Interdisciplinary Studies

View the programs in Interdsiciplinary Studies

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Interdisciplinary Studies

Associate Professor Boakye-Boaten (Director); Professor Bond; Associate Professor Subramaniam; Assistant Professors Kapur, Kaur, Li

Through UNC Asheville’s interdisciplinary programs and courses, students are able to study topics that transcend traditional disciplines. These programs and courses formally recognize the importance of incorporating different disciplinary approaches and contributions in order to understand the challenging questions people face today. Interdisciplinary courses offer students the opportunity to develop the ability to synthesize and integrate ideas, perspectives and theories related to these questions. This encourages students to question conventional explanations and to search out and make explicit the assumptions of disciplinary theories.

Most interdisciplinary courses at UNC Asheville are structured around formal programs of study. These include Africana Studies, Arts Courses, Asian Studies, Humanities, International Studies, New Media, Religious Studies, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies and UNC Asheville’s single graduate program leading to the Master of Liberal Arts and Sciences. (See the separate program listings for these areas).

A Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Interdisciplinary Studies can be earned in three ways. Students can pursue a concentration in Ethics and Social Institutions, International Studies or they may design their own Individual Degree Concentration.

In selected cases, specific interdisciplinary courses have been created which are not part of a formal program or major. These courses are generally considered electives. However, students must receive approval from their program or major advisor, as well as their department chair and/or program director in order to receive major or minor credit.