-Campus

Start Terms: fall, spring, summer

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' Interdisciplinary Studies Major (ISM) provides students with the opportunity to construct an individualized degree that meets their unique needs and interests, while earning a B.A. This flexible program allows students to follow academic pursuits that transcend traditional departmental and collegiate boundaries, by combining coursework from two, three, or more academic units, to explore a particular theme.

An ISM tends to be more focused than traditional majors and should not be considered a default major for students uncertain about their course of study.

Application

In order to declare an Interdisciplinary Studies Major, students are required to submit a program plan that includes a proposal and a course contract.

Students should aim to complete a program plan before the end of the sophomore year.

The proposal should be approved before students have taken one-third of the classes listed in their course contracts. Copies of your completed ISM proposal and course contract must be filed with the Associate Dean for Planning, Initiatives, and Diversity and with your CLAS Academic Advisor. For more information contact BRANDON.S.MILLS@UCDENVER.EDU.

The Interdisciplinary Studies Program Plan requires course work over two or three disciplinary or interdisciplinary clusters.

The Plan must comply with the following policies:

Students must complete a minimum of 42 credits from approved coursework.
Students must complete a minimum of 18 upper division (3000 level and above) credit hours with a minimum of nine upper division level credit hours in Clusters I and II.
Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the major and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to major requirements.
A minimum of nine credits in Clusters I and II, in addition to IDMA 3100 Learning Across Disciplines and IDMA 4900 Interdisciplinary Studies Capstone (24 total credit hours) must be completed with CU Denver faculty

Once the Interdisciplinary Studies course contract is filed, any changes to coursework must be approved by the student's Individually Designed Major Faculty Advisor
A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed in liberal arts and sciences course work.
A maximum of one disciplinary cluster may be outside CLAS.
One cluster can be based on a pre-formed thematic cluster with an already-approved group of classes provided by the major on the website.
A third optional cluster may be a mixture of course work, excluding courses from the first and second clusters.
An Interdisciplinary Studies title must be consistent with the academic theme and clusters in the program plan.
Students may petition the IDM Faculty Advisor to fulfill their introduction and capstone outside of IDMA 3100 Learning Across Disciplines and IDMA 4900 Interdisciplinary Studies Capstone .
The Interdisciplinary Studies proposal should be approved before students have taken one-third of the classes listed in their course contracts.

Student

Creates the Interdisciplinary Studies course contract and proposals in collaboration with the Individually Designed Major Faculty Advisor
Meets regularly with IDM Faculty Advisor to assess progress
Fulfills requirements of Interdisciplinary Studies course contract

IDM Faculty advisor

Approves Interdisciplinary Studies course contract
Approves student proposals for Interdisciplinary Studies
Meets with Interdisciplinary Studies advisees to monitor progress
Maintains records of Interdisciplinary Studies applications
Oversees advisees’ capstone projects
Certifies graduation

CLAS Academic Advisor

Reviews overall course contract
Maintains records of Interdisciplinary Studies contracts

Disciplinary Knowledge – Interdisciplinary Studies students will...

Understand and explain the functions and limitations of academic disciplines
Examine similarities and differences across disciplinary frameworks and methods
Recognize disciplinary insights and perspectives relevant to their program of study

Inquiry & Analysis – Interdisciplinary Studies students will...

Develop research questions that can require thinking beyond a single discipline
Identify multiple disciplinary frameworks relevant to achieving specific research goals
Locate scholarly works that address interdisciplinary research questions

Critical Thinking – Interdisciplinary Studies students will...

Evaluate a variety of source materials and differing disciplinary viewpoints
Critique disciplinary assumptions and explain the contexts in those assumptions are developed

Written Communication – Interdisciplinary Studies students will...

Communicate ideas effectively in writing
Compose papers employing analytical writing to convey their disciplinary knowledge and skills

Information literacy – Interdisciplinary Studies students will...

Locate and evaluate appropriate materials for interdisciplinary research, using book catalogs and article databases
Demonstrate understanding of the ethical and legal issues surrounding the use of published and unpublished materials, including what constitutes plagiarism and how to cite sources

Ethical reasoning & action – Interdisciplinary Studies students will...

Examine the ethical approaches to studying problems through a variety of perspectives
Analyze the ways interdisciplinary critical thinking can be applied to social problems

Integrative & applied learning – Interdisciplinary Studies students will...

Synthesize evidence representing multiple disciplinary perspectives
Combine the theories, methods, and analytical perspectives of a variety of disciplines to answer an interdisciplinary question
Explain how to approach a real-world problem in an interdisciplinary manner
Understand and articulate the benefits of interdisciplinary study to the larger world

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Interdisciplinary Studies Major, BA

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Interdisciplinary Studies Major, BA

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