Thorp (Director)

The Interdisciplinary Studies program offers students a unique opportunity to pursue a major that combines courses from two or more disciplines. The program fosters learning, scholarship, and discovery and allows students to take advantage of new and emerging fields and topics of study. The University of North Dakota is fortunate to have faculty with sufficient breadth and depth of knowledge to provide a foundation for interdisciplinary studies. Students can take charge of their own education by designing a plan of study focusing on a topic of interest, in consultation with an adviser and with the consent of the Director of Interdisciplinary Studies and the program’s executive committee. In these individualized tracks, students will undertake an in-depth study of a topic area of their choice that synthesizes information and research from two or more disciplines. Examples of such tracks include Photography, Health Sciences, and Environmental Studies. General requirements for the major are described below. Interested individuals should contact the Director of Interdisciplinary Studies in O’Kelly Hall, Room 129 (phone: 701-777-2613; e-mail: ids@und.nodak.edu). Information on the Program is also available online at: http://www.und.edu/dept/ids/

In addition, Women Studies and Peace Studies are long-established programs at the University of North Dakota. These programs are described elsewhere in this catalog, but the major for both programs is administered through Interdisciplinary Studies. Students may choose to earn the B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies: Women Studies or the B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies: Peace Studies. Contact the respective directors of those programs for further information.College of Arts and Sciences

B.A. OR B.S. WITH MAJOR IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

Required 125 credits, 36 of which must be numbered 300 or above, and 60 of which must be from a 4-year institution including:

Courses

280. Learning Across Disciplines. 3 credits. The course will examine the nature of disciplines and fields and the way in which knowledge is organized. Basic assumptions and orientations will be compared and contrasted for scientific, social scientific, and humanities areas. Current literature in the field of interdisciplinary studies will be presented. F,S

399. Interdisciplinary Topics. 1-3 credits. Topics, problems, or texts that connect or draw upon two or more academic disciplines will be studied. Repeatable when topics vary. Regular or S/U grading. F,S,SS

491. Capstone Interdisciplinary Seminar. 1-3 credits, not repeatable. Prerequisite: IDS 280. Corequisite: IDS 498. This seminar will be organized by the director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program to act as a point of reference for students working on their Senior Projects in the program. The projects will vary from semester to semester, so the focus will shift accordingly. S

495. Service and Citizenship. 3 credits. Prerequisite: Junior or Senior standing. Students will design community service projects, or will join existing projects, and engage in volunteer action during the semester. Class meetings on campus will center on a critical discussion of volunteerism and community service; current literature on service learning will be studied. Self-assessment of experiential learning outcomes, as well as a portfolio and essay will be required. F,S,SS

498. Senior Project. 3 credits, repeatable to 6 credits. Prerequisite: IDS 280. Corequisite: IDS 491. The project will be designed on an area of interest which the student has defined. It will include data or material from a variety of disciplines or fields which the student finds relevant to the issue under study. The student will synthesize the cross-cutting information into a creative/original whole and discuss applications of this new approach. F,S