Overview

David Pate, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences

Although most students choose a major within a single academic discipline and department, some students, particularly mature individuals looking for a more personalized major program, want the option of a concentration involving several academic fields.

St. John Fisher College has developed a program in Interdisciplinary Studies leading to a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree which fulfills this need while emphasizing the central and long-term benefits of the liberal arts and sciences in a society characterized primarily by accelerating change. One competence, among others, crucially needed to meet such change is the facility for synthesizing the disparate bits and pieces of knowledge which constitute the intellectual phenomena confronting the average person, and it is hoped that this program will encourage the demanding process of finding the connections and forging them into a meaningful world-view. This major, then, is for students who seek to organize an undergraduate program for their own personal and professional needs.

The program is designed to serve:

• Mature adults who no longer want or need a traditional major. This includes men and women who, in our mobile society, have accumulated some college credits in a number of fields but have found that their needs and their intellectual goals have changed in their search for fulfillment.
• Men and women, with or without prior college credit, at the midpoint of their careers who want and must have a baccalaureate degree but not necessarily a major in a traditional academic discipline.
• Students who have completed an associate’s degree and are looking for a chance to feel out their interests in an individually tailored program.
• The traditional college-age student who either has a specific interdisciplinary plan in mind for graduate studies or who seeks a general liberal studies education for its own sake.

Additional information may be obtained from the department directors and the Office of Academic Affairs.

Minor

Interdisciplinary Studies Minor

Students may request an Interdisciplinary minor which could include courses from a variety of fields. For an Interdisciplinary minor, students must obtain the signature of their academic advisor and the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and submit a list of courses to be used (a minimum of six courses), along with a statement describing the goals of the minor. No more than one course required for the major may be used for the Interdisciplinary minor. The Declaration of Minor form is available in the Office of Academic Affairs.

Program Requirements

Requirements for the Interdisciplinary Studies Major

The student develops the written proposal in consultation with two full-time faculty members outlining the student’s goals, objectives, and methods of evaluation. Advisors should come from different departments.

• Although the student may choose this major when entering the College, the student ordinarily will not organize the detailed plan of study until after completing at least 30 credits at the College.
• The major program consists of at least 12 courses (36 credits); at least 50 percent of these must be completed at St. John Fisher College.
• Approval of the advisors and the Dean of Arts and Sciences must be obtained no later than the point at which the student begins the last 12 credits of the major coursework.
• No more than two courses at the 100 level will be counted toward the major. The remaining ten courses submitted for the major must be at or beyond the 200 level and at least five must be at or beyond the 300 level.
• Interdisciplinary Studies cannot be used as part of a double major.
• A minor declared by an Interdisciplinary Studies major may not include any courses already being used in the program designed for the major.

The Interdisciplinary Major Proposal form is available in the Registrar's Office.