The Student-Initiated Interdisciplinary Major

In addition to existing majors offered by the University’s departments, schools and programs, a “Student-Initiated Interdisciplinary Major” option is available through the Undergraduate Academic Council’s Interdisciplinary Studies Committee. This option is designed to allow highly motivated students to meet special educational goals not available from the many existing majors at the University.

In the development of an Interdisciplinary Major the student and prospective faculty sponsors are asked to insure its intellectual merit by considering the following questions: Will the proposed major make it possible to undertake future disciplined inquiry such as that which is found in graduate or professional study? Will the plan promote mastery of the methodological tools relevant to the subject matter? Are there sufficient bodies of scholarly literature to allow for in-depth study in the major’s disciplines? Will the plan allow for gaining significant knowledge to read and evaluate professional and scholarly literature in the major’s disciplines?

The following information will assist in the formulation of a major.

Non-Duplication of Existing Majors: The proposed major must involve course work in at least two different departments or schools. Moreover, the proposal must not duplicate or nearly duplicate opportunities available to University at Albany students through existing major programs.

Coherence: The proposed major must consist of a coherent, integrated program of studies. As with any other major, there must be some relationship between courses to be undertaken as well as sufficient depth of study in the area under consideration. It would also be helpful to know if models exist on other campuses for the proposed major. This information will assist the student in constructing a program of studies and the citation of an existing program, will support the application for such a major.

Credits: The proposed major must consist of at least 36 but not more than 66 credits. If the major includes fewer than 54 credits, the student will be applying for a major only and will need a separate minor to meet minimum graduation requirements. If the major includes 54 or more credits, the student will be applying for a combined major and minor program and, therefore, no separate minor will be needed.

Upper Division Course Work: At least one half of the credits in the proposed major must be at the 300 level or above.

Independent Study: The proposed major may include a maximum of 25% of independent study course work.

B.A. or B.S. Degree: The course work in the Interdisciplinary major, will normally dictate the type of bachelor’s degree to be earned by the student.

Faculty Sponsorship: The proposal must have a primary and a secondary faculty sponsor. The primary sponsor must also agree to serve as the student’s major adviser for the proposed program. The two sponsors must be members of the teaching faculty and must come from two different academic units (departments or schools) offering courses included in the major.

Students who believe they might like to construct their own major should begin plans as soon as possible, but the application for the major cannot be filed until the student has completed at least 30 graduation credits.

Once a student has tentatively decided on the theme for the proposed study, the Undergraduate Bulletin should be reviewed to verify that no existing major encompasses that theme. The Bulletin and the Schedule of Classes should also be used to identify possible courses which might be included in the proposed major and, based on the courses they teach, possible faculty who might be willing to serve as sponsors for the major.

Before deciding on all the details of the proposed major, the student should speak with several faculty for the following reasons: (a) to determine the likelihood of finding two faculty sponsors for the program; (b) to solicit suggestions on how to further refine, limit, or expand the chosen theme; (c) to solicit further suggestions of individual courses or sequences of courses which might be included in the major; and (d) to determine whether or not the student’s goals in creating the major are likely to be met by the combination of course chosen.

Further information and application procedures and forms may be obtained by contactingthe Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, LC 30 (518-437-3747).