Are you having trouble deciding on a major for your bachelor’s degree program? An option worth considering is Interdisciplinary Studies. When students choose an Interdisciplinary Studies major at Faulkner University in Montgomery, AL, or at one of our campuses in Mobile, Birmingham, or Huntsville, it means they create an individualized curriculum. While the components of an interdisciplinary studies degree differ from student to student, they all share common ground in their dedication to intellectual exploration, ability to set goals and drive for achievement.
What Do You Want to Do?
You may have heard family, friends, schoolmates, and colleagues asking about your career plans. Whether you are entering university as a traditional college-age student or returning to school later in life, it can be difficult to make a choice that includes your interests and goals. Before deciding on a major degree program, it’s a good starting point to take some time to think and dream about future endeavors. The student success office at Faulkner University offers many tools and resources, including career counseling, which can help students think through their options.
It’s also of benefit to explore Faulkner University’s full degree list. Which subjects attract your attention? What were your favorite classes in high school or during your previous college experience? Examine what kinds of books you like to read, tasks you like to perform, issues you find important, or societal roles you admire. After this inventory of preferences, skills, and goals, what university programs are most aligned with your plans? If the answer is more than one academic discipline, you may want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at Faulkner University.
Making Connections and Solving Problems
Students who choose to create their own curriculum within an interdisciplinary studies program are often adept at making connections that cross departmental boundaries. For example, you may love sciences and have a keen interest in the legal system. With the assistance of faculty members and the interdisciplinary studies program, you might choose to study how scientific knowledge is used – or misused – in the justice system, combining classes in biochemistry, legal studies, and criminal justice.
As for future career possibilities, using the example of studies that combine law and biochemistry, you might pursue graduate school in either sciences or law, or find job opportunities in the criminal justice, education, or technology sectors. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 62 percent of interdisciplinary studies majors worked in the fields of management, education, healthcare, technology, business, finance, and administrative support in 2019.
Some students come to interdisciplinary studies with a burning intellectual question or real-world problem they want to solve. By combining your passion for knowledge with the resources available at Faulkner University, you can use this time to make meaningful strides toward subjects that interest you, as well as expand your horizons. And if the exact subject that thrills you isn’t offered as a formal departmental major? Interdisciplinary studies majors can utilize the breadth of expertise and advanced knowledge held by the faculty and staff at Faulkner University, as shown by our faculty and staff directory.
Create Your Interdisciplinary Studies Program
The structure of the interdisciplinary studies program at Faulkner University includes the basic courses required by the university for graduation. Classes such as American Cultural Heritage and English Composition are on all student schedules as these skills and shared knowledge aid in the pursuit of individual degree programs. Students majoring in interdisciplinary studies proceed to select a total of 45 hours of cognate courses. These are discrete subjects of interest to the student, taught within existing programs, which consist of 15 to 24 hours each. In addition, each student completes a capstone, or thesis, experience, in which students consolidate and present their academic experience to the department.
Interdisciplinary Studies in Christian Higher Education
Build your interdisciplinary studies curriculum on a foundation of Christian faith. The overall goal of education at Faulkner University is the development of the whole person. With the help of faculty advisors, students who construct their own course of study are required to include basic classes on ethics and spirituality, including Christian literacy. The campus in Montgomery, AL, provides a welcoming learning community with a variety of extracurricular and faith-based activities for students, as do our campuses in Mobile, Birmingham, and Huntsville. An Interdisciplinary studies major is an exciting way to customize your education and prepare for future opportunities. You can request info or go ahead and apply today!